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| Musings of a Long Distance Rider |
The wide open spaces and big sweeping interstate highways
gave way yesterday to the snarls and mayhem of the land east of the Mississippi
River. About half way through Iowa you
begin to feel your mood turn. The day
started with green pastures, grain silos, painted red barns and clean air. Soon, I was confronted with construction - lots
of choking construction. Two lanes
become one and tall orange cones create the new roadway where there was
none. After I crossed the mighty river the
eastern snarl seems to have me firmly in its grasp. Average speeds drop continuously and
frustration levels grow quickly. Truckers control the flow and pace and you are
helpless to do anything about it. Sit back
and relax. It just gets worse. To allow
it to control your thoughts will only make matters worse.
I had that problem upon arrival in Naperville, IL. I was thoroughly frustrated and I let my
riding buddy and Wyman partner Tim Masterson know about it. I was worried that our fellow riders would
sense the same frustration and stage a massive revolt against the Wyman
Rendezvous concept. Riding in to save
the day was Mike Kneebone and a small army of Iron Butt enthusiasts who met us
at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Naperville for what will surely be one of our
best evening Rendezvous meals of the trip.
On hand from the IBA world besides Mike were Donna and Jim Fousek and Ed
Otto. Other local area riders (some rode
almost 100 miles) were Brian North, Fred Bode and David Riddle. We even had one of Richard Worsham’s Janus
riders, John Tan, in attendance for a short time just to say hi and take
pictures of the group.
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| 'Rendezvous' 4 Dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy Naperville, IL where Wyman remained over night in 1903 |
There were lots of questions from the outside
attendees. When did you start the
ride? How long are you riding each
day? How many bonus stops do you have to
make? How was the weather? Each rider took a stab at answering the questions
being thrown about. There were also many
questions for Richard Worsham about his Janus mount and the trials he’s faced
along the route. Mike Kneebone sat next
to Richard and they seemed to be in deep discussion about the bike assembly
process and the workings of the bike. After
dinner a group of us gathered around the bike in the parking lot as Richard
explained some of the intricacies of his machine and how he was making it work
for LD riding.
Missing from our group were Robert Rehkopf and Doug Vance
who were still on the road. Doug’s
Harley-Davidson, built by a company founded the same year of Wyman’s epic ride,
had some GPS issues. A stop at a local
dealer along the way didn’t solve the problem but it did cost them a chance to
enjoy dinner with the group. By the end
of the night they had made it to Naperville and secured a room. All the chickens had come back to roost.
The rest of the crew all made it in for the Rendezvous
dinner on time, or nearly on time in Joe “Dirt” Green’s case. Joe has yet to make the dinner event at the
prescribed time but is inching closer with each day. His dedication to completing the Gold
certification outweighs his need for chit chat at dinner, but we enjoy
discussing his off road experiences each night.
He made every bonus stop on today’s route. He stands a good chance of completing his
goal without further incident as there is less off road riding on this portion
of the trip, but he may not ever make dinner on time. Perhaps if he would give up that dirt road
riding altogether…
John and Nadine Huval revealed an extra benefit for two up
riding teams in the Wyman. When they
arrive at a Wyman Waypoint Nadine can read them the information from Wyman’s
daily report while John takes down the necessary bonus info. In this way they get a better appreciation
for what was going on in Wyman’s world at that point in time and at that
location. Having done the ride on my own
I can testify that bagging a Wyman bonus is much like bagging bonuses in a
standard rally format. There is not much
time (if you’re going for Gold certification) to sit and ponder the
circumstances from 1903. It was only
after I returned home and had a chance to revisit the Rider’s Guide that I
could appreciate where I was and what I had seen. Riding back through the same territory this
year has given me a better appreciation of what Wyman pulled off.
Tim and I spent the day again yesterday making Wyman
business stops, checking in at various locations to inquire about the progress of
getting a sign posted or in the case of existing plaque locations just saying
thanks to the folks that made it happen.
In Denison, IA we stopped at the City Hall and asked for the mayor. In small towns the mayor position is often a
part time gig and the helpful folks at the counter placed a call to the mayor
to inquire whether he could take time from his regular job to meet with a
couple of guys in motorcycle gear. That
wasn’t exactly what they said but that’s the way my brain processed it.
After a make shift drawing of the street layout on a sticky
note we were directed to go this way and that and then to go in the door next
to the Donna Reed theatre. “You mean
Donna Reed of the Donna Reed show?” I asked like a typical tourist. I was informed by the proud locals that Denison
was indeed the childhood home of Donna Reed and that they had a theater
downtown named after her. All I could
counter with was, “Did you know George Wyman slept here in 1903?” We left the ladies with quizzical looks on
their faces and scurried over to meet the mayor. I repeated my question to him with the same
result. Tim took over the selling job
after that and by the end of the meeting we had a commitment to erect a plaque
and a waypoint sign and to proclaim a George Wyman day in Denison each year on
the day of his visit.
I didn’t have time to get much from Richard Worsham about
his ride yesterday but I should be able to catch up with him on the Friday ride. The group plans a stop at the Janus plant in
Goshen, Indiana which also happens to be the host site for a Wyman plaque
commemorating his ride through town. How
fitting is it that Goshen now is home to Richard’s motorcycle business? The rider discussion about the Friday ride
day and in particular the plans for the nightly Rendezvous was the last topic
before leaving the table. Most seemed
committed to an early start. The only
rider I can say will achieve that with certainty is Gary Huff. I don’t think he actually sleeps. He’s always the first one out and the first
one back in. I expect that trend to
continue.
Our sincere appreciation to Mike Kneebone and friends for
making the Naperville Rendezvous stop a fantastic success. Time to shuffle off to Buffalo.
