Run For The Wall rolls out of Rancho Cucamonga

May 13, 11:10 AMMotorcycle ExaminerKen Bingenheimer

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Glenn and Cathy Buchholz are part of the 2009 Run For The Wall

The 2009 Run For The Wall is underway, with Denver-area bikers Glenn and Cathy Buchholz part of the fleet on their Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic. Glenn and Cathy take part in this run every year in their dedication to helping the healing of other riders through prayer.

The purpose of the run, say Glenn and Cathy, is healing and awareness. Healing for soldiers who are still tormented by their experience in Vietnam and awareness in regard to prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. Bikers groups are often in the forefront of the POW/MIA effort and the reason for that is a question other people often ask. The explanation is provided, at least in part, by DC Motorcycle Examiner Mark Poesch, in his article, Harley-Davidson and the affinity with America's veterans.

Reflecting the military background of so many of these riders, the Run For The Wall is divided into platoons of 50 bikes each. Riders in a platoon maintain a 2 second separation and the platoons are spaced 12 seconds apart. Glenn was estimating there would be seven platoons, for a total of around 350 riders taking the central route. Another group is riding a southern route.

The central route passes through Colorado on Saturday, May 16, entering the state at Raton, following US 350 to La Junta, CO 71 to Limon, and then east on I-70 to Burlington. Police escorts will move the riders through towns, making the ride a parade for area residents.

Local hospitality provides meals, fuel, and accommodations for much of the ride, although Glenn notes that the generosity is greater in the west and diminishes as they move east.

To fuel that many motorcyles, arrangements are made in advance to take over gas stations and and Glenn is a member of the fuel crew. The fuel crew rides ahead of the group and secures the station and the pumps are then opened. Each rider files through, fills, and moves on and payment is handled once all are finished.

Glenn provides this report on their trip from Denver out to California and preparations for the run.

Sunday we left in the cold and mist, rode into rain first then sleet. We reached Idaho Springs for breakfast and a long wait for the Mac Attack and Bones brigade that we were meeting there. They were late because of a small accident at one of their stops on the way up. . . . That delay helped them avoid a very bad accident on the way up the hill to the Springs. When they all got there and we fueled up, one of the fellas couldn't start his bike. He thought the oil light was on was the reason it didn't start. After messing around awhile and adding oil it was discovered he had the kill switch half way on  :^). His road name is now Kill Switch. That delay kept us from the slush that was on the road at the tunnel approach. The snow had stopped and the slush had melted.

. . . We had great weather from there on to Richfield Ut. Spent the night, got up early and rode to Cedar City where we were treated by the Honda dealer to coffee and donuts. Oh I forgot, Kill Switch forgot to fuel up between and ran out of gas, another slight delay that kept us from whatever. From there we rode through Las Vegas and then up the hill across the Mojave desert to Barstow, Ca. It only reached 107 degrees through there but the 40 mph head side wind cooled us real good. Yea right. We finally ended our day in the Ranch and checked into our hotels.

Today we changed our oil, had an assembly line in the parking lot where we did 5 bikes in about an hour. Had meetings for the fuel crew and went to the central park for the blessing of the bikes before evening chow. The chow was provided by several organizations in the area and was great. Pastor Dan, of the Mac Attack, did a corporate blessing that made several eyes well up. . . . We also were blessed with being able to bless and pray with another 6 or 8 individuals that had missed the corporate blessing. Was a very moving experience for us. This is how we get to know these people and some of the problems they have in their lives so we can pray more effectively through out the run.

I will continue to post reports from Glenn and Cathy as the Ride For The Wall crosses the country on its way to Washington, DC.