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President’s Message Apr 2016

Greetings RFTW!

April. The clock is ticking. Are you ready? No, I mean Really Ready?

All over the country the RFTW Family is “Getting Ready to Get Ready.” I would like to take this opportunity to challenge You to take a hard look at Your readiness. To participate in the 10 day journey across our great country you need degrees of Determination AND Preparation. The Route Coordinators and their teams have created excellent Mission Focused routes and supporting activities but you have to do your part too.

It is pretty obvious that if you are riding your bike or trike has to be as mechanically sound as possible before you leave. If you do your own mechanic work have you taken the time to do a detailed check on everything? If you take your ride to the shop did you tell them about what you are going to do and ask them to take that extra little bit of time to poke, prod and look at your ride? Have your insurance papers? State Inspection good? Registration up to date? Have you done a test pack yet? Does everything fit SECURELY when you’re loaded to roll out? Have you ridden a few miles fully loaded as you would be when in a platoon rolling down the highway?

Are you Physically Ready? Have you been riding more? Brushed up on those skills that may have become a little rusty over the winter? We all have aches and pains but the better you prepare the better the daily ride will be for you. Are you carrying a passenger? Are THEY prepared to sit on that back seat hour after hour, day after day? Riding for 6 to 8 hours a day, day after day, in weather that could be sunny and 100 degrees plus or rain and freezing temps is a different animal from the HOG Chapter lunch ride or a poker run. There will be times when it is a grind — not fun or pretty. That is when you have to remember that it is a Mission – we Push On.

As we all get ready for next month’s Mission it would behoove us to remember the reason we ride: “For Those Who Can’t.” We are all ambassadors of not only ourselves and RFTW, but most importantly the message of Why We Ride. The message that there are those that did not come home. The message that We Will Not Forget…

Ride Safe!

Greg “Pied Piper (sometimes Yoda)” Smith