75 Tanks

It is official, Jeff is running the American Motorcyle Rally...

http://americanmotorcyclerally.com/

In order to keep the same blog location, Jeff's American Motorcycle Rally will appear on the map in Green. To get a better view of the route taken, you'll simply need to zoom in on the map.

Jeff had a good showing of support at this weekend's FM Crusader's Bike Show. Thanks to all who already sponsored a tank of gas for this upcoming motorcylce rally. If you would like to buy Jeff a tank of gas, please go to http://goo.gl/Y03bl . Also, if you have any connections for corporate sponsors, send an email to the Facebook page at 75tanks@groups.facebook.com

More in the upcoming weeks leading to the June 13-23, 2012 American Motorcycle Rally!

And yes, it did get to 78 degrees in Fargo today...wow!

Jeff did have 3 more tanks filled before "the pickup" incident...

~Bob "Thumper" from FM Crusaders filled up at Pikesville, KY
~Scott W (NYC!) filled up at Boone, NC
~John V (NYC!) put one on in Bryson, NC

Here's the article from Saturday's Fargo Forum

Fargo man's 10,000-mile, $500,000 motorcycle race cut short by crash

FARGO – With only 3,000 miles left in a 10,000-plus mile trek, Jeff Westgard’s shot at winning the Hoka Hey Challenge was cut short Monday when a pickup pulled out in front of him.

“It certainly didn’t end the way I was hoping for,” he said.

Westgard was participating in the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge, a cross-country motorcycle race done without a cellphone, GPS or any other form of electronic help. Contestants had to sleep in a tent or something similar next to their bikes for the roughly two-week trek.

Westgard was competing for $500,000 in prize money and was among the top 10 racers when the accident occurred near Marys­ville, Tenn.

He estimated he struck the pickup at about 40 mph. The truck was attempting to turn on a red light, Westgard said.

Westgard may have only suffered a bruised shoulder, but his Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Limited was not so lucky. The bike could no longer be ridden, throwing Westgard out of contention for the race.

Although the race was cut short, Westgard said his experience had been well worth it.

“It was probably a little more challenging than I expected. There was a lot more time in the canyon lands out west. It took a little more energy than I was expecting,” he said. “It was an amazing experience to have sunset in Death Valley and the following morning see the sunrise on the Pacific Coast Highway.”

Westgard said he may try the Hoka Hey next year, if he can take the vacation time.

While insurance sorts out what will happen to his bike in the long term, Westgard has already made interim accommodations to continue riding. He planned to ride his wife’s bike this week.

It’s a scooter.

Hi everyone!
I first want to thank all of you for the well wishes and support in my Hoka Hey bid. It took me (and Kerri) by surprise with the number of people that chose to follow my adventure. I wish the outcome had been different, but am glad I will have the opportunity to try again!

It was a truly amazing experience to participate in this ride. The organizers promised that the route would challenge everyone who attempted it. Those who completed it, are still on the ride itself, or were unable to complete the challenge would have to agree. The final distance of the Challenge was a little more than 14,000 miles; I made it to about the 9,600-mile point. Before that pickup ended my ride in Tennessee, I was excited to be running in the top 10. I honestly felt that I was rested enough at that time to have likely pushed on to a finish near 5th place.

The Hoka Hey Challenge allowed me to see some amazing places, such as: Sunset in Death Valley the first night, dawn in Yosemite the second morning, dawn on the Pacific Coast Highway the third morning, sunset in the Columbia River Gorge the third evening, a predawn ride on the 16A in the Black Hills with its “pigtail bridges”, sunset in Yellowstone, riding the Mackinac bridge, Blue Ridge Parkway, the Tail of the Dragon and so much more.

However, I did make some mistakes: I lost the trail in Miles City and spent an extra hour there; I missed a turn in upper Michigan that also cost me an hour; I overslept my alarm in both Utah and West Virginia; and finally I followed the directions and took a wrong road in Kentucky which cost me two hours on that final day. These mistakes along with the knowledge gained by competing in a Hoka Hey Challenge have me thinking about next year and what could be. It sounds like the organizers are already beginning to plan the Hoka Hey for 2012. If I can work out the time with my employer (Thanks Gavin for the 3 weeks off this year!) I hope to be in the 2012 Hoka Hey.

If you love riding and ever wanted to ride 19+ hours a day on some of the most challenging roads on the continent, check out the Hoka Hey Challenge!

Again, thanks for the support and if you chat with Kerri, thank her for all the work she did and for being my virtual support team.

At this point, any unused tanks we have will be used towards next year's Hokay Hey, let us know if that is not acceptable, and we will get it back to you. Now we have you hooked for next year, right?
Jeff

Jeff arrived home at 11:21 p.m. last night and was greeted by family and some FM Crusaders friends. As I write this, he is still sleeping and I imagine he will sleep for a while. Last night as he was falling asleep (and was kinda out of it), he asked me if I felt the bed vibrating...???? I said no, what are you talking about, he said the pillow and his head was vibrating. Hmmm, maybe he was still getting a "ghost" feeling of all that riding on the motorcycle, he thinks he did over 9,000 miles.

He has an interview today with the Fargo Forum, plans on going to the chiropractor and later taking my scooter to ride night. Not sure about you, but it feels a bit strange not following his progress on the satellite gps, wondering where he is at and how he is doing. I just know he will do this Hoka Hey Challenge again and I hope he does! If you weren't following his progress, when the accident happened, he was in 7th place, an amazing accomplishment for a first timer. He is also thrilled as a motorcycle enthusiast that he rode the Pacific Coast Highway and Tail of the Dragon (Smoky Mountains), to name a couple. I am glad some Crusaders showed up last night, because Jeff got to do some "shop" talk about riding that I am pretty clueless about and won't probably ever fully appreciate like his fellow club members will.

I also hope he gets that orange Harley because I love orange!

If you all want to visit with Jeff, he will be at the FM Crusaders Sabin Harvest Days Street Dance in Sabin, MN this Saturday, August 20. For more information on that go here: http://www.fmcrusadersmc.com/

Feel free to leave comments for Jeff, he's loved reading this blog so far. I made a scrapbook with all the blogs and photos to date and plan to keep adding to it.

A word on the following photos-Lynn from the FM Crusaders, after seeing Jeff, says something to the effect about Jeff "he went on vacation and all he got was this t-shirt"...how true, as he left his bike behind in Tennessee and only brought boots to wear on his feet. I imagine you don't think of a second pair of shoes if all you are doing is riding motorcyle.

Now, when you see these photos, that is how he was wandering around Maryville, TN for 2 days, going to the police station, hanging out in local eateries, walking major streets because he had no transportation~ that makes me giggle, and I am so proud of him and glad he is home...take care, Kerri

Well said Waldo. Often when I too was watching 635 crawl across the states, I would tell Kerri, "I don't think Jeff knows how many people are, in spirit, riding on the passenger seat of his bike". For me, when I found out he was really going to attempt this, I was a little envious. It had been a long time since I had personally challenged myself, to do something REALLY hard. Because of Jeff's stepping out into an unknown situation, I decided I would find a way to make my self do something really hard too. It may not seem like much to anybody else, but I decide, no... I COMMITTED myself to changing my eating habits and loosing some weight. I have tried unsuccessfully for 40 years to do that. Because of Jeff,today I have 42 days and 8 lbs gone. Jeff, your race, for this year, may be done but your ride meant so much to so many, for so many reason, thank you.....I owe you and your example of challenging yourself a great deal..you have my respect, big guy, you and your ride were/are amazing