For the past few years, Chapter 152 has had the comfort of Wes Thomas as our support vehicle. He has followed us from one end of this state to the other. In 2005 he followed a small group of Star Riders across the US hitting the four Corners of our country. Wes' claim was that he put over 31000 miles chasing our bikes. Again in 2006 Wes was our support vehicle for our Redwoods Ride on the west coast. One of many stories I know about is when we where leaving Ely the temp was 29 degrees and we where getting on every piece of clothing we had to stay warm. Wes shows up in a t-shirt and shorts with the windows down in his truck. Wes' excuse was "if this group was going to ride in the cold so was he".
Well for the BAD NEWS. It looks like Wes will not be there at the end of the pack, our support vehicle is gone!! You see Wes had a dream to be a rider in this group, not that he did not enjoy following our group all over, but there is no way to replace the sense of the wind drying your eyeballs, the back of your neck sun burned each day or the feeling of a big juicy bug hitting you in the forehead. Yep, Wes wanted to know what a soft rain shower felt like at 60 miles per hour.
Now for the GOOD NEWS. On Saturday Wes came to our ride in his trike. Wes has had it for several months over at Dennis' garage working on it getting it ready to ride. Well they got enough of it together to get it licensed and on the road. There have been many miles Wes has followed me, and on Saturday I had the opportunity to follow Wes. I followed Wes through the mountain roads of East Canyon watching him maneuver his ride easily. Chapter 152 may have lost a support vehicle but gained a fellow rider.
- Mark Petersen
