Antique Motorcycle Riders Hit Road for Cross Country Chase

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Plastic shopping bags can keep your socks dry when your boots get soaked. Just slip them over your socked feet and put on your boots. Also, on long road trips pack for the motorcycle's needs, not your own — especially if riding an antique bike. And never doubt the kindness of strangers. The best stories, after all, are breakdown stories.

When riding an antique motorcycle, Doug Wothke's favorite tool is a hammer he keeps strapped to the bike.

"If I can't fix it with a hammer, I've got an electrical problem," Wothke said.

Wothke of Headland and fellow riders Berry Wardlaw and Vivian "Gypsy" Charros of Dothan will join more than 100 other riders from around the country for the 2021 Cross Country Chase. The run is designed to test the speed, endurance, and navigation prowess of riders of antique motorcycles, specifically those built between 1930 and 1960. This year's ride, dubbed "Secrets of the Ozarks," will begin in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on July 5 and will stretch 1,340 miles over five days.

Wardlaw will ride his 1939 Indian Chief while Charros will be on her 1954 Harley Davidson Panhead and Wothke on his 1936 Indian Chief. The group left the Wiregrass on Wednesday.

Each day of the Cross Country Chase, riders will get a map of the day's route. There's no GPS and no support crews riding along to help if you break down or get off course.


Read more at: USNews.com