GUINNESS WORLD RECORD POKER RUN- MAKING HISTORY

My oldest brother had ridden his old “Shovel Head” to Sturgis five or six times in the 1980s, back when the bike rally was old school. Bikers would camp nearly anywhere: city parks, fields, front yards, you name it, they did it. The stories my brother told me seemed like an exaggerated fantasy. The rides he took on the Needles Highway sounded magical. The friendships forged on the road were eternal. And as a teenager, I dreamt of being part of it. 

THE DREAM

We sold our house in California in preparation for traveling full-time in our RV with our motorcycles. We had a month and nine days to finish everything and get to Florida. It took two trips from California to Sturgis to put the belongings we planned to keep in storage. It was just the two of us, and we unloaded the giant and extremely heavy toolboxes along with everything else in record time.

Then we were domiciled to become South Dakota residents, and we completed setting up our mail service. We had to get all the vehicles (Jeep, Truck, RV, Car trailer, Enclosed trailer, and two Harley’s) registered. We also had to get our driver’s license (that part only took 37 minutes, in California, it would have taken 8 weeks). Then we made our way to Florida, but first, we stopped in Red Bay, Alabama to get the Rig serviced and new tires.

PRE-RIDE

A month and eight days later, we arrived in the area of the event the day before the ride. Early enough in the day to set up camp, but there wasn’t much to do. It was just an overnight stay. We didn’t set out the camp chairs or the bar-b-q, or plan on having a campfire. The campsite was a large grassy field with electricity, water, and sewer.

Our rig was a forty-foot diesel pusher RV. We hauled our two Harley motorcycles in an enclosed trailer (The Harley Hauler) behind the rig, making the overall length seventy feet long. After crossing the United States to get to Port Charlotte, Florida for the kickstands-up party, the big grassy field was the first place the seventy-foot rig easily fit in.

We offloaded the bikes and geared up for the short ride to Twisted Fork to meet the 140-something fellow riders and of course, the brainchild (brainchildren) who came up with the crazy idea of the World Record Poker Run #wrpr,  “The Badgers.”

I was buzzing with excitement. I have wanted to ride to Sturgis since I was a teenager and barely could contain myself.

Meeting my fellow riders was another step closer to a dream coming true. At the Twisted Fork meet-up, I had the honor and privilege to meet riders who I had watched for years on their YouTube channels. Come to find out, most of them were normal folks who filmed what we all had in common, the love of the ride.

Sonny and Angie, with The Badgers, had done an impeccable job, wrangling a hundred and forty-something, independent-thinking bikers together to do something no one in the world has ever accomplished.

The WORLD RECORD POKER RUN is the longest poker run in history and the 144 registered riders were there to make history.

The route was from Port Charlotte, Florida to Sturgis, South Dakota with incredible, breathtaking scenery, harrowing roads, unpredictable weather, wildlife, and cagers who seemed hell-bent on murdering you if the potholes didn’t take you out first.

About eleven months before the kickstand-up party, Momma Badger (Angie) reached out to me for a Zoom meeting/ interview. I was excited to meet the Badgers after following the work they were doing with  Support Bikers, 

A little back story of who The Badgers are and what their foundation is, below is from the  Support Bikers website:

 (Support Bikers is a Non-Profit 501(c)3 provided by the biker community- Donations made to the “Wrecked Rider Fund” help bikers who have been in a motorcycle accident. Motorcyclists can also create a fundraiser to raise money through “Support-A-Biker”. Find an attorney we trust to talk to for legal guidance. We even have a directory of motorcycle businesses, organizations, and resources provided by bikers like you!)

They created a “MAP” for bikers to not only volunteer to support other bikers, but to get support as well. I had a blast when I signed up to be on the “MAP” with my YouTube channel.

 

From the Support Bikers, “Get on the Map page”

GET ON THE MAP & SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER

SUBMIT YOUR LISTING

When you “Get on the Map” you are listing either yourself, your business, your riding group, or your resources for other bikers to find.

When signing up to “Get on the Map,” you have the option to VOLUNTEER to help fellow bikers should they need assistance. That could be helping a biker broke down, helping a biker gone down, attending an event, etc. You chose!

Listings are completely free except for these 4 exclusive categories: Motorcycle Insurance, Motorcycle Injury Lawyers, Motorcycle Loans, and Merchant Services. They pay so you don’t have to! Your information will not be sold. You will only receive updates and information related to this website, and those involved with the website.

Fast forward to about 9 months before the World Record Poker Run, The Badgers reached out to me again, for another Zoom meeting. while my husband (Andy) and I were camping in the middle of the Arizona Desert. It was memorable for a couple of reasons.

First, we were off-roading in our side-by-side near the Desert Bar in Parker, Arizona, and we had to find a location with cellular service, which was remarkably difficult.

Second, I didn’t know what the Zoom meeting topic was, but soon found out it was going to change my life forever. The Badgers invited me to join a group of people to be the support organizers of the World Record Poker Run. I jumped at the chance to be a part of something this big.

The only hesitation I had was that I was still working my long-haul job and wasn’t sure if I could get the time off to do the ride, but I agreed to be part of the team. Angie had remarked in the call that the earlier call was to get to know me, which led me to believe they had been planning this major event long before my invitation.

Big Announcement

By February 10, 2021, I had decided to retire, and we started making plans to join the World Record Poker Run. We made our “Big Announcement” to our YouTube subscribers for the upcoming event and details of our annual Blue Ride in Sturgis. Andy and I had to make plans of our own. We had to decide who was going to ride in the poker run and who was going to drive the support rig, IE; RV, and trailer.

I was perfectly willing to be the support person, but was so grateful when Andy said he wanted me to experience the ride. The plan was that I would ride the designated Poker Run Route. Andy would drive the support rig on major highways (not necessarily the same route as the poker run because of the size of the rig) to the area of the card pulls, then he would offload his bike and join me at the meet-up locations. 

 

MAKING HISTORY– Back to the Ride

Day One- Andy and I left early in the morning in our perspective roles, he hit the highway with the support rig and headed to a campground near our first stop, located at John Maxwell’s (The Harley Tech) new shop “Maxwell’s Motorcycles” in Columbus, Georgia. I went to the Twisted Fork for the kickoff ceremony. 

Lone Wolf

After all the excitement the night before of meeting the riders at the pre-ride party and the ceremony, I had a little sensory overload. Being such a ham most of my life and loving being the center of attention and partying with a group of like-minded folks, this was a new one for me. I think I was just really excited about the ride and it was a little overwhelming.

I had never experienced an overload before, so I decided I would Lone Wolf it on the first day. It was a beautiful day, but extremely hot at about 97 degrees and what felt like 110% humidity. This California girl where we have the “dry heat” was not used to riding in humidity.  During the 488 miles from Port Charlotte, Florida to Columbus, Georgia, I had to stop a few times for electrolytes. 

The First leg

I had mentioned I am a California girl, one might envision a beach setting. I am actually from the California foothills, where some of the best riding conditions exist. Mountainous, twisty roads were in our backyard. And I am not a fan of highway riding. On the first day of the WRPR, it was almost all highway riding. The Florida drivers (which were new to me) are freaking insane. There were so many close calls and it was just the first day. As I crossed into Georgia, and after several Gatorades, I felt better and was getting into a riding groove. I’m certain if I didn’t rehydrate I would have had heat exhaustion.

Andy didn’t fare any better. He hit heavy traffic and was cut off by a car that almost wrecked the rig. Then when he arrived at the campground, the site they put us in was so small he couldn’t unload his bike unless he pulled it out unloaded it, and then backed it back into the site and repeated the process after he got back from the meetup. The camp host also gave him grief about our pup, Boss. Even though they advertised it as being a dog-friendly park, this particular host was not so dog-friendly. 

We were all exhausted when I arrived at the rig. I made dinner and hit the hay early. The next day had promises of some killer riding in of a country setting with farm fields and levy roads near the Great Mississippi, but I wasn’t expecting what happened. 

Come back for the part 2. The Ride is just getting good

Subscribe to receive my weekly blog, where I write about full-time travel and living on our boat. Weekly updates on my 90-day Carnivore Challenge. Along with fictional stories and Non-fictional historical stories, like “The Search for Linnea Lomax”  and “The Road to Sturgis” The Guinness World Record Porker Run, told in the first person from my perspective.

Michelle Wishart

Bell

 

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