For anyone familiar with the Alamo Run and now the MACH, you know it always rains that weekend. Sometimes lots, sometimes just enough to get the road wet. This year is one of those we always want and seldom get. Perfect weather - sunny and not too hot - once you got to Vicksburg, MS. Unfortunately, many riders had the flooding worries, locally and along many routes getting to the Ride To Eat (RTE). While we had lots of reports of high water along the various routes people rode to get here and our route, it never impacted our travels, mostly. More about that later.

The Missouri contingent’s ride south was uneventful, with one lunch stop at The Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, MS. This place was featured on one of those TV shows, Deep Fried Stuff or something like that. Try the fried pickles. They have good food and live blues bands on the weekend. By the exterior and picture we provided on this site, you’d think twice about stopping. It is definitely worth the stop.

Arriving at the Best Western Motel in Vicksburg, we were greeted by the early riders and by Linda, the motel clerk who has been with them for a very long time. She always tries to be on duty when we are scheduled to arrive, even calling some of us by name. As we were checking in, more riders kept arriving and by 6:30 pm we had a crowd ready to ride to Goldie’s BBQ for dinner. You can see Goldie’s from the motel and it’s an easy walk if you cross 4 lanes of 70 mph interstate traffic. Better to ride two miles over, across and down the outer road. More riders arrived later and joined us as we were eating. The crowd was getting bigger.

Through the years, my intent for anyone who arrived on Thursday, was for Friday to be an “open” day so that people could see whatever sites and attractions in and about Vicksburg they wanted on their own. Each year, I would normally pre ride my planned ride for Saturday, and as the RTE evolved, others began to join us for our ride on Friday. So, I had a ride planned for Friday morning along some river roads. The flooding had impacted my planning though and I learned our route was under water by the numerous “ROAD CLOSED” signs we saw when we arrived in Vicksburg.

Our destination is still the same, Yazoo City, MS, we just have to get there a different way. MS 433 from MS 3 to US 49 is one of those just nice to ride routes. Hills, trees, curves, not much traffic and a comfort stop in Bentonia, MS. Picture this: One gas station, one restroom that mostly works with 20 plus riders needing to unload a few litres. A long line and two clerks whose first language is not English and Bobbye trying to explain that the toilet won’t flush and there is no paper. We should probably go back next year just to see if things have improved.

A few years ago, we hoped to visit Yazoo City for two reasons: Ubons Award winning BBQ and The Witch of Yazoo’s grave site. We didn’t make it due to a tornado strength wind that ripped through the city laying waste to the section of town we planned on riding around. There’s almost nothing worse than picking up nails, screws and bolts laying in the road and gravel in your bike tire not to mention dodging debris in the road. This time, we beat the crest of the rising Mississippi and with great weather too, we arrived in Yazoo City at lunch time. Not everyone wanted another meal of BBQ, so we all split with plans to meet up later. Some headed for fast food, a few found a crawfish stand and some did Mexican food. Marlene and I went in search of Ubon’s BBQ. We had met their competition Grill Master, Reggie, a couple years ago in Albany, GA when Reggie had a team going to Douglas, GA for an invitational cook off. We told them about our Vicksburg trips and we were invited to look them up if we ever made it to Yazoo City. Jack and Tezz, Gordo, Stasny and Picky joined us as we sampled their award winning BBQ.

We then met up with the rest of the riders and found our way to the Glenwood Cemetery to find the grave site of The Witch of Yazoo.

Riding back to Vicksburg we saw a lot of effort being put into trying to save the downtown area from the coming flood waters. Sand trucks were everywhere and they didn’t need onlookers. More riders had arrived at the motel and the big question was, “What time do we eat crawfish?” Simple answer - we “Leave at 6, eat at 6:30.”

The AYCE crawfish buffet at Toney’s restaurant was set up and ready for consumption by the 40 hungry riders. After I took a moment to introduce myself for any newcomers and told a little MACH history, we let the mayhem begin. The regulars, Skippy, Pappy, Picky, Johnnie, Kathie, Gordo, Dean, Beachy, myself, Bob, Tyler, Dick, and Williferd were pinching tails like they thought we would run out. The newbies, Kitty, Belinda, Charley, Mike and Sue and Danny were trying to keep up and some did. Those who just haven’t quite bought into eating crawfish, or as Doc says, “fish bait”, enjoyed steaks, seafood pastas, and other seafood platters. After dinner, back at the motel, it was time for kicking tires, telling stories and catching up with everyone.

I had a Plan A ride and a Plan B ride for Saturday. Both plans were under water due to the rising Mississippi, so I fell back on old standbys. Read this to mean I pulled a ride out of my iron b _ _ _! We rode MS 27 to the Natchez Trace and I was told that it was a quiet, leisurely ride.

Well that it was. My CB was having major problems the whole trip and on the day of the ride, it was completely kaput showing CB ERROR every time I reset it. Our destination, as part of Plan C was to have lunch at the Old Country Store in Lorman, MS which included the heavenly chicken fried up right by Mr. D with a side of a blues serenade along with it. By popular request, we once again led riders down Rodney Road to the Windsor Ruins. We planned to ride the road into Port Gibson, but another rider came back and told us it was closed due to high water so we scratched that always enjoyable ride.

Because lunch was so filling and plentiful, we skipped the planned pot luck and let everyone fend for themselves. Of course there were crawfish along with some pizza and other stuff. No one had an excuse for going to bed hungry.

The parking lot was full of small, migrating groups telling stories and comparing rides. You know the best stories are always coming from the group you are not in. By 11 pm, almost everyone was talked out and ready for bed. I guess after 11 years, our age is catching up to us. No more midnighters in this group.

Sunday morning is always the hard part for Marlene and I. Saying goodbye to friends and knowing you won’t see some of them until next year or longer. But it’s always great to know that everyone is welcome to come back and that we tend to just pick up where we left off. Today, as I write this report and as Mississippi and Louisiana are in the throes of the cresting flood, one resident has chosen to look at the bright side. Per the Associated Press, Eddie Simmons of Port Gibson says “It’s God’s work. You've got to deal with him. You can run to high ground, but if God wants to come there, he can come there. You might as well stay put." There are also predictions that the crawfish will be bigger and better because of this. See you next May and bring a friend!!!

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In Memory of…

Judy, Gail, Dane and Skippy 2004

This years MACH is dedicated to Judy Valentine, wife of Dane Valentine, sister of Gail Melling and sister in law to Skippy Melling.

Dane and Judy began coming to the MACH a number of years ago due to Skippy’s invitation and both of them, like everyone else, just fit right in with this crazy group of misfits who love crawfish. And they could put them away, let me tell you! They invited friends from Texas who were just as special as they were to enjoy the fun, riding and camaraderie. Sadly, a couple of years ago, Judy was diagnosed with lung cancer, and passed away in August of 2010. We can’t begin to tell everyone how much we missed her smile and infectious laugh at the MACH this year. The stories she and Gail could tell about their large family made you laugh so hard, you could cry. To Judy’s family and friends, please know that we share your loss deeply.