“Ride Master, are we there yet?”
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| Musings of a Long Distance Rider |
The morning dawned in Buffalo to hazy skies, cool
temperatures and a slight breeze. The riders
needed heated gear and warm gloves to start the day. An early check of the SPOT trackers revealed
a similar pattern from previous days.
Gary Huff was out of the gate early and already near Syracuse before the
rest of the pack took off. At dinner the
night before there were several separate discussions between Tim and me and the
riders. Everyone needed final explanations
about the drill in New York City. And
all seemed to have different plans from the other riders.
As the Saturday ride fully unfolded, those plans made chaos
out of the final Rendezvous dinner, but not in a bad way. The final Rendezvous was always designed to be a "stay or scoot" proposition anyway. Except for Gary Huff, everyone else opted out
of meeting us at the Iron Skillet.
Even Gary showed up late for the final optional Rendezvous meeting by
over an hour. Despite an early start,
making it to the Rendezvous by 5:00PM was just not in the cards for anyone. But Gary gave it a hearty effort and made it
in just as Tim and I were mounting up to get some miles in toward home. Gary put everything into this ride and will likely
be a Gold finisher for the effort. Although
a relative rookie to long-distance events he is quickly racking up impressive finishes
in rallies and long-distance rides. Look
for bigger things from Gary in the future.
Throughout the entire cross country ride the Huval’s have been
meticulous about planning and navigation.
They took the opportunity of the vast number of Waypoints (bonus
locations) in the Wyman Rendezvous to practice their Ride Craft. They sailed through the last leg with
relative ease and will also likely achieve Gold finisher status when the
documentation checking is complete.
Their plans were to take some time to enjoy the sites in New York before
heading home to Louisiana. To start that
process off Nadine decided to dismount the bike and purchase a hot dog from a
street vendor. Welcome to New York!
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| Definitely, 'Out-of-Towners' |
Robert Rehkopf and Doug Vance must have found a way to navigate without Doug’s GPS. Whether they used smoke signals or some form of motorcycle sign language, they made it work. New York City was no problem for the Tennessean’s. They bagged the required bonuses and also obtained a signature on the witness form from one of New York’s finest. I’m always amazed at how friendly and accommodating the police officers are who answer a rider’s request for certification. After completing the Wyman the two were planning to bag more bonuses in the Tour of Honor ride and do some other site seeing.
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| 'But Officer...' |
Along the way Saturday the Rehkopf/Vance team had an
encounter with the Rendezvous staff riders at one of the Service
Areas along the New York State Thruway.
Ever at the ready with his trusty camera phone, Doug snapped this
picture of the staff attempting the Wyman pose in the parking lot. I think some practice is in order.
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| The 'Wyman Pose' |
And then they came upon Richard Worsham giving himself and
the Janus a short rest. There is a
slight mismatch between the two bikes in the picture, but in the end, both made
it the full length of the Wyman ride.
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| Retro and Modern |
Richard was planning to visit relatives that live on Long
Island after completing his Wyman documentation in NYC. At last word they were trying to make it in
to the City to snap some pictures of the triumphant finisher and his Janus
bike. We will certainly share any of
those that come our way. There will be
much written about Richard and his machine in the future. We were honored to be part of his ride.
Sitting in the waiting area at the Iron Skillet in
Bordentown, New Jersey, Tim made a call to the lone unaccounted for rider, Joe
Green. It was fitting that he would once again
be our last concern of the day. Our plan
was to wait there for him and Gary Huff so we could at least offer a handshake
upon their ride completion. As I
listened to Tim verbally walk Joe through the documentation requirements for
completing the ride I knew Tim would next ask him if he planned to come to the
Iron Skillet Rendezvous location. As
soon as that non-requirement was explained to Joe the front wheel of his bike
turned south toward Florida. With that conversation
we knew that all seven participants had successfully finished the ride.
And so the last ceremonial act would be to shake hands with
Gary Huff when he arrived and then likewise turn our wheels homeward. There was a wall of rain in front of us to
the south but we wanted to get some miles in to shorten the rest of the ride
home. As we readied our bikes to go a
solo rider whipped into the parking lot and pulled to a stop. The tired biker dismounted and made his way
over to our bikes. I’ve seen that look
many times. Gary was spent, but had gone
the full measure to make it to the last Rendezvous stop. We exchanged a few thoughts, pledged further
communication after the scoring was done, and that was it. The 2018 Wyman Rendezvous was officially
over.
The 2018 - Wyman Memorial Challenge, 'Rendezvous' - Grand Tour was certainly a challenge. The daily miles and number of Wyman waypoints, sometimes 15 or more each day, made for a very demanding ride. The 'Rendezvous' was designed to be as hard or as easy as one chose make it. Tim and I took meticulous notes on how the 'Rendezvous' concept can be improved. Plans for the 2020 version are in the works,
theoretically. In a few days we will post a final report. Stay tuned.
