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From the Gazeebo...  

Riding with a purpose, riding for a reason.

At the lattitude where I reside ( N 40° 6' 47.9869 ), today, January 28, we had exactly 10 hours of sunlight. This is up from December 21st which was the shortest "day" at 9 hours and 19 minutes. This difference of 41 minutes of sunshine may not seem like a lot to many, but to riders like us, the return of the sun is something to celebrate. The next remarkable change will be at the March Equinox. That will happen on Saturday March 20 at 13:31:45, Eastern Daylight Time. On that day the hours of sunlight and darkness will be equal - 12 hours each. The Summer Solstice, June 21, is a bittersweet day for us. The good thing is that it is the longest day of the year at something over 15 glorious hours of daylight. The bad thing is, of course, that from that day onward the hours of daylight begin to grow shorter once again.

Bummer.

But for now we're enjoying watching the sun set a little later each day and rise a little earlier. More daylight means longer and more frequent rides, to my mind. More sunlight, warmer days, more reasons to get out and ride. By the time February rolls around, we're geting tired of taking 2 hours just to get dressed in all those layers that are needed at typical North American winter temperatures. Sitting on the bike is fine, but getting on and off is a challenge, and if you happen to fall over, you ain't gettn' up again until Spring.

The point I'm slowly getting to is that, even as we now sit hunkered down under a blanket of white, downy snow, Spring and the longer riding hours will be on us before we know it. I suggest that we be prepared.

There are a lot of good things happening in the WWR this year. Our growth continues unabated - in fact the rate of grown is accelerating. I expect that will become even more evident in the spring, when everyone unhooks their battery tenders, inflates their tires and rolls the scoot out of the garage into the light.

Of the things we have in the planning stages, there are two that I want to bring your attention to now. Both of these are happening on the East Coast, so I realize that for many of you they will be unattendable, but maybe you could arrange similar activities in your area.

The first event that we're looking forward to is a group ride to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Last September I met a young man named Ed Kennedey (no relation to the late Teddy). Ed is a Major in the Army, and in conversation we learned that we had both had the same shade of a plan in our minds for some time. In a nutshell we are planning a ride from the Philadelphia area to Walter Reed to visit the wounded. Specifically, we have learned that there are some in the amputee ward who would benefit from a demonstration of how they, even men missing both legs, might be able to one day ride a motorcycle. Of tremendous help to this effort is a friend that I made recently who works in the amputee ward.

The plan is to have a demonstration and BBQ (for those who can go out) to let them see our bikes and to talk about ways to modify the motorcycles for the use of amputees. We are going to try to recruit a bike-builder who has had experience doing this - and in doing my research I have learned that this is by no means a new idea - that there are in fact riders missing both legs, or hands and arms, and there are bike-builders who have built bikes for such men.

The overarching purpose, of course, is to give these young heros hope. To give them a goal to shoot for, a dream that they might, with perserverence, achieve for themselves, and hence to give them the desire to go on. Bottom line - to help them heal.

If we can do that for even one warrior, it will be a tremendous success. Please continue to watch future newsletters for more information as we get it, for further plans as we make them. While the ride itself will come from the Philly area, we will expect to bring in many other WWRiders from all compass points, all converging on the amputee ward of Walter Reed. You can play a part. If you have information of bike builders and/or amputee riders, send that info on to me. We will be inviting such people to come with us and speak to the wounded warriors there, over some burgers and potato salad.

Stay tuned.

The second event for 2010 that I have in mind will come a little later in the year - September. But there's a lot of planning and prep to do before then. This one is not strictly WWR related, but it is indirectly related and is for the best of causes - remembering and honoring the victims of the act of war that was committed against us on September 11, 2001.

On Memorial Day last year I was honored to be asked to participate in a Memorial Day ceremony held at Washington's Crossing. (For those of you not from this area and for whom grade school history was many, many moons ago, Washington's Crossing is the spot on the Delaware River, north of Philadelphia, where General George Washington and his army crossed the Delaware river on Christmas Night, 1776. Upon reaching New Jersey on the other side, in the midst of an icy winter gale, they marched 9 miles south to Trenton where they surprised and defeated the Hessian troops quartered there in a significant turning point of the war.)

Today this is a national park, and among the tributes there are the stones of 18 unknown soldiers who died there (from exposure and disease.)

Back to last Memorial Day - there was a master of ceremonies going through the program. One of the items on that agenda was for several local dignatries and one biker, me (I don't know how I got mixed in to the guest list - someone must have taken a bribe), each to place a flag at one of the stones of the unknowns.

When I arrived there at this outdoor ceremony there were two rows of chairs in the front with the names of the flag-placers on each chair. I found my chair and sat. Those programs also listed the names of us flag-placers, in order.

After a moment a beautiful woman in a black dress retrieved her program from the chair next to me and sat. I glanced at her, then down at the program to find her name.

Ellen Saracini.

I looked back at her, then back down at the program to verify what I had seen.

I looked back at her, she at me (having noticed by now that I was staring like a star-struck fan), and we said "hello." Then, I pointed at her name in the program and said, in my smoothest stutter, "You...you...you're..." At which point she put me out of my misery and with a lovely sympathetic smile said "Ellen Saracini," and extended her hand. "My husband was Victor Saracine, the pilot of United Flight 175."

Victor Saracini was, of course, the pilot of the plane that was flown by the enemy into the South Tower on that black, horrible day. He was probably dead already when the rest of his passengers perished in the white-hot crash, his throat cut by a box cutter.

I managed to stammer out something like "I have never in my life been so honored to sit next to someone" and it was the God's honest truth. No celebrity or politician or sports star could ever make me feel as I felt at that moment.

I will get on with this in a moment, but there is one thing about our meeting that I need for you to know, to help you see what I saw - what an amazing, kind and compassionate person Ellen Saracini is. I wear a black metal memorial bracelet on my right wrist. Some of you know that last Spring my only brother, David Lutz, died, far too young. My brother served his nation his entire adult life. He joined the Air Force at age 18 and served for four years as a military police officer. Upon his discharge he joined the Prince George's County police department in Maryland. Later he became a Secret Service Agent in Washington, and while there he began teaching Criminal Justice classes in the evenings. He then joined the Naval Reserves and reached the rank of Lt. Commander as an NCIS Agent (The Fed!). In that capacity David was often sent to military and political hot-spots around the world - Panama - Saudi Arabia, Northern Ireland -to do whatever it was he did (he told me he would have to kill me if he told me.)

After I had embarrassed myself by stuttering, Ellen took note of the bracelet and asked, and I confirmed, yes, this was my brother.

Ellen said something I will never forget. She looked me in the eye and said with absolute honest clarity, "I will remember David's name."

I was absolutely dumbstruck with the honor that had just been bestowed on my brother. Here is a person who lost her husband in an inconcievably evil, tragic, violent way, and she was promising me that she would remember the name of my brother.

Ellen Saracine was, after 9.11, the driving force behind the construction of a permenant memorial to the 9.11 victims who hailed from Pennsylvania, including her husband Victor. The result is a beautiful outdoor memoral, which if viewed from above forms a teardrop coming from a pair of twin water fountains, representing the twin towers, surreounded by the names of all the victims etched in glass panels. This peaceful and contemplative place is called the Garden of Reflection.

Ellen and I have become friends since that time last May, along with a few others who were involved with the memorial, and WWR's own PA SC and SPOC for Military, Jeff and Kim. We, along with the manager of the area's largest Harley-Davidson Dealership, formed a committee for the purpose of helping the memorial raise funds for ongoing maintenance. It takes over 1.5 million per year just to maintain this lovely park, and like everyone else they have been hit hard by the current financial crisis that our politicians have heaped on us.

The upshot is that on September 19, a Sunday, we will hold the First Annual Motorcycle Ride of Reflection, a group, escorted 60 mile ride through beautiful Bucks County for the purpose of raising funds for the Garden. We are designing a 3-piece Ride Patch for the run. The first piece will be given upon registration. The second will be picked up at the halfway point in the ride, and the third upon completion, where there will also be some ceremony, food and music.

The third piece of the patch will be in the shape of a teardrop with "2010" on it. In future years, a new teardrop with the new year on it will be had for completion of the ride, forming a flow down the vest when sewn on.

There is a lot of work and a lot of planning to do on this. I have put up a website to advertise the ride, at www.RideOfReflection.Org. Check that page now and then for further details and updates.

One further point on that ride: The date, Sunday September 19, was chosen carefully for a number of reasons. One of these is that the annual Pennsylvania HOG rally is being held in Bucks county this year, very near the Garden, and the dates of that are the 16th, 17th and 18th. If any of you are planning to travel to that part of PA for that rally, you can stay one more day and take part in the Ride of Reflection - that's four solid days of very cool things for riders to do.

News letter input!

This news letter does not need to be my personal soapbox. If any of you have stories to tell about particularly interesting missions or events, by all means sent it to me and I will publish it here. This news letter goes to three thousand patriots each week, so tell your story and send poignant photos.

Missions go On!

We have not been much less busy because of the winter months. Most WWRiders ride all year long, stopped only by actual ice and snow on the roads. PLEASE continue to follow the Mission Planning forums for Confirmed missions. There are four forums for Confirmed Missions, one for each WWR Region.

Region 1 (Atlantic States)

Region 2 (Central States)

Region 3 (Mountain States)

Region 4 (Pacific States)

Also, read the stories through the after action reports and photos on the main website, which is continually updated, and get your "offical" WWR patches, pins, windshield banners, support vehicle signs, honor coins, hats, and all the rest at Free American Biker.

Remember, this is all about honoring our troops, one at a time or one unit at a time. Without that purpose, all the rest is just noise.

Until next time: MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THIS, STILL THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH, AND ALL OF THOSE WHO DO, HAVE, OR WILL DEFEND HER, AT HOME AND ABROAD.

- Wayne Lutz

*This newsletter is named "The Weekly Ride" or "The Ride", for short, in memory of and to honor Sgt. Jennifer Hartman, U.S. Army. Sgt. Hartman was killed in Iraq by America's enemies. She died in defense of our freedom at the age of 20. This quote from Jennifer was read at her graveside:

"It's not about what happened in the past. It's not about what might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for Christ's sake."

Click here for a Tribute to Sgt. Jennifer Hartman: "The Ride"