Well I have not been writing much. Mostly because sleep is pretty important. Right now I am multi tasking. It is time to do Laundry. So here is what has happened this week so far.
Tuesday we departed Williams Arizona for Gallup New Mexico. A very uneventful Day. No escorts, but a great stop in Holbrook. The high school band performed, and I had to go to Gallup alone because my clutch was acting up. Got it fixed quick, and it was not really expensive.
While waiting for the repairs I walked to a great Italian resturauant called Fratellis. I had Pasta and Meat Balls and Tiramasu. My Waitress was Awesome, her Name was Elenia. I hope I spelled that right. The food was great and the service was outstanding. I highly recomend this resturauant when visiting Gallup and I will be back there.
Wednesday was a great day. good Weather and a Presidential style escort from Gallup to Angel fire. That memorial is very special. I Met two workers from the Memorial. Monty and Dorry. I left Clyde's Old license plate with them and will be mailing them a donation form with the information about how that came about. The plate reads FNG05. I got it in 2006. I was an FNG in 2005. Okay now for the story of how I named Clyde the motorcycle. I bought this bike in March of 2005. I had not ridden or owned a motorcycle since 1997. Then I had a Yamaha TDM 850. Clyde is a 2004 Royal Star Venture. Probably 400 pounds heavier than a TDM 850. The first few tmes I rode him I dropped him a lot. Picking him up was not an easy feat. But this is how the name came about. I was listenng to a local radio station in Wisconsin Rapids, the DJ was doing a battle of songs with two Ray Stevens songs. The first was "The Shriners Convention" the second was "Ahab the Arab". The Arab song was playing and the line about Ahab jumping on his camel Clyde was playing and the bike started to go over. I said "Come on Clyde don't do this". And the bike stayed up. So he instantly became Clyde the motorcycle.
Back to the trip to Angel Fire. Our surprise guest speaker was a true friend of mine. He went all the way in 2017. Leroy Petrie is an amazing man. He recieved the medal of honor in 2011 for actions beyond the call of duty in Afghanistan. His story is on You Tube, and it is amazing. I sat down to listen to him speak, and his assistant said to me "You are here. He's been looking for you and asking where you are". Wow that almost floored me. I gave him a big hug, and we talked while he handed out pins and patches.
Leroy wants to do the Run again. He will be welcomed. I personally think he would be perfect for our outreach team, and he could if allowed do that in a car, and be a back up last mn vehicle for that team.
We talked for a while and he promised me one of his Challenge coins that is a big deal.
Top picture is Leroy and bottom one is the desert I had at Fratellis. Sorry about the placement. I am still figuring out how this tablet works. Any way I will be staying in touch with my friend.
Now for Angel Fire to Limon. That was actually a good ride except for stopping the entire pack on the side of the road. Loads of folks though it ws done so they could put raingear on. It Wasn't. The advance teams rode through a hail storm, Leadership decided to not ride through that. People were told we were going to be sitting for about 30 minutes to let the weather clear, and if they wanted to they could put on raingear. But the stop happened because golf ball size hail hurts. There are pictures in the Central Route SitRep.
So then was Ratone, and finally Limon. At Limon I decided that I am going to write a book on the history of RFTW. I feel that things are being forgotten. I already have several stories from some 89ers (that is the name given to the original RFTW riders). I also have Mike Many Bikes sending me things from one of the original 89ers. That will go in the book in it's entirety.
I also plan to include the "Bounce" Chronicles. Stories that are already written here. Wish me luck. That will be a lot of work. But I'm betting it will sell well.
So yesterday we rode to Junction City Kansas from Limon Colorado. Limon was not a big stop at night. But the breakfast provided by Olivers was fantastic. The only problem we had on the way to Junction City was the wind. gusts over 30 knots was not fun. But Junction City welcomes us very well. We had a Patriot Guard style flag line to ride past, that is always wow for me, and the FNG riders really enjoyed it.
Dinner was meatloaf and it was great.
Today was one of my busiest days on the Run. I went to OOIDA from the Topeka fuel stop and did an interview with Land Line now magazine. Also gave the folks there 50 2026 Run pins. GO GO Gomeez and two friends came along, and we saluted the pack as they went by. Then we got to Wenzville. Had some rain at the end of the day but it was not too bad. Tomorrow is St Louis MO. The police shut down 270 and 255 for us. They ran a rolling road block today, and routed us around a major accident. While at the Topeka fuel stop I answered questions for a local TV reporter. He wanted to know why I do this. I told him the truth, I really have no answer. I ride for those who can't just like everyone else, but when I think about it the Run is good for me. The Road Guards say they mis the days of me telling trucks how great a front door that they make.
Thats it for tonight.
