Today I am writing from the comfort in at Corydon, IN. We have traveled for seven days together, and I have met some new folks, and renewed friendships with folks that I have not seen in two years. All of them are great people, and good riders. I can keep pace with anyone, but cannot actually do my job of "truck whisperer" and ride in the pack. So I am at the back of every line we have. Sometimes it means I do not get to eat dinner, because the food has run out, sometimes I miss out on things, but I chose to do this job.
Today, and yesterday, Stan Ironfish Hanley, told folks to quit worrying about me and the way and where I ride. He told them that I choose where I need to be in the pack, and that he and they needed me to do what I do.
Now here is what I do. In May of 2005 I quickly realized that if we do not inform big trucks what we are doing, and why we are doing it a vacuum forms, and nature fills vacuums. So I started talking to them, I did this again in 2006. I rode in the pack, and just every now and again told the truck drivers that we are on a mission, not a rally, not a party, not a poker run. Suddenly they started saying "God bless you", instead of saying we should be road kill, or get off their highway.
In 2007 I met Krazy Karl Hartz, actually helped him get back on his goldwing at a truck stop where we fueled. He dropped the bike when it became hi centered in a spot where his legs did not hit the ground.
He and I developed a script, and procedure for talking big trucks past the pack. It works great, and getting truckers talking positive about us makes it much easier to move the pack across the country.
I get choked up when I say this on the radio because I miss and respect Karl. He can not do the run anymore, and I can not replace him, so I will just go back to doing it alone. "In the words of Karl Hartz (sometimes I say Krazy Karl) "God Bless the American Soldier, and the Great American Trucker, if this country loses either, we are lost." Believe it or not this works wonderfully to get truckers on our side. Starting tomorrow we are on a true battlefield, and every inch we lose could cost a life. I need the trucks to cooperate, and I am pretty good at calming the drivers down.
Bounce
