Return to Niobrara

On Saturday night Butt Lite 7 riders were handed a route sheet containing 78 bonuses for leg 1 of the rally. Among them was one that was, perhaps, predictable for veteran Team Strangers:

48) Niobrara, NE 500 points 24 hours NIOBRAR

It’s our 30th anniversary and we can’t celebrate it adequately without including Niobrara and the Two Rivers Hotel & Saloon in Butt Lite 7. Two Rivers served as rally headquarters for Butt Lite IIII and the 2002 Minnesota 1000, the two most noteworthy of the Team Strange events to feature Niobrara. Our memories run very deep here.

Take a photo which includes both your motorcycle and the main entrance/front of the Two Rivers Hotel & Saloon.

Two Rivers Saloon and Hotel, 25411 Park Ave. 42.74990 -098.03076

A worthwhile bonus in the scheme of the rally, though perhaps not the top of the list. But it was made very clear to the riders that the Sunday morning pre-rally meeting would be important. At that meeting, one more bonus was handed out:

79) Niobrara, NE 500 points 1:00 – 2:30 pm Sunday, July 6 ARLENE

Arlene Liska is a long distance riding legend and a great friend to TeamStrange.

Danny Liska was one of the pioneers of long-distance and adventure riding. In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, he rode his BMW R60/2 from his ranch in Niobrara to the Arctic Circle, to Tierra del Fuego, and back home, at a time that the Pan American Highway was a mud trail at best.

Arlene married Danny and they went off on their honeymoon – a 40,000 mile motorcycle ride from North Cape in Norway to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Arlene kept the journals and took the photographs documenting this epic ride. The tales of Danny and Arlene’s travels, and their attitude that “far away is only far away if you don’t go”, have inspired many riders, including TeamStrange’s Eddie James. It’s likely that, absent Danny and Arlene, TeamStrange would still be a bowling team.

Arlene loves visiting with riders, telling stories of her journeys through South America and Africa and having her picture taken. We know you'll be in a hurry but be sure to give Arlene a nice greeting when you meet her. She is very excited to see you all.

We expect Arlene will be at the Two Rivers Hotel & Saloon from about 1:00 to about 2:30 pm. If we know Arlene, she may be there early and she’ll stay as long as riders are there to meet her. So we’ll give you a lot of slack on the availability times for this bonus – if you get there and Arlene is there, you can get this bonus.

Take a photo of Arlene Liska in front of the Two Rivers Hotel & Saloon.

Two Rivers Saloon and Hotel, 25411 Park Ave. 42.74990 -098.03076

Two-thirds of the riders thought that the combination of the two bonuses and the chance to meet a motorcycling legend was very, very worthwhile and went to Niobrara. That made Arlene Liska happy, which makes Team Strange very, very happy.










Thanks to Greg Anderson for riding out to Niobrara to document the scene.

Late on Sunday night, the riders have divided themselves into three streams. One stream is headed roughly northwest from Niobrara, one stream is headed roughly west from Niobrara, and one stream bypassed Niobrara and is heading southwest. We expect to see these streams fork into smaller rivulets tomorrow when riders re-evaluate their plans as it begins to sink in that this rally is much longer than 24 hours.

Two motorcycles apparently decided that unpaved roads are tiring and that they needed to have a little lie-down, but the riders reported that they implored their mounts to be more cooperative and are continuing with no apparent ill-effects.