Saturday, April 27, 2019

Truckee Wyman Plaque Dedication

The Truckee California Information Center held the dedication ceremony of the Wyman memorial plaque and Waypoint sign at 12:00 noon, Monday, May 20th. (Truckee Visitors Welcome Center, 10065 Donner Pass Rd)

Left to right:  Chaun, Tim, Greg and Ruth
The dedication ceremony was conducted by Greg Zirbel, Vice President,  Chaun L. Owens-Mortier, Secretary, representing the Truckee-Donner Historical Society and Ruth Geresy, Director of Operation, Truckee Chamber of Commerce.  Ruth is also the manager of the California Welcome Center that occupies the historic Truckee RR Depot pictured in the background.  Tim Masterson, President/Project Manager, represented The George A. Wyman Memorial Project.

The Wyman memorial plaque and Waypoint sign will be on display in the historic Truckee RR Depot in the Truckee-Donner Historical Society.



Here is what Wyman wrote about his departure from the Donner Summit Hotel to Truckee the morning of May 20, 1903. 

     "It did not help me get through the dark, damp, dismal tunnel, 1,700 feet long, that afforded the only means of egress from Summit. I walked through that, of course, and emerging, continued to walk, or rather, I tried to walk. Where the road should have been was a wide expanse of snow - deep snow. As there was nothing else to do, I plunged into it and floundered, waded, walked, slipped, and slid to the head of Donner Lake. It took me an hour to cover the short distance. At the Lake the road cleared and to Truckee, 10 miles down the canyon, was in excellent condition for this season of the year."

G.A Wyman, Over the Sierras and Through the Show Sheds, The Motorcycle Magazine, June 1903 Vol 1, No. 1

Donner Lake to Truckee Ride  The festivities began at 11:30am with a group of modern day motorcyclists recreating Wyman's ride from the head of Donner Lake, along Donner Pass road into historic downtown Truckee.  The Wyman riders are:  Rob Leftwich, Truckee Police Chief, Jim Riley, VP of Truckee Dirt Riders, Scott Bonneville, Rob Lynn Stu Wik and Paul Spencer.

Wyman Riders - Donner Lake head to Truckee.

In the background, on the side of the snow capped mountain, you can see the railroad snow sheds that Wyman left to make his way down the side of the mountain to the head of Donner Lake, where he rode his motorcycle along Donner Pass Road into historic downtown Truckee.

The 520.2 Truckee waypoint is sponsored by Dave McQueeney
Dave is a legend in the long-distance riding community.  Member of the Iron Butt Association and Iron Butt Rally finisher number 29.  Dave has logged and certified over 2,000,000 miles in his long-distance riding career.  His name appears in the official Iron Butt Association record books 128 times as of this writing.  He is truly one of...

"The World's Toughest Motorcycle Riders"