The Good and The Bad...
So I'll give you the bad news first. At this latitude, around 41 degrees North, we are almost at the shortest day of the year. Sunrise is well after 7am, Sunset just after 1630. For any serious rider, the short days pose a number of problems, not the least of which is a drastic shortening of useable daylight and the corresponding safe riding time.
The short days accompany winter, and diving temperatures also make riding a challenge, to put it mildly. (Pray for Global Warming!)
But most Warriors' Watch Riders ride all year long. We don't put our bikes in a warm garage from October to March like recreational "bikers" do.
So the bad news is: December 21st is the shortest day of the year.
Now for the good news: December 21st is the shortest day of the year.
And what that means, of course, is that beginning just a few days from now, every passing day will be a little longer than the one before. Longer days mean Spring is not far off, and more time for riding and doing what we do - escorting our troops home.
The name of this newsletter is "The Weekly Ride," whichis a little misleading, given that it's been a couple months since I sent the last issue. There are literally hundreds of new members on the mailing list receiving this email, so to you I say "welcome," and let's hit the road for our troops!
Speaking of Spring...
We have an exciting event coming up in the springtime here on the East Coast. It's been two years almost since the last Wounded Warrior Riders Project ride for the wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. On that ride we had hundreds of riders from all over ride together to Walter Reed to host a BBQ lunch for the residents there.
Warriors Watch Riders southbound on I-95, headed for a BBQ for Wounded Warriors at Walter Reed.
We took with us a couple of bike builders from Bikes Built Better in Horsham Pa, and several riders who were amputees. The object was to talk to the wounded soldiers about riding, and get them motivated to heal. We talked to them about how a motorcycle can be modifed for various injuries and missing limbs, and the riders who were with us proudly donned short pants to show off their metal legs.
(The following little story may show you just how successful the day was: one of our Pennsylvania WWR members had business at the VA in downtown Philadelphia just a few weeks ago. As he was entering the office, three young veterans were emerging, and they were all amputees.
Our WWR member's business took about an hour. When he went back outside, the three young amputee veterans were waiting there at his motorcycle. It wasn't the motorcycle that has attracted them, it was the "Warriors' Watch Riders" windshiled banner.
They asked him, "You are a WWR member?" It turnes out that the three were present at our ride to Walter Reed that day, and they waited outside for that full hour just to tell our member how much they appreciated what we had done.
If you don't know how much you touch our military members and their families, there are hundreds of stories similar in outcome to that one. Remember, as you go about your daily business OR as you go out on a WWR Welcome Home ride, you never know who you will touch that day, and how your touch will affect his/her life.)
That was a diversion from my point - we are planning a much larger ride south this Spring to do it again. Walter Reed has closed and the patients living there have moved to Fort Belvoir in northern Virginia.
This year we intend to invite every veteran-and-troop-friendly motorcycle club we can reach. We are looking for hundreds upon hundreds of riders to accompany us, the goal being to use our numbers to show our wounded troops just how much American cares about them and loves them. Numbers will do it, and we are counting on you to join us AND to help us spread the word.
We will be advertising the ride on its own website, www.wwrproject.org - and flooding the grounds with flyers and emails. WATCH FOR DATES AND TIMES AND DETAILS, AND JOIN US FOR A RIDE THAT MAY JUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
So that's it for right now. If you are a new member of the WWR, you have every right and reason to be very proud of the association you have formed. This group does more good for more people without involving money than any other group I know.
One short commerical message: You may know that this year we produced the FIRST ANNUAL WWR calendar, the Warriors' Watch 2010 Wall Calendar. The calendar features a different Welcome Home ride each month, plus one "Teach the Children Ride" month and one "Law Enforcement Appreciation" month.
We deliberately had our own "holiday" dates put on this calendar. You will NOT find Tree Hugger's day, you WILL find such dates as Pearl Harbor day and the Marine Corps birthday and all similar PATRIOTIC holdidays, INCLUDING the Warriors' Watch Birday! (May 1st).
THE QUANTITY IS LIMITED, and we only have about 40 calendars left, so IF you want one, please get it now. No one is making any profit on these calendars. They were produce by, and feature the photography of, Sean Carpenter, WWR member and official photographer of the SouthEast PA Warriors' Watch. Sean paid to have them made and any money left over after he recovers his costs will be donated to the Wounded Warriors' Project!
You can get a calendar from Wayne Lutz, or from Sean Carpenter, OR you can order yours from Free American Biker. FAB is acting as the distributor of the calendars outside of our immediate area. http://www.freeamericanbiker.com and look for the link on the front page to the calendars.
A FINAL NOTE ABOUT CALENDARS: This first year's production featured rides in SEPA. NEXT YEARS CALENDAR WILL FEATURE RIDES FROM A DIFFERENT CHAPTER EACH MONTH. For example, January SEPA, February South Jersey, March Northern Calfiornia, April Illinois, and so on. SO PLEASE BEGIN NOW TO SUBMIT YOUR BEST PHOTOGRAPHS FROM WELCOME HOME RIDES TO ME, lutz@warriorswatch.org and put in the body of the message the submisison of photos for next year's calendars. We are eager to produce a professional calendar featuring YOUR best work and YOUR most moving and important rides.
Until the next Weekly Ride, this is Wayne Lutz wishing you and yours a joyous Christmas season, and a bright and hopeful New Year filled with honor and celebrity for our troops and their families!
May God continue to bless the United States of America, still the greatest nation the world has ever known, and may He bless and watch over all of those who defend her.
Wayne Lutz, founder, Warriors' Watch Riders
*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, written to a friend who was feeling down, 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"
