Conesville Redneck Revival 24

Brad and I met in Conesville at the Redneck Revival. We’ve been meeting at this rally for a number of years.  The appeal is to visit with friends who we met at this rally several years ago.  The rally itself is located in the middle of cornfields.  There is a quarter-mile drag racing track.  The track is open for anyone and any machine as long as the driver attends the driver’s safety meeting and wears a helmet.  A driver can race other drivers or just race the clock.  I’ve seen motorcycles of all types race down the track. The serious race enthusiasts zoom their nitros cars, trucks, and motorcycles down the track.  I’ve seen a motorized picnic table race down the track.  Pretty awesome entertainment.  Don’t forget earplugs!  The track gets extremely loud during burnouts and races.  The track is open to everyone to race any wheeled machine.  On Saturday morning there is a competition which is exciting to watch. 

Besides the two-lane drag track, the venue offers a number of events open to everyone.  Some highlights are the dash for cash.  This is where participants run through a mud bog course naked.  The winner gets a bucket of cash at the end.  There is a mud bog too.  After the dash for cash, there is usually a parade around the campground.  Rally goers ride their motorcycles, golf carts, or other all-terrain vehicles while wearing costumes or nothing at all.  If I recall correctly, the parade might occur multiple times during the weekend.  In the evenings, there are usually two bands scheduled to play at the main stage.  Directly in front of the main stage is a concrete dance area.  Viewers often park their golf carts and motorcycles in the grass on the edge of the concrete area.  This allows people to sit on their bikes to watch the bands.  Adjacent to the outdoor stage is a large covered area with another stage, bar, dancing area, and picnic tables.  On that stage, there is a DJ, comedian, or other shows.  There is a zip line extending from the stage along one side of the covered area.  Yep, a zip line.  There is an 8-foot soft penis to land on at the end of the zip line.  One year, there were a few mattresses under the zip line for folks that fall off before reaching the end of the line.  Apparently, one year, someone fell off and broke a leg and thus the mattresses were added. 

Events officially start on Thursday nights with a themed party.  The latest I recall was a 50’s-style band with slicked-back hair and 50’s attire. This band had a large double bass which sounded awesome.  Most people in attendance on Thursday night get costumed up in themed attire; couples are in character-matching costumes, short skirts, lingerie, and things your eyes won’t believe.  Adult party and no cameras allowed.  Thursday night is known as the “perv review”.  The perv review consists of various beauty and best-of-class-type contests.  Not for the faint of heart!  Brad and I get a kick out of watching people watch people. Watching humans consume alcohol at these themed events is a fun experience. 

On Saturday, there is a king and queen contest on an elevated stripper stage. The king and queen contests are separate.  Participants volunteer from the crowd.  Once the MC introduces who is on stage, the DJ will play a song.  The contestants will dance provocatively until the song ends.  Then the MC will use a noise meter to eliminate contestants. The loudest cheers from the crowd determine which contestant remains on stage to dance to the next song until the winner is declared.  The winner gets a bucket of money that contains donations from the crowd.  I think last year it was around $800 for the queen and maybe $400 for the king.  There is something to see for everyone!  

 The highlight for me in 2024 at Conesville was the tornado warning.  I can never remember the difference between a tornado watch and a warning.  A watch is when conditions are favorable for a tornado, so people should be prepared.  A tornado warning is when a tornado is imminent, and people should take action, like take shelter now.  I was in my hammock when the sky suddenly darkened.  The wind began to whip my rain tarp away from the trees, and rain started pouring down.  There was some thunder and lightning too.  My cell phone broadcasted an alert declaring a tornado warning and residents should seek shelter.  I felt the trees swaying and pulling my hammock with them.  I felt that my hammock was about to be converted into a hang glider against my will.  I have déjà vu from two years earlier when I was in my hammock at this exact same campsite, and a tornado warning happened.  Here I am again dealing with the same unexpected weather!  The intensity of the storm lasted several minutes.  It passed just as abruptly as it came.  I posted a short video on Instagram showing my hammock blowing in the wind.  Brad’s son, Andrew, saw my video and immediately called Brad.  Brad was inside his rock star bus.  Andrew said the man is going to die in the storm or get struck by lightning, let him inside the RV!  

Note that the pictures are my photos from earlier years at the rally and not all from 2024.  My short videos from those two tornados are posted at the links below.

Trailering from Iowa to Missouri

  Brad is driving the Rock Star Bus and pulling our motorcycles. Once upon a time, we observed what was referred to as “trailer queens.” Motorcycles being pulled on a trailer instead of being ridden. In those younger days, I looked at the motorcycles on trailers, mumbling to myself that the bikes are built to be ridden. I failed to consider why the older guys chose to trailer their bikes.  I am sure they had their reasons.  Fast forward two decades later, Brad and I are discussing plans for the upcoming year.  We have a revelation. Hey, those old guys trailering their bikes were onto something.  It is much more comfortable to be able to place the motorcycle on a trailer and travel safely inside a cage out of the weather.  An extra bonus is that we have space for our comfort gear.  Besides, after all the miles we’ve ridden together, we have nothing to prove.  We do what makes sense to us. 

  First stop is near the Lake of the Ozarks.  Travel is much easier when Brad plans ahead for where we are going to park the Rock Star Bus.  Not sure of the length of the bus, but there are two bathrooms and bedrooms onboard.  A full kitchen, washer and dryer, liquor cabinet, and food pantry.  Brad calls the bus a diesel pusher.  I just know it is pulling a trailer loaded with our motorcycles.  We ended up at a new to us place called The Great American Campground and Dive Bar in Gravois Mills, Missouri.  I think Brad was sold on the name alone!

Bike Ride Conesville, Iowa

 Bike ride 2022 Iowa to Missouri. First stop CONESVILLE, IOWA

Motorcycle trip for 2022. Time flies- from Bill's memory: Brad and I met in Conesville, Iowa at the Redneck Revival Rally. The rally is centered around a drag strip in the middle of a grassy field. Participants can race any types of vehicles. I’ve seen all types of motorcycles, cars that are drove every day and elaborate classic race cars. One year those 4x4 side by side off road vehicles races, golf carts raced and a picnic table set up with a small engine zoomed down the race track! 

Brad and I have been meeting in Conesville because we’ve bonded with a few people over the years. Daryl, Connie, Fig, Dawn, Kaci, Paul, and several others seem to have been there consistently during the years I’ve been at the rally. It is always nice to catch up and be surrounded by familiar folks when so far from home. I appreciate the conversations around the campfires and watching the concerts and events with our small group. I’ve learned over the years that the motorcycle rallies are always more memorable and exciting when sharing the experience with friends. I’ve been the lone guy watching at many events. Neat but not as exciting as participating by meeting familiar folks and meeting new people. 

The Conesville rally started off with a windstorm as usual. The winds really do roll across the plains like a freight train picking up power and speed. Sometimes tents are blown over and camp chairs are tossed around for the owners to run and catch. I think there have been a few derechos in this area over the past decade.

Our group plans meals. Daryl usually surprises us with a meal on the first night. Then everyone takes turns cooking a dinner each night. We eat dinner then go off to watch the bands and shows. This year Brad’s bride Krista cooked fajitas for us. Those fajitas were really tasty.  I remember because Brad and I ate them for days after the rally. I have to mention it because there were about fifteen of us to eat that first night.  Brad says Krista cooked 82 pounds of fajitas! Not sure if it was 82 pounds but it was a lot and everyone got plenty to eat. I give Krista credit for always providing enough food for everyone.

At the end of the rally, Krista flew home leaving Brad with the rock star RV bus. We put our bikes on the trailer and drove to Hannibal Missouri. Hannibal is known as Mark Twain’s boyhood home. 

2020 Conesville, Iowa & Savanna, Illinois

- Year of Riding in the Rain, cold rain, more rain, and night rain.

2020 was a challenging year for social gatherings. Despite the challenge, Brad and I decided to meet in Conesville, Iowa for the Redneck Revival Rally. I started in Detroit and rode I-94 across Michigan west until it joined I-80 West. Conesville is a small farming community west of the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities are on both sides of the Mississippi River. Illinois has Moline and Rock Island. Davenport and Bettendorf are on the Iowa side of the river. Conesville is about an hour ride westward and slightly south of Davenport.

The Conesville Rally was well attended. We met up with some familiar folks from years past. The rally is centered on an old school no prep concrete drag strip. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, golf carts, and even pic nic tables race down the drag strip. Yes, pic nic tables. Just ask, we’ll tell you all about the pic nic table. The races start early in the morning and ends by the afternoon. This allowed time for special contests such as the naked dash for cash, mud bogs, and various other contests that draw quite the crowds. The contests were very entertaining to say the least.

During the evenings we started out around a campfire for dinner with friends. After dinner we migrated across the drag strip to the entertainment stages to see the live bands, comedians, contests, dance music and people watching. We did a lot of people watching resulting in many smiles and laughs. I witnessed a few policemen patrolling the entertainment area walking thru the crowd. People were drunk but not rowdy. No problems noted. People were having good times. Years past there were aggressive club members who frequent the rally. There is a story of rival gangs fighting and one man was either beat to death or beat close to death. After that incident the owner closed the racetrack to the rally for a number of years. The racetrack was eventually opened to several family friendly events and two adult events per year. The staff enforces the campground rules of no club colors, gangs and activities that could ruin the fun for the majority. The event is a friendly atmosphere with like-minded drag racers, motorcycle riders and campers. Many people show up and car tent just to party!

Our notable motorcycle ride while at Conesville was a ride to Burlington, Iowa. Burlington is city on the Mississippi River. The ride is about an hour south of Conesville. Our friends took us to ride Snake Alley. Snake Alley is in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Recognized as the street that is “unbelievably crooked.” It is also the #1 Odd Spot in the Odd Spot Across America Campaign. It looks like a twisted alley paved with red brick. It is incredibly steep for an automobile alleyway. I imagine it is slippery in the rain. Here are some pictures near the bottom of Snake Alley. We enjoyed lunch with outdoor dining overlooking the Mississippi River. The waterfront in Burlington is a neat area for a weekend getaway. 

I retired from the Marine Corps earlier this year. Brad gave me a shadow box with the Iwo Jima Memorial etched in it. The lid will accommodate my medals and awards. I brought a bottle of Don Julio Tequila to celebrate. We took a shot from the bottle each night. We shared the bottle with friends along the way. 

Our next stop was Savanna, Illinois. We heard that there were a few small businesses that were open despite the political environment. Brad has what I call the Rock Star Bus and pulled his bike into Seven Eagles RV Camp. The campground is about a half mile from Poopy’s in Savanna. We made the walk a few times. 

Brad and I visited most of the businesses that were open, which were few. Poopy’s and The Iron Horse Social Club were the two popular places to eat and drink in Savanna. Oh, beside the Iron Horse Social Club is an antique store called Franz and Fritz Finds at the old Pulford Opra House. Brad got pretty excited about the shop. He said it was featured on a show called American Pickers. Neat place. 

The locals told us about a scenic byway that would take us from Savanna to Galena. It rained most days including the day we rode the scenic byway. To get to the scenic road, we had to ride up a pretty steep narrow alley type road. It was pouring down rain and early in the morning. We were being alert and careful. Just as I was getting comfortable with the wet and curvy road, a deer jumps out in front of me. So this near miss put me on alert again. Then a tractor pulls out in front of us from a side road. A few miles later another deer runs across the road ahead of us. Finally we reach a stretch of the road were we are elevated. We could see the farmlands with their fences and fields for miles ahead of us and in three directions. The land was lush and green. At the bottom of the valley we could see a tractor cutting grass on the side of the road. One side of the road was already cut. This was obvious because the road was covered in freshly cut green grass. Did I mention the rain was still coming down drenching everything?  Luckily it was a straight road so we rode thru the freshly mowed grass with no problem. 

We had lunch in Galena, Illinois. Galena is a small town known for some well-preserved 19th Century buildings. We passed by some historical homes and sites. Ulysses S. Grant’s home is preserved there. I believe Galena is home to at least 8 Civil War Generals. It was steamboat hub and now a good place for a weekend getaway. Savanna worked well for our basecamp allowing us to explore the area. We covered some miles in the surround area. Some notable stops were in Fulton, Illinois where the Dutch Windmill museum is located. There are some small cafes in Fulton too. Get a slice a pie if you visit. Don’t worry, just ask the locals were the best pie is…they will show you. On the west side of the river we had coffee and donuts at a bakery in Clinton, Iowa. It was pouring rain as we looked out the window at our bikes parked on the main street. 

After another ride we stopped for brunch at the Sandbar Grill that is across the river west of Savanna but not quite into Iowa. There is an island, causeway or sandbar connected with bridges. To the east, we found some covered bridges in Iowa while looking for the Psycho Silo and visiting the Rock Falls area. 

The most memorable ride during this trip was from Savanna to a small town in Wisconsin to visit with Brad’s niece. We were near Madison. It rained all the way north. We had a great visit and dinner. By the time we departed and headed south to our campground, it was later in the evening. The rain continued to pour all day. The sun had set and the temperatures began to drop. Our rain suits stopped resisting the rain. Our clothes were soaked. We had to continue. It was dark. Not just dark but we were in a rainstorm with dark skies. There were no street lights. We rode faster on the four-lane highway thinking to hurry up and get the ride over faster. I have a theory that our speed combined with the wind had helped the rain penetrate our rain suits. Eventually we turned off the four-lane highway onto the two lane curvy road. I could not see anything. I felt resistance on my tires if I veered too close to the right of the road. The rain was coming down so hard that it was overflowing the ditch beside the road. When an oncoming car passed, the lights blinded me. I had raindrops on the outside and inside my helmet shield. It was so cold that I couldn’t keep the visor open. Plus the rain hurt hitting against my face. Brad was behind me. He said he could barely see my dim red taillight. He followed the red taillight. 

We stopped for fuel in Galena and immediately started shivering. We were miserable. We were riding blind in a rainstorm in the middle of a freezing night. We could have slept at Brad’s nieces warm house. What were we thinking? Later that night, Brad and I arrived back to the shelter of the Rock Star Bus. He cranked up the heater on high. We laid out our wet clothes all over the bus. 

The next morning, Brad puts his rain pants on his head searching for leaks. He finds some pinholes indicated by light shining thru the pants. He has the idea that he has to patch the pinholes. So we rode around town looking for something to patch the rain pants. Of all places, Brad stops at a pharmacy. The clerk gives him a bottle of liquid cement out of her desk drawer. You know the small bottle with the brush attached to the screw cap used for arts and crafts. Back to the Rock Star Bus we went. Brad put the rain pants back on his head and began sniffing the glue. Uh, I mean he patched his rain paints. 

The most memorable meal was a steak dinner on the Rock Star Bus. Cheers until next year!