As a Cincinnati Motorcycle rider , motorcycle lawyer and programmer for the radio show Cincinnati Biker Life it was a great honor to do a show on the Hoka Hey Challenge . What the hey is the Hoka Hey you may ask. Many seasoned motorcycle riders have not even heard of the Hoka Hey.
I thank Jimmy Kay of
Two Wheel Thunder TV for turning me on to the Hoka Hey and a local rider from Greater Cincinnati Curtis Belcher. A 50 year old postal worker and Free Mason. I learned from Jimmy that the Hoka Hey is the longest motorcycle challenge in the world. Last year the ride went from Florida to Alsaka.
This year the ride was close to 14,000 miles. It started in Phoenix and ended in Nova Scotia. Will Barclay was the winner both years. Last year the first place price was $500,000 and Will pocketed the money. This year although Will was the first one to finish no winner has been declared. There is plenty of controversy surrounding this. But the essence of the ride remains pure and the Spirit of the ride transcends any controversy.
Last night on
Cincinnati Biker Life we had the Hoka Hey call in. Hoka Hey Riders from all over the country called into WAIF Cincinnati studio to tell a little of their story. I started taking calls live at 8:28 PM and the last one ended at 9:58 PM.
The callers included Blacky, a 58 year old former Texas game warden that finished this years ride, as well as Will Barclay who collects adventures and did not even reveal his status as first place finisher both years. Junie Rose rider extraordinary crashed and got back up and finished this year. She's trying to get blankets to give to the Sioux. please give her a hand
This is what Barclay wrote on his first year experience:
The Hoka Hey, with all its imperfection, was a breath of fresh air in a world where destructive political correctness and unrealistic expectations and blaming others has become almost universal. As I rode it I was surprised and pleased to see that there are great swaths of North America, even in the lower 48 where there is still abundant wildlife and green space. Where people still socialize from their front porch instead of watching TV. The overwhelming majority of the riders, (though not all) especially those who stuck it out, cherish the experience and want to do it again. Don’t take my word for it. Ask Mark Storey, the rider from Australia who finished second. Ask Ben Hudak who suffered a terrible accident in Canada and came on to Homer in a truck to be with the other challengers. Ask Alex Hood from Colorado who was badly injured in an accident in Arizona and who is signed up to ride again this year. Ask Greg Darby from Florida who used the Hoka Hey to raise many thousands of dollars for lieukemia. Ask them to give up their coins. Read the rider’s stories and blog comments in their own words on the hokaheychallenge.com website. No one fooled these people and they are not conspirators. They are teachers and police officers and retirees and middle managers and students and day laborers who had the experience of a lifetime. An experience they could not have duplicated on their own.
Junie says a big part is raising the consciousness of the plight of the American Indians especially the Lakota. Here's an exerpt from Wikepedia about the Hoka Hey:
The inaugural 2010 challenge took participants along a mandatory route on back roads across the United States and Canada. The route scrossed numerous mountain ranges, 33 Indian reservations, 25 national forests, eight deserts and six national parks. Challenge routes travel secondary roads with directions revealed at a series of specific checkpoints. The event guidelines prohibit speeding and require contenders to sleep outside throughout the entire course.
Many of the riders talked about the sleep deprivation and the sprituality they experienced as well as the bond between riders which was evident from all the callers many names I just can't recall. Here's two video's that give some flesh to the experience though I would not profess to even be close to the experience having just talked to those who did.
