PRINTColumbia bikers find thrills on two wheels
Mid-Missouri hosts National Bikers Roundup and Missouri State H.O.G. Rally
July 29, 2010 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The heat of summer draws motorcyclists to the streets in droves — not to mention that two significant biker events are coming to town next month. Columbia will host the National Bikers Roundup and the Missouri State Harley Owners Group Rally for the first time. Regardless of the limelight, some local riders wield sport bikes that resemble fighter jets; others command Harley-Davidsons as tough as tanks. But these road warriors aren’t looking for a battle. Whether they seek camaraderie in numbers or prefer going it alone, a passion for riding is what keeps their engines running.
National Bikers Roundup
Where: Boone County Fairgrounds, 5212 N. Oakland Gravel Road
When: Aug. 3 to 8, gates open at 4 a.m.
Cost: $25 for general admission, $20 for Colors club members, free for children 12 and under
Call: 816-483-0304
“It’s been a snowball from the beginning until now,” says Billy Walker, chairman of the National Bikers Roundup. The event will draw an estimated 35,000 motorcycle enthusiasts to Columbia. Visitors from around the country are expected to boost the local economy by at least $6 million, according to Lorah Steiner, executive director of Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau. Some of the activities will include games, stunt shows and custom-built motorcycle exhibitions. “The bike shows are going to be astronomical,” Walker says. “You’re going to see some machines that go up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Although the roundup is historically an African-American organization, it has seen growing participation from participants of all backgrounds since it began in 1977. “From female to male, black to white, the common denominator is riding a motorcycle,” Walker says.
Missouri State Harley Owners Group Rally
Where: Registration is at the Holiday Inn Executive Center, 2200 Interstate 70 Drive S.W.
When: Registration takes place on Aug. 26 from 3 to 6 p.m., Aug. 27 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rides and activities happen throughout the day from Aug. 26 to 28.
Cost: $30 for admission to all event activities
Call: 314-302-2573
“A misconception about bikers is you expect someone with long hair,” says Keith Herdzina, member of the Heart of Missouri Harley Owners Group. “You just can never tell.” Around 3,000 attendees from around the state will converge on Columbia for group rides, games and live music as Columbia hosts the statewide Harley Owners Group rally for the first time.
Rob Wilhelm, a Harley lover who has been riding since 1974, doesn’t consider himself a ...
Road captain Dan Olsen follows the pack of riders on its way to Centralia via ...
Thursday Night Riders, a local sport bike group, typically rides 75 to 125 miles each ...
The Loner
Rob Wilhelm has always paved his own way. As a high school student in the early ’70s, his family moved from Virginia Beach, Va., to Columbia. But he stayed behind to finish classes and build patrol boats used in the Vietnam War. With free time between his studies and the shipyards, Wilhelm listened to the then up-and-coming rock band Black Sabbath and pondered his future.
“Growing up, there were three things I wanted: to be a rock-and-roll star, to own a yacht and to ride a Harley,” he says.
A couple of years after graduating, Wilhelm moved to Columbia and crossed the Harley off his list. Transitioning from propellers to wheels came easily, and he has been riding and working on motorcycles ever since. Last year, he taught himself the workings of an electronic fuel injection system. “Some people have given talents,” Wilhelm says. “They become artists or musicians. I’m a natural-born gearhead.”
Even Wilhelm himself is modified with metal. In the summer of 1996, he says a dozing tractor-trailer driver ran over him while he was riding his motorcycle on U.S. 63. The incident sent him to the hospital for almost two years. Titanium now runs through one of his legs, his pelvis and the rear of his skull. “The hotter it is outside, the better,” he says. “It hurts like hell when it’s cold, but I’ll still ride.”
It’s 10 p.m., and Wilhelm is sitting at Snapper’s bar in downtown Columbia. He sips orange juice mixed with 7UP. He has a two-beer limit. Lightning bolt tattoos cover his arms, and he’s dressed in camouflage pants with combat boots that he acquired from a career as an army surplus supplier. The rain outside pours down on the 2008 Harley that he paid for with settlement money from the accident.
“Aren’t you worried about your bike?” a customer asks.
“Nah,” he says. “It lives outside.”
Wilhelm also belongs out in the open. His house is powered by an electric generator and is only occasionally occupied. If you can find him at all, you’ll likely find him on his motorcycle. He turns off his cell phone before rides, and he almost always travels alone. “No one knows where I am, and no one knows who I am,” he says. “Freedom is not an ambiguous concept. It’s being responsible to no one but yourself.”
Pack Mentality
“I’ll take two,” Keith Herdzina says and reaches for his wallet. An officer of the Heart of Missouri Harley Owners Group fans out a deck of playing cards. Herdzina draws one for himself and another for his wife, Lynn. The couple climbs onto its gleaming cherry red Harley and starts the engine for one of the weekly group rides, a poker run.
Motorcycle groups around the world stage poker runs. Riders draw a new card at each of five or seven checkpoints along their journey. The person with the winning hand takes the pot. In the local Harley Owners Group’s case, at least half of the buy-ins go to charity. And there aren’t any brawls at the end of these bikers’ rides — just lunch or dinner.
“Contrary to popular belief, these guys aren’t trouble,” says Jerry Kropf, the group’s director. “They might have a reputation for being big and bad, but what they really care about is putting miles on their motorcycles.”
Next month, the group will host an annual statewide rally that brings out-of-towners, but regular members ride together across Missouri’s highways and roads every weekend. The trips range anywhere from a brisk 100 miles to a grueling 500 miles a day, always starting from the parking lot of the Mid America Harley-Davidson dealership near Interstate 70’s Lake of the Woods exit.
As he turns the throttle and embarks on the poker run, Keith is less concerned about cards and the checkpoints than he is about the experience itself.
“The best parts are the back roads,” he says. “There’s some beautiful scenery. Like any biker will tell you, it’s the ride, not the destination, that matters.”
Keith averages 12,000 miles a year on a motorcycle. He stopped riding while his children were growing up, but he got back behind the handlebars once they moved out. The Herdzinas each own a Harley for in-town jaunts, and they share a third set of wheels for longer trips.
“It’s couple time,” Lynn says. For her, riding in the back seat is a fun opportunity to talk to her husband on the road. “Besides, I wouldn’t trust anyone but Keith up in front.”
Once, she and Keith were plowing through sheets of rain on their shared Harley. The exit for Columbia wasn’t far, so they endured the wet highway. When they stopped and were out of danger, Keith turned to his wife of 31 years and asked, “Were you scared?”
“No,” she said.
His response: “Well, you should have been!”
Radar Guns and Glory
“They’re showing up,” says a cashier at the Phillips 66 on Range Line Street near Business Loop 70. She motions out the window as three Japanese sport bikes and one Harley roll to a stop beyond the rows of pumps. They are the first of 17 riders who will brave the heat for a nighttime ride. Thursday Night Riders, as the group is called, meets at the same gas station each week before taking a high-speed excursion through the roadways of mid-Missouri.
“We never talk about the route until it’s time to ride,” says Gary Wisner, a member of the group since the early ’90s. “Most of the time, it’s made up on the spot.” Unlike the Harley Owners Group, Thursday Night Riders doesn’t have schedules or officials. Long-standing members are labeled “veterans.” They aren’t affiliated with a brand, but participants will sometimes arrive on the same motorcycle. “They both brought can-o’-tunas,” Wisner says, using a popular nickname to point out a pair of sleek Suzuki Katanas.
Group members admire unique motorcycles, and they look forward to next month’s National Bikers Roundup, a massive convergence of motorcycle enthusiasts who show off one-of-a-kind custom bikes. But this group leaves its own mark with flashy, racing-tuned machines that Wisner says, “look fast when they’re parked.” The first impression that riders give is part of the reason the group doesn’t announce its rides, as it tries to avoid roadblocks or calls to the police.
“We’re not out to harm or offend anyone, but sometimes a group of motorcycles comes across that way,” Wisner says.
Appearances aside, Thursday Night Riders is known for fast riding, and its members will push their sport bikes hard, on their own or with a second person on board.
“With a passenger, I’m more encouraged to show off with a wheelie or a high-speed run,” Ben Azdell says. “But I’m the kind of person that, if you go out with me, you’re coming back.” His wife and fellow rider, Chancie, stands nearby as proof.
The group gathers in a half-circle. Members poke fun at one another and plan out the ride. A couple riders are wearing futuristic racing shoes. Others have on brightly colored jackets with pads made from Kevlar, a material used in bulletproof vests. Even though the early evening temperature is in the 90s, everyone is covered in long pants and sleeves.
“Very rarely someone shows up in shorts, a T-shirt and sandals,” Wisner says. “I’ll tell them, as a friend, ‘Can you put some pants on? This isn’t a T-shirt-and-shorts kind of ride.’” Newcomers ride in the back of the group so they don’t crash into the others, but they can prove their place further up the line. Whether it’s joining an outing, attending a suspension tuning party or meeting for the weekly after-ride dinner at G&D Pizzaria, members of Thursday Night Riders get to know one another and become part of a close-knit team.
Roundups and rallies will bring thousands of motorcyclists together for a short time, but there are also ongoing groups for enthusiastic riders in Columbia. Not to mention those who keep to themselves, such as Rob Wilhelm, who quotes Groucho Marx in saying, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” Those who ride for solidarity and those who choose harmony are united, however, in their love for the open road and the machines that get them there.
