Iron Butt Ride to North Dakota

 

I am back from my cross country adventure.  I rode from Idaho to North Dakota to see my aunt on her 90th birthday and  to see if I am as much of a motorcycle rider as I think I am.

 

I left a little after 5 am on Thursday May 21st.  I had been checking the weather forecasts and it was looking like I could have some cold air to ride through for the first part of the trip.  There was a hard frost outside.  I do not have electric gloves, or a windshield or fairing.  I wanted to make the trip on my 2007 Harley-Davidson XL883 Sportster - stock except for a Sundowner seat and a mid-height sissy bar and rear shelf.  I packed my leather "weekender" 2-piece backpack set onto the bike.  Bungied it to the sissy bar.  Bungied my old down gi "mountain" sleeping bag to the shelf and suited up.  I wore my regular socks and 2 pair of wool boot socks over them (I hate cold feet).  I have a FirstGear insulated rain/cold coveralls that work very good.  I wore my old leather jacket over top of that and also put my wool scarf on to keep my neck warm.  I have a HJC full face helmet that I wore a watch cap under to keep my noggin warm.  Then for those poor hands - my weak point.

Since I don't have electric gloves, I use some FirstGear Dakota insulated gauntlet gloves which work well most of the time.  I read somewhere about people using vinyl "examination" gloves underneath to add a layer of insulation.  I tried it.

 

Rode to town.  Found a gas station where the attendant would sign as a witness for me.  Gassed the bike up.  Went inside and did the paperwork.  So far, so good.

 

Then I hit the road.  Went up over 4th of July pass.  The temp kept dropping.  Now the air was in the 20's.  Kept moving my fingers to try to keep blood flowing.  It was a losing battle.  I pressed on with determination to make it to Wallace - only 48 miles or so from the start.  I can't get stopped now.  But I was starting to lose feeling in my fingers.  This wasn't good.  I found a visitors center with a rest room.  They had those "blow dry" hand warmers.  What a lifesaver!  I thawed my hands out and they hurt like crazy.  But stinging is good - it means that I didn't get frostbite bad on anything.  And after what seemed like way too long, I was all warmed up and back on the road.  Up the hill to Montana.  It was still cold.  Snow on the peaks around me.  Not quite as bad as the first ride, but then, I only went 20 miles or less.  Found another rest area and did the "blow dry" hands thing again to make those fingers work.  Back on the road to Missoula.  Checked fuel and made one intermediate stop at Superior.

 

One of the locals asked me how big my bike was.  Told him it was the little Sportster and he lost interest in looking at the bike.  Off to Missoula.  The air was warmer.  Hit road construction on the way.  Felt like this was taking forever and I wasn't putting down miles.  Finally got to Missoula.  Gassed up.  Headed for Butte.  Now I was making time.  Lots of wind, though.  Decided to play it safe and stop for gas at Deer Lodge.  Quick stop. Back on the road.  Things are feeling better.  Got to Butte.  Grooves in the pavement.  Not fun.  Gassed up and headed for the Continental Divide.  Little bike purred right up the grade.  No problem.  Cool at the top.  Glad I had the coveralls on.  Everything working good.

 

Stopped at Wheat Montana for lunch and gassed up early.  They have great bread.  Made me feel refreshed.  Lots more wind.  Not doing great for gas mileage with the speed limit being 75.  Gassed up in Livingston.  Now this is falling into a nice routine.  Off to Billings.  Sun is shining.  Still moderately cool, but the warmest I've seen so far - probably 60's.  Comfortable riding.  At the Billings gas stop I took off my long underwear and t-shirt under my flannel shirt.  Still kept the coveralls on, but I lost the wool scarf and the watch cap.  Moderately warm, but still fine.  Wind and bugs.  Stopped in Forsyth.  Now I'm cleaning bugs off the face mask so I can see at every gas stop.

 

Pushed on to Glendive.  At this rate I may make it to North Dakota before dark.  I can see big thunderheads forming and the clouds look dark underneath with lightning striking in the distance.  Yes, it is summer on the plains.  Gassed up in Glendive.  Back on the road.  It's getting darker.  Crossed into North Dakota.  The sun is setting and the pavement shows that they had showers earlier.  About 20 miles west of Dickinson it starts raining.  Light at first.  I find the wheel track that is mostly  dry to ride on.  It's cooling off, too.  When I gas up at Dickinson I put the long underwear, scarf, and watch cap back on.  A sheriff's deputy at the filling station mentions that there is road construction before Bismarck.  In a way, I am thankful, because then all traffic will be going slower.  Slower is good in the rain.

 

I get through the road construction.  Traffic is light.  Crossed the Missouri River.  Now I am on  Central time.  Gassed up in Bismarck.  Last leg up to Minot.  First 40 miles are relatively quiet.  Then the rain showers pick up.  The full face helmet is working good.  The leather gauntlet gloves are doing their part, too.  Even so, I slow down for safety.  Slow and steady gets me there safe.

 

I'm wondering who will be open at 2:00 in the morning to witness the end of the ride.  Probably only the truck stop.  That's where I head after looking at a couple filling stations that were false alarms (not open that time of night with a real person).  I head into the truck stop and ask the attendant if he will sign for me.  He's a nice guy and says he'll help.  We do the paperwork and I head over to my mom's house to find a spot to sleep.  It is just past midnight pacific, so I don't feel overly exhausted.  It has been a good ride.

 

Paul Brand

 

 

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Run For The Wall

By Teri Troyer

On May 15, 2009 nine members of the Lone Wolf HOG Chapter, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho headed east to join up with the Central Route of Run For The Wall. There were about 400 riders in Corydon, IN when we joined their mission. Run for the Wall, which has two routes (Central and Southern) were in route for Washington DC to join up with Rolling Thunder XXII.

Rolling Thunder is an organization, primarily on the east coast, whose mission is “to publicize the POW-MIA issue: to educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners of War-Missing in Action. We were also committed to helping American Veterans from all wars.” (taken from the Rolling Thunder Mission Statement).

On the Sunday of Memorial weekend, Rolling Thunder and their supporters gather at the Pentagon parking lots to stage for a parade through the streets of Washington DC. The parade is to raise the public’s awareness of the POW-MIA issue.  On May 24, 2009 in Washington DC over 500,000 motorcyclists from across the United States and as far away as Australia rode in Rolling Thunder XXII.

To further explain the connection, myself and Greg Ernst, owner of Lone Wolf Harley Davidson, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho had just met and were in a conversation in July, 2008 about motorcycle events that really touched our souls. It turns out that Greg and I were both at the Rolling Thunder XX in May, 2007. He and his son Bill had rode from St. Louis, MO to DC with RFTW. It was their first year so they were known as FNG’s (Frickin New Guy). I had flown into DC that weekend for family time and had heard about Rolling Thunder from a local Harley-Davidson dealership.

 It was an event that I had to be at so to get the best pictures possible I stood on the east end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, with Arlington Cemetery in the background. The bikes were going to come from the Pentagon and across the bridge on their way to Constitution Ave. At this time I didn’t fully understand what the purpose was behind Rolling Thunder. The purpose being to bring awareness to the POW/MIA issues. As I watched hundreds of bikes, all members of the organization Rolling Thunder ride passed I witnessed a silent wave come across bridge. There was a pickup truck with at least ten big flags flying in the bed of the truck. Being pulled behind the truck was a flatbed trailer with a bamboo cage and an aging POW sitting in it. As he passed by everyone got quiet and then broke into cheers of support for him as he rolled on. That one scene totally floored me. It placed a passion in me to return to be a part of this event. Gerald McCullar is the man in the cage.  I spoke with him about his part in Rolling Thunder. He said that he was a Vietnam era vet. He has never been a POW but has portrayed a POW for 23 years to help get the message across to the public and our elected officials that POW-MIA really do exist. He said, “I want to demand the politicians do the job that they were elected to do and to bring our men home.” He doesn’t want our current or future vets to ever have to experience being a POW-MIA.

Greg and I shared our passion for this event with many others and by May 15, 2009 there were 7 others, including Greg’s other son Chris, who had committed to make a Run for the Wall with us. This year we choose to ride a more northern route from Coeur d’Alene, ID to Madison, WI and then drop south to meet up with the Central Route of Run For The Wall in Corydon, IN.

The first stop that we made once leaving Corydon was a Veterans Memorial Hospital in New  Albany, IN. The hospital staff was so excited to see us and many went upstairs to visit the vets that were staying in the hospital. Then we rode to Frankfort, KY to visit the Kentucky Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. This memorial is like a large sundial.  A stainless steel gnomon casts its shadow upon a granite plaza where 1,100 names of Kentuckians on the memorial, including 23 missing in action. Each name is engraved into the plaza, and placed so that the tip of the shadow touches his name on the anniversary of his death, thus giving each fallen veteran a personal Memorial Day. There were a couple of speeches made. One by a gentleman that served under Lieutenant General George Smith Patton in World War II. Then one by Joe Milliner, 88 years old and a member of the Rolling Thunder Kentucky 4 Chapter. He said that there was a name placed out on that memorial that did not belong there. It was CW3 William Patrick Milliner, his son. On March 6, 1971, WO John F. Hummel, pilot, and WO William P. Milliner, co-pilot, were flying an AH1G Cobra helicopter gunship . They were with B/7/1 CAV, 1st Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army returning from a combat support mission over Laos when radio contact was lost. There was a search launched but neither man was found. They were listed as POW’s. Then on 12/06/1978 William Patrick Milliner was Declared dead. Yet throughout the years his father Joe had been hearing of sightings of his son. In 2005 Joe received a letter from a doctor that had treated William. He was still being held captive, had lost part of his right arm, part of his right ear and had broken his jaw but was still alive after 34 years. This letter gave hope to a father that has been searching for his son all of these years.  To this date, William is still being held captive as far as anyone knows.

This is the reason we do this ride. This was one of those life changing moments for me. What can I do? What can we do?  We can keep in contact with our elected officials and remind them that our men are still alive and still missing. Let’s bring them home.

That night we spent the night in Huracane, WV. As the bikes were nearing town on the interstate, they rounded a corner and there hovering just above the horizon was a Huey helicopter. They were there to finish escorting the riders to the fairgrounds.

Our next destination was Rainelle, WV. Many events occur during the Run For The Wall and what happens every year in Rainelle was  one that we were looking forward to experiencing. Rainelle is a small coal mining town in the hill country of West Virginia. Twenty One years ago when James Gregory and Bill Evans, the founders of Run For The Wall,  first began the reconnaissance mission to set up the routes for Run for the Wall, they ran into a little snag in West Virginia. They were making plans to bring over 100 bikes across country to DC but when they got to West Virginia they found that part of the route included an Express Way with toll booths. James and Bill tried unsuccessfully to get the State of West Virginia to allow all of the bikes to roll through the tolls and have just one person pay the toll for all of the bikes. Having each individual bike stop and pay would create a very time consuming bottle neck at the toll booths, so they pulled out their GPS’s of the time (aka: an Atlas) and found that highway 60 would cut past the toll roads and work fine.

When those 100 plus bikes come rolling through the winding two lane country road they came riding through the small mining town of Rainelle. What the riders didn’t know was the local sheriff had gotten a heads up from another sheriff that the riders were coming. He had contacted the entire township of Rainelle and within an hour’s time had the entire town lining the main streets to honor the riders as they came through. The school children were let out of class to sit on the lawn and cheer the bikers on as they rode past.  It was such a moving experience that the entire parade of bikes rode all the way through town and then came back through and parked at the school. The veterans mingled with the children and town folk and were touched by the support that they received from everyone. The members of the Run For The Wall saw how poor the community was and how desperate the school was for playground equipment and for books for the library. They passed the hat and the veterans donated money to the Rainelle school. Many of these riders were barely able to pay for their trip to DC, yet they dug down deep into their pockets and gave to the school.

The stop in Rainelle has become one of the high points of the Central Route every since.  The kids all wait for the riders to come in and ask for autographs and smile for pictures with the vets. This year the riders donated just shy of $12,000.00 to the Rainelle schools with an anonymous donor putting up another $10.000.00.

The next day were rode into Washington DC to spend the weekend participating in all of the Run For The Wall activities and then the Rolling Thunder parade on Sunday.  It was totally amazing to see 500,000 motorcycles all in one area.  A sea of bikes. Hats off to the Rolling Thunder crew. The bikes began coming into the Pentagon parking lots at 6:00am and by 11:30 everyone was parked and ready for the parade.

The parade it’s self was exciting and moving at the same time. Hundreds of thousands of people lined all of the streets in DC and cheered as the bikes rode past. For many vets this weekend and this parade was the welcome home and the beginning of the healing process.

 

 

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
 

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the  tomb of the Unknowns and why?
 

 21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.
 

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?
 

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1
 

 

3. Why are his gloves wet?
 

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.
 

 

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?
 

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.
 

5. How often are the guards changed?
 

Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
 

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?
 

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30"
Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of
their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.
There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.
 

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable  people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe Louis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.
 

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.
 

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.
 

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding
the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that  can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.
 

God Bless and keep them.