Travels with Putt Putt: Would you ride 1,500 miles for lunch?

I don’t generally name my cars, and I don’t really set out to name my motorcycles, but it seems like over the past decade most of the motorcycles I’ve owned have somehow let me know what they wanted to be called.

So I had the Mighty KLR (which had a mighty heart if not mighty horsepower), Big Blue (my much-missed Yamaha Super Tenere, which was very blue), and now Putt Putt, my air-cooled Suzuki DR650 that has an exhaust note that goes “putt putt.” It shares that name with my eldest’s first motorcycle, an ancient Honda CL125).

Me and Putt Putt on the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route.

After several years of riding Big Blue, I decided that the big adventure bike was too top heavy for me.  I needed to get regular touring bike and limit my adventure riding to my dual-sport DR650, AKA Putt Putt.  But much needed home improvements ate up the money from the sale of Big Blue, so I’m down to just one bike right now.  So my stories of my motorcycle  journeys this summer will be Travels With Putt Putt.  Hope you come along for the ride.

There’s an old Harley rider catch phrase that says, “Live to Ride, Ride to Live.” Not a bad sentiment. But a bit general.

For members of the Iron Butt Association (which includes many Harley riders), there’s a more measurable version of the phrase which leads to a specific activity – Ride to Eat.  At its core, a Ride to Eat (or RTE) is a group of long-distance motorcycle riders getting together for meal and then turning around to head home afterwards.

For example, I’ve gone a couple of times to a great annual RTE in Kansas City where people get together for a fried chicken dinner on Friday evening and then a BBQ lunch on Saturday.  On my most recent pilgrimage to the KC BBQ RTE, my friend Mike and I made it to the Friday night dinner, but the weather forced us to head home early on Saturday morning.

I’ve long thought it would be fun to put together an RTE of my own, but just needed a good reason to create it. But then Sehnert’s Bakery and Cafe in McCook, Nebraska won a James Beard Classics award.  The James Beard awards are essentially the Oscars of the restaurant and food business, and the classics award is for:

“Our nation’s beloved regional restaurants. Distinguished by their timeless appeal, they serve quality food that reflects the character of their communities. We anoint these locally owned restaurants with a James Beard Foundation Award and designate them as America’s Classics.”

When you think of rural western Nebraska, the first thing you think of is a James Beard award winning cafe, right?

No? Well you obviously haven’t been paying attention.

Sehnert’s was given the Classic’s  award this last spring. And when a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, yet relatively near many of us, wins such honors, the only possible response is a Ride To Eat.

A bierock made with sauerkraut and cheese from Sehnert’s Bakery and Cafe.

Their specialty is the bierock, sort of a progenitor of the popular Runza fast food favorite in Nebraska. (For those of you woefully uninformed, a bierock/runza is a mixture of seasoned ground beef, cabbage (or kraut) and onions baked into a fresh roll.)

Discussion of this first came up when an online motorcycle and cooking friend from eastern Colorado mentioned that he would like to meet at the cafe for lunch.  Then another motorcycle friend from the same area said he would like to come as well.  So the date was set for Saturday, June 8th and the announcements went out on various online forums.

RSVPs started coming in from South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and even Texas. Most impressively, my friend Jerry was going to come in 1,500 miles from California.

Not everyone was successful in arriving.  A couple of riders from eastern Colorado elected to go another direction when the forecast for them looked iffy.  And Jerry had to bail when his bike suffered a breakdown 150 miles from lunch.

Jerry’s bike getting a ride to repairs.

In the end,  there were seven of us who made it to Sehnert’s where we had a great lunch and a fun time visiting.  So much so that several suggested this become an annual event.  So if you think this sounds like fun, or you just have an urging for a good lunch, put Saturday, May 30, 2020 on your calendar.  

Your author, Bill Norris, and Mike Konz (L to R)

Bierocks all around. Bill Norris, Mike Konz, Kurt Anderson and Steve Carter.

In addition to serving food, Sehnert’s also has a musicians on perform periodically. Was delighted to see talented singer/songwriter Amy Speace has been on their stage! She’s a favorite of my Dear Wife and me.

Ken Schleman and his 2018 Honda Goldwing. (Which is exactly what I would like as my next touring bike, but I rather doubt is going to happen.)

Linda Schleman and her Honda CTX 700.