2010 Mushroom Festival Bike Show & Poker Run - Richmond, Missouri

Therefore, on Saturday, May 1, I tossed my camera and a few Cycle Connections T-shirts and koozies in the Tahoe and headed north in search of motorcycles and mushrooms. I was hoping to ride my bike that day; however, the rain had started falling shortly before I was ready to leave the house, which quickly changed my mind. It's mostly secondary highways and back roads from my house to Richmond, Missouri, so I wasn't too surprised when I came upon a police-escorted convoy of tractors just outside of town, many of which were pulling trailers full of people, which I assumed were headed for a parade at the Mushroom Festival. By this time, the rain had subsided and I was wishing I'd have ridden the bike. Oh well…better dry than sorry!

Not only was this the first time I'd been to the Mushroom Festival, it was also the first time I'd ever attended a bike show at a public library. Yes, that's right…the event took place in the parking lot of the Ray County Library, which turned out to be a great venue. The library was closed, so the entire parking lot was available. When I arrived, there were already several bikes lined up throughout parking lot for the bike show, and there were also a couple Dale's Motorcycle Gear tents setup in front of the library. As I walked through the parking lot I seen Gary and Danielle owners of Fathead & Braindeads Saloon in Grandview, Missouri and Ed Hale and a large group of his Posse was parked near the library entrance, right next to the registration tent and a table full of trophies. The other larger tent was full of leather apparel and other goodies for sale, which Dale and his staff had brought to the event.

I was greeted by Dale, who took the time to show me around and tell me everything they had going on that day. I didn't realize how large of a bike show this was until I turned the corner of the library and seen even more bikes lined up for the bike show in an adjacent parking lot. As it turns out, there were 13 classes, with 1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies in each class, plus a Best of Show. With the help of my fingers and toes, I calculated there were 40 bike show trophies up for grabs, including one for Best of Show. Wow!

Bike Show judging started around 11 a.m., and the plan was to present the trophies at Noon, followed by a 50/50 drawing and the start of a scenic 100-mile poker run. The judges somehow made their way through all the bike show entries and turned their results in to Dale. The trophy table was carried down to the parking lot and Dale took the microphone. As he announced the bike show winners, trophy girl Michaela handed out the trophies and posed for photos with the winners. Dale told me the list of award winners was accidently misplaced during the flurry of activity at the bike show; however, I do recall that Jimmy 'Fletch' Fletch's custom Harley-Davidson Sportster won Best of Show.

After the trophies were handed out, everyone drew their first poker card and hit the road. The first stop was at Catfish Charlie's in Wellington, the second stop was at a BP in Sugar Creek, the third stop was at Wabash BBQ in Excelsior Springs, with one final stop at Our Place in Richmond. Since I didn't have my bike, I opted to check out the Mushroom Festival while everyone was out on the ride and then meet up with them at the end of the ride. I walked a few blocks toward downtown Richmond, where the parade was already in progress. This was a much larger parade than I expected, and I've never seen so many Shriners in my entire life. There were Shriners on motorcycles, mini-bikes, motorized bar stools, Segways, go-carts, dune buggies, antique cars and trucks and about any other form of transportation you could imagine. Personally, I think they should call it the Shriners' Parade, even though I did see a large cutout of a mushroom on one trailer. After grabbing a soda and a bite to eat I headed over to Our Place so I'd be there when everyone started showing up at the end of the poker run.

When I got to the bar, Dale and his crew were there setting everything up for the end of the ride. Before long, riders started trickling in and filled the place up. Everyone drew their last card from a deck of cards that had been spread out on one of the pool tables and turned in their poker run sheets. After all the sheets were reviewed, Dale announced that Matt Keller had won 1st place with a 10, J, Q, K, A straight, and Thomas Graham won 2nd place with three nines. Matt won two three-day passes to the Grand River Summer Rally in Urich, Missouri valued at $80. I believe Thomas won some cash for 2nd place; however, I didn't catch the dollar amount.

This year's bike show and poker run was a lot of fun, and everyone is already looking forward to next year's event.

By Mike Schweder