Rocky Hill Saloon?

For those of you who have never been there, this is a picture of what is left of the Rocky Hill Ranch Saloon. For those of you who have, and didn't know, sorry to be the one to tell you, but it is being torn down. The Rocky Hill Ranch Saloon was a local watering hole in Smithville, Texas where you might find an old MTN bike friend or meet a new one. One of my oldest MTN bike friends, "Floyd" even got married here. Aside from the bar, the property contains one of the most famous MTN trails in the state of Texas, simply known as, "Rocky Hill". For those riders out of state, be assured the trail is in excellent shape, and the riders are just as friendly as ever. In fact, the trail map actually says, "RIDE ANYWHERE U WANT, BE SAFE, HAVE FUN". Ever seen that on a trail map in California? Not likely. To be sure, Rocky Hill is very much alive to MTN riders. Last weekend was the infamous 24-hrs of Smithville and I hear it was another great event. But what about the bar? The word on the street is, the property owners are back as on site as full time managers and will be replacing the Saloon with some kind of events center. Sounds nice, and they say they're demolishing it carefully so they can re-use some elements in the new structure. However, it is sad to see the place half ripped apart. There was something really neat about this largely unknown little hole where riders would meet, re-group or remember the days events. One friend of mine, I only remember as "Super Dave" introduced me to a whole different MTN community one Friday evening on a race weekend. Even though I may not have known it at the time he helped me see the value of relationship over distractions that otherwise captured my attention in those days, like going fast, or wining races. Time marches on, things change and the Rocky Hill Saloon is, well... gone.