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| Musings of a Long Distance Rider |
The Iron Butt Association has sanctioned the George A. Wyman Memorial Challenge to pay tribute to the first long-distance motorcyclist. It is composed of two certificate events:
Grand Tour, visiting Wyman waypoints along the way and the 50cc Gold - San
Francisco to New York City in under 50 hours.
The Wyman Memorial Challenge is certified only from San Francisco to New
York City and only between May 16 and July 6.
George is in the IBA record books as the first motorcyclist to ride from
San Francisco to New York City, earning Platinum finisher status having established
all the waypoints.
As of this writing, there are only ten riders who have
finished the IBA Wyman Memorial Challenge – Grand Tour. Four riders have finished a Wyman Memorial Challenge
- 50CC Gold: Matt Wise, Bruce Edwards,
Joe Majsak and Wyman Project co-founder Tim Masterson.
The Wyman Memorial Challenge – Grand Tour finishers:
Dan Clark Bronze
Danny Dossman Gold
Robert Stransky Gold
John Graham Gold
Bill Cumbie Gold
Duncan Ragsdale Finisher
Krista Tutor (pillion) Finisher
Howard Entman Gold
Cliff Wall Gold
Tim Masterson Gold
George Wyman (1903) Platinum
Seven riders will try to add their names to the list in New
York City later today.
Friday was moving day at the Wyman. After the Thursday night “party” atmosphere
in Naperville, IL with Iron Butt Association President Mike Kneebone and a nice
gathering of well-wishers, the rider group had to turn their sights toward New
York and the completion of the goal they started in San Francisco on Monday
morning. The final push for ride certification
is where personal nerves and stamina, as well as bike preparation are tested
the most. The pressure of keeping the
wheels rolling and the need to complete the usual ride requirements of
obtaining dated business receipts in the specified locations are more difficult
as the body tires and the miles drag on.
The only respite from the grind on Leg 5 was a stop at the
Janus motorcycle plant in Goshen, Indiana.
Richard Worsham’s partners, team members, family and friends were all on
hand to greet the riders as they came through town. Inside the plant they had Richard’s Halcyon
250 in full pit stop mode and at times the activity seemed like a bee hive of
organized movement as they readied the bike for its return to the road. The full model line of Janus bikes was
displayed out front. I spoke with
several riders at the end of the day and all reported that the plant tour was
the highlight of the day. Tim and I were
taking bets on whether Richard would be able to pull himself away from the
comforts of home and get back on the road.
A quick check of his SPOT signal a while later confirmed that he was indeed
rolling again.
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| Janus 'Pit Crew' in action |
Doug Vance continued to have trouble with his factory GPS on
the Harley-Davidson. In an email from
the road he reported that the trip was going well but that the GPS touchscreen
worked sometimes and at others was non-functional. Traveling with Robert Rehkopf, Doug was
getting most of his directions regarding which way to go from Robert, a system
that worked about as well as his touchscreen according to Doug. At dinner last night in Buffalo the two could
be heard in a friendly squabble about how, when and where to go to achieve the
finish in New York City. Leaving the
restaurant, they paused at their bikes in the parking lot and asked me if I
knew the way to the Super 8 motel. This
should be an interesting finish for the dynamic duo from Tennessee.
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| Dynamic Duo Robert striking the 'Wyman Pose' |
John and Nadine Huval finished in time for the scheduled
dinner at 7:00PM as did Gary Huff.
Actually Gary finished a lot earlier as he has every day. When you leave at 2:30AM you tend to beat the
crowd. The downside, which he expressed regrets
for at dinner, is that he missed the group gathering at the Sherman Summit and
also missed out on the Janus factory tour today as well. You plan your ride and ride your plan. Sometimes it means you sacrifice going to
places you wished you could go or at least could go at a better time. There will be other rides for Gary to
socialize on. For this one he has one
goal – to be a Gold finisher. Needing
only three more regular Wyman Waypoint bonuses and the final obligatory visit
to New York City, he should achieve his goal, theoretically.
The Huval’s continue to ride well. Tomorrow John will pilot their Gold Wing into
NYC for the finish, a task I wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially riding two
up. I road my Wing in 2016 into the traffic
snarl that is the Big Apple. Any
seasoned rally rider will tell you that timing is everything when it comes to
taking a bite of the Apple instead of it biting you. The riders tomorrow have a choice. They can sleep in late to catch up on needed
rest and take a leisurely trip over to Albany and then down to the City. Or they can bust out of the gate early in
hopes of beating the traffic. John has
never been to New York City. His
navigator has. The final day will test
their skills as a team. If they can pull
this off it will bode well for future rally endeavors. To celebrate what they anticipate will be a triumphant
conclusion they plan to motor around to see some of the tourist sites that John
has yet to enjoy. Who rides from San
Francisco to New York City then rides around to see the sites? John and Nadine Huval from Lafayette, Louisiana,
that’s who. Conjures up thoughts of “The
Out-of-Towners” to me.
Joe Green is having a great ride. Every day he has been at the back of the
rider pack by design. He is making as
many stops as he can and getting as much out of every stop as he can. It’s easy to get caught up in the historical
significance of the George Wyman ride.
As the days pile on you begin to realize how entirely tied to the railroad
system the original ride was. When you
leave the freeway and travel down the two-lanes into the small towns that still
dot the countryside your bike is drawn to the center of town, inevitably to a
train depot or boarding house and likely to a sign that Tim Masterson has
orchestrated the installation of. If
anyone other than Richard Worsham on his Janus depicts the spirit of George
Wyman on this ride, it would be Joe. His
determination to ride the dirt roads, totally alone mind you, and his push to
bag as many Wyman sites as possible have endeared him to the group. We may even forget that nickname we game
him. Maybe Joe Wyman is more fitting.
I was at the Janus plant about to leave when Joe rode in
behind me. I lingered a bit to exchange
pleasantries and to see how he was doing and then went about my preparation to
ride. Of all the people milling around
in the parking lot at the plant, it was Richard Worsham who first came over to greet
Joe at his bike. With my earplugs
already in I couldn’t hear the conversation they were having. What I could see though
were the wide grins on both faces as they spoke to each other. The two had been thrown together by the
coincidence of Joe’s riding decisions and Richard’s choice of mount. Lingering always at the back of the pack the
two found themselves linked by circumstances on more than one occasion. It was Richard that called in Joe’s fall in
the Upsal dirt. It was Joe that helped
Richard get the limping Janus back to safe confines. The two riders who had started the Wyman as
total strangers were now road tested friends.
They stood talking about the ride in a parking lot in Goshen, Indiana, 115
years after George Wyman rode through town.
The spirit lives on.
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| Wyman entering NYC, July 6, 1903 |
New York City awaits.
Stay tuned...
