Greetings Fellow Rotarians,
When I departed the Grayling Restaurant at 8:00 AM yesterday I anticipated a long but uneventful day of riding along the tip of the mitt of Michigan. How wrong I was.
I was hoping to test out a few things like satellite tracking, on-the-route updates, the BMW 310 GS and electronic riding gear. I wanted to see what works and fix what didn’t. Furthermore, I wanted to do something that only took a day. Do it and get it done.
The temperature in Grayling was 35 degrees and dipped to 31 degrees on McKinley Rd where you had to look at those corners and wonder if it was just wet or was it something more slippery. Riding into the sun was a bit of a problem, too.
Heading west out of Glennie, the bike coughed twice and quit. I rolled into the driveway of Chris Loveless, longtime Marathon Volunteer, Veteran and former aircraft mechanic. We determined the battery was toast and my wife Marcia was called who arrived 90 minutes later with a replacement.
On I went to Oscoda and then north to Alpena for some gas.
In Alpena the bike would not start after refueling. Either the electronics I was running or the electric jacket and grips were dragging down the charging system. Further, I guessed the charging system was failing or I had two bum batteries. I carry jumper cables with me so we got it started and I headed for Mackinaw City.
I took a wrong turn leaving Cheboygan and ended up doing a couple miles on I-75 north to Mackinaw City, right into what appeared from a distance to be fog. It turned out to be a sleet storm. I made it through in one piece but one car was not as fortunate. He was upside down near the tree line on I-75.
I warmed up at Dan and Jackie House’s House. Jackie is an artist and Dan is a musician and former BMW rider. Jackie worked with my wife Marcia at the Main Branch Gallery before they moved north. I remembered I needed to look out for their son on the way out of town. He works for the city where they call him Officer House. Then Officer House stopped at the house. He had been at one of the multiple weather related accidents. I tried to update everyone from the House’s house but the Microsoft Mothership informed me that I had already sent out too many e-mails for the day. They offered to remedy if I would just enroll in a premium program. I got back on my bike.
After a couple cups of coffee and a Kegel hot dog I headed to Cross Village. It was starting to get dark as I rode the Tunnel of Trees on my way to Cross Village and then south along the coast.
I had communicated the night before with Norm Velliquette of the Elk Rapids Rotary Club. He suggested that I stop at Rotary Park in Elk Rapids on my way thru town. However, by the time I left Mackinaw City they had been watching my progress on-line and figured that I was staying in Mackinaw City. They went home. Someone had thankfully looked at my tracking again and saw I was moving again, so they re-assembled at the park.
Heading towards Elk Rapids, rain joined in the ride in Petoskey. I rolled into the Elk Rapids Rotary Park about 8 pm and was met by an enthusiastic group of Rotarians. We had photos taken and I received generous donations for the eradication of Polio.
Then we jump-started the motorcycle. . . . Twice. I decided then I should head for home instead of risking another breakdown and a trailer ride to finish the day. No self-respecting motorcycle wants to be seen on a trailer. Even at night. The Elk Rapids Rotarians pointed out a shortcut to M-72 and I arrived home at 9:30 PM.
It was a full day with less mileage than I was hoping. The route I travelled was only 361 miles. You can see it on this link. https://share.garmin.com/wckoppa
We have received generous donations from as far away as British Columbia. The donation portal will stay open for the next 26 days. If you have a group that you would like for me to make a presentation to - let me know. As I write this we have $2,145 in donations on the portal and $230 of donations in hand for a total of $2,375. My fundraising portal is https://raise.rotary.org/Wayne-Koppa/challenge if you or some friends want to add more to our current earnings for the dfay.
Something I have fancied bringing up when someone makes a donation goes like this. That is not $2,375 for fighting Polio. That is really $7,125 when the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation gets done with it. If my investments would only work so well.
Thank you everyone, for all the support and donations
World Polio Day only happens once a year and you made it special
Wayne Koppa
Cell 989-370-5757