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Update from  Kiwi Mike Tomas  07.11.01

Hi everyone,

Our Century Ride Home seems to be gathering huge amounts of momentum since Columbus, OH. The AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) hosted us very well and we were part of the ribbon cutting ceremony. They were very generous and made sure our ride dates coinsided with their unveiling of the 100 Years of Indian display. It was great to have such a warm welcome upon riding in. Also nice to see many familiar faces from the motorcycle and media industry in attendance. Along the way we have been hosted by Tucumcari, NM Chamber of Commerce, Indian Motorcycle of Oklahoma, Indian Motorcycle of Tulsa, Dale Walksler of Wheels Through Time Museum and Mark Mederski and Ed Youngblood of the AMA Musuem. All of the riders have been excellent. The camaraderie is magical and has been one of my main concerns of everybody having a great and safe time. The most challenging day was the first day across the CA desert, 120 degrees is not to be taken lightly. We all looked out for each other. Most machines stood up to the ride even though some of us ride a bit harder than others. Our days up to Columbus, OH have been very long and with days of riding up to 400 miles it sure tests one’s endurance. Keep in mind these are not freeway miles but real back road ridden miles. The earliest bikes to date dates back to 1938 which is ridden by myself and I believe our latest model Indian is a 1951.

In Oklahoma some of our riders got a police escort. They got the grand tour of some great areas. On two other occassions there has been police escorts but the riders were unsure if that was for the better or worse. Maybe they just wanted some of us outta town. Highly unlikely as everyone has been super nice. Some riders are on 2000 model Indians while other riders vary on modern equipment. These guys have really kicked in exceptionally well and keep and eye out for us guys on the older iron. We are very fortunate to have such a great mix of riders and all doing their thing to make the ride such a huge successs. I believe by now we have about 60 riders and tons more each day. The energy and excitement is building. It is great cruising down the highway and looking in the rear view mirror and seeing such a pretty sight of motorcycles.

The Kiwi Indian Freightliner has not been used much as a pick up vehicle and most riders have done very well to survive the days endurances. This rig is fully equiped to handle almost any repair from a top end change out to leaky gas tanks. Joe has been the driver and mechanic/advisor. Many riders have been taught alot about their bikes by Joe. We have a small group called the Pokey Posse which consists of three main original guys. These guys just Poke along, however they are very consistent and usually get in first. One 400 mile day we could have smoked them but we made an executive decision whether to eat at 10pm or head straight for the motel and then eat. It was getting pretty cold out and the way we figured it we would have arrived cold and hungry. By eating when we did we would then only arrive cold which seemed better at the time. At any rate all groups arrived within ten minutes of each other to a warm welcome of the British contingent who have been hanging out since 3pm. Our final arrival time as midnight.
 

7/9/01
Cumberland, MD to Harrisburg, PA, approx 175 miles. Very nice twisty roads for motorcycles. George Wheelock (whose wife passed away from CF and who bought an Indian specifically to do this ride) gave some of us who hung around the deluxe tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield. George is in the military and knew tons about it. I think we spent about 5-6 hours with George riding around the designated sight seeing areas.
 

7/10/01
This was a day to visit Bob's Indian in Etters, PA which is near Harrisburg. Bob's Indian is the oldest and only continually operated Indian motorcycle dealership in the USA. They still have the original agreement from the factory. Bob's is also a Honda dealership and has the oldest Honda motorcycle in the USA, a 1951. Food and beverages were on hand for us. Bob, Robin, Kim and Kay Markey took very good care of us. Some riders were in need of some major repairs, and Bob and Robin kicked right into high gear and took care of it all in their stride. These guys pulled two late nighters to accomodate some riders. I rolled up about 10:30 am and the place was a buzz with guys bikes doing anything from minor work to some major bore jobs. This sort of thing would not happen at a late model motorcycle repair shop. A huge thankyou to Bob's for taking care of all of us especially the guys who were pretty much down and out if it had not been for them.

The local TV station aired us several times live at 5 pm. At 6 pm we were host to two cystic fibrosis children named Brandon and Olivia. These two wonderful kids were given many motorcycle rides which they thoroughly enjoyed. I believe these kids touched each one of us in some way. We cannot lose sight of the benefit that we are riding for and that is Cystic Fibrosis. Indian motorcycles are the common thread that is bonding us. One couple in our group took it upon themselves to take the families out for dinner. A super nice gesture. This same couple has logged many miles of rides for benefits and they said to me that this Century Ride Home will be for sure the most memorable one. Like so many of us. We are all pumped. The bike count is approaching 100 and gathering momentum fast. We have George Yarocki and his friend on their 1929-1930 101 Scouts, these guys are on the oldest bikes now. These guys are real troopers, it's a lot of work to get a 101 to see the whole day through and they are doing it. These final days seem like retirement compared to the fast pace of the first 2500 miles of the journey.

I do apologise for the late start on these updates. Stuff will be added as we go along. The first week zoomed by us without us even noticing it. I was in an interview and was asked something about a specific date. I had to ask the interviewer what day it was and I was shocked to learn that it was exactly a week since our start day, unbelievable. I'll do my best to get more frequent updates on the site seeing as the days rides are a bit shorter now. Our group has quite an international flavor now starting with two of the original riders leaving from CA being an Aussie and a Dutchman. Others now include British and Swedish riders and quite a contingent of them. The Brits are pretty crazy folks.

More to come

Regards
Kiwi Mike Tomas