Musical bike tour planned
Staff writer
Musicians from near and far are set to appear April 16 at Flint Hills Counterpoint’s second Musical Bike Adventure.
The first tour attracted 40 bikers last April.
“It was really successful, even though it poured rain the day before and the temperature was a high of 48,” director Susan Mayo said. “There were a lot of issues to deal with it, but it was really fun.”
Bikers can take one of two routes in rural Marion County. Musicians will be stationed along the road and at stops.
The first route is 15 miles long and goes from Flint Hills Counterpoint’s home base on 90th St. between Old Mill and Pawnee Rds. to the Copper Shed in Marion and back again.
“That’s another thing that we’re looking at: helping local businesses,” Mayo said.
Peabody native Bob Delk will play guitar and his nephew, Steve Hanneman, will play keyboards from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Copper Shed while water and fruit are served.
The other route is 30 miles long, starting at Flint Hills Counterpoint, passing the Copper Shed, and going to Central Park in Marion. The String Daze trio of Ramiro Miranda, Irene Diaz, and Riley Day will be playing Manouche or “gypsy” jazz on cello, violin, and guitar from 11:30 a.m. to noon at the park. A bike safety story walk led by K-State Research and Extension also will be offered.
Other musicians will be stationed along the path.
“One of them is a lady with a musical saw,” Mayo said. “She’ll be set up with a table and her saw.”
Both trails end at Flint Hills Counterpoint’s home base, where wrap lunches from Peabody Market and coffee from Legacy Coffee in Goessel will be offered to bikers.
A concert at the finish line will go from noon to 2 p.m. Masked American roots band Freight Train Rabbit Killer will be on an outdoor stage while country blues singers Dustin Arbuckle (who performed with the Haymakers at Bluegrass at the Lake) and Matt Woods will sing at an indoor stage.
“Susan Mayo is a good friend of mine,” Arbuckle said. “She reached out to me because they were looking for artists to play, and it just so happened that Matt was going to be down here.”
Woods comes from central Iowa and regularly collaborates with Arbuckle. He happened to be in Kansas City the weekend of the bike tour.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing that they are doing, just from the perspective of trying to bring more arts to rural communities,” Arbuckle said.
Tickets are available at flinthillscounterpoint.org. The event will proceed no matter the weather, and an alternate paved route will be available if bikers don’t want to ride on dirt roads.
Cost will be $30 per rider.