Life On A B-I7

A little more about Shelby before I tell you about Joplin…

The Lake Shel-Oole Campground is just North of Shelby. It was a good riding day, temperature in the mid 60’s. The wind was steady all day out of the South-East. That has a tendency to push the bike toward the white line so you have to pay attention to what you’re doing. Out here when you see a wide-load coming, you have to get off the bike. I’ve been riding on a 2’ shoulder most of the day. Not my favorite thing.

Shelby is a railroad town and supports the area’s farming community. In 1922 when oil was discovered just North of Shelby, the City Leaders decided to capitalize on the discovery by hosting a Heavy-Weight Prize Fight. The fight was scheduled to pit Jack Dempsey, the undisputed champion against challenger Tommy Gibbons. An Event Publicity Center was built along with more infrastructure including a 20,000 seat arena for the fight. Dempsey won the bout in a 15 round unanimous decision. Unfortunately, the fight was a financial disaster for the city and several banks went bankrupt over the their investment in the event. The Publicity Center became the Town Hall and it still stands today as an historic landmark.

Now a bit about Joplin…

I reached Joplin at around 1:00 pm. I had to stop because the town was having their 25th Annual “Art in the Park and Car Show.” There were classic cars, live music, food, and local arts and crafts. I had to take it in. I’ll be spending the night here in the city park, once the car show cars have left!

I met some awesome people, and they took great care of me. They offered me beer and the lady running the event told me she would turn the sprinklers off in the park for me. I sat down to listen to live music and the guitar player singled me out because, well, I look different than everyone else. He asked me where I was coming from and where I was going to, I told him and he said “you’re crazy.” he was speaking into the microphone. He looked at the crowd, told them what I was doing, and said “give this man a round of applause! They all did. It was quite a scene.

Shelby City Hall and Historic Landmark.

Roadside outside Shelby.

When at an arts and crafts fair, one must indulge. This is an heirloom. Handmade nickel-steel blade with polished moose and deer bone inlaid handle. This will be handed down along with my Grandfather’s handmade carving knives with walrus tusk handles.

Itinerary