I think the spirit of adventure is something that is in us all, for some it might be deep down in your soul for others it right at the surface and ready to bust out.
In 2009, the year I would turn 50 would set in motion the adventure of a lifetime. It all started so simple, a solo trip across America on my motorcycle. In my mind it was a once and a lifetime trip, little did I know that for the next seven years I would take that same trip and crisscross these states until I set foot in each one of them all seven years. I also had no idea that in the process I would come to have 33 new brothers. Then to top that off I damn sure did not think that my 33 new brothers and myself would be able to raise over a million dollars for the sick and injured kids in our community. All of this was supposed to come to an end in 2015 the year we would reach our goal. In 2016 we were high on life. We felt like we might have accomplished what our adventure had turned into. I think it would be safe to say that we made a difference in one child's life. The other side of that coin is that as the miles went by it made a difference in our lives.
About the first half of 2016 the adventure beast in me was stating to awaken. I craved the need to be back on the open road. I guess it could be easy and go and do the same thing that we have done in the past or should I come up with a new plan. So the ones of you who know me know that I'm not going to do anything easy in life. I have all the scars and lumps to prove that. So the hard question to me was what would be something that would be epic? Then the next question who would we ride for? The first question turned out to be the hardest to answer. The second I knew, that was going to be easy. The Miracle Riders and myself have all agreed that every time we put on our dusters and hit the road it will be for the benefit of kids in our area. The Methodists youth homes in our area is a perfect fit for us. These are kids that have been taken out of their homes for reasons they have no control over. The stories of neglect will bring a tear to the eyes of the hardest of these riders. As a group we felt like this is a story that needs to be told. To show these kids that people are good and that someone loves you enough to share your life story in hopes of making it a better life for you. So back to the hard question what is epic? We all have said that we were only missing two states and one of them still does not have a bridge for us to get there on. So Alaska seems like the ideal choice. Remember that part about not doing anything easy and scars and bumps? Anybody can ride to Alaska and what is epic about that, now the Arctic Circle that's a whole different kind of trip. I could not wait to tell the guys. Yep you guessed it they all thought I had lost my mind; perfect then its settled Coldfoot Alaska here we come. Yes I know that is about 70 miles further north than the Arctic Circle but why stop there? We all ask that you join us on our adventure and check back with our blog page and hear the stories of the road as we make our way north on our Arctic expedition. We will pull out the morning of July 21 at 9:30 am from in front of the Synovus building on Bay Ave. We will be bring the ‘bank of here along’ with us every mile of the way.
Scott Ressmeyer