The cold and snow pictured above is
what welcomed Dr. G back to the USA for his pit stop.
Abandoned in Cape Town, pit stop in
Frankfurt, more secret plans away from the motorcycle paparazzi
After
having been abandoned in Cape Town, Dr. G had a six hour flight in economy
class (he described it as the “cattle section”) to Addis Ababa, and then
another six hour economy flight to Frankfurt, Germany. On one flight he was seated in a tight narrow
aisle seat next to a mother with a screaming child, their seats in front of the
always busy economy class toilets. On the next flight the man sitting behind
Dr. G had a cancer-like lung cough, hacking up lungers for most of the six
hour flying time. With the nine hour
layover in Frankfurt, Dr. G had enjoyed nearly 24 hours reflecting on having
been abandoned by his riding pal #7. He concluded his situation was much the
same as was faced by Carl Stearns Clancy 113 years earlier when Clancy’s riding
pal, Walter Storey, abandoned him in Paris, France.
Dr.
G said of having been abandoned by his riding pal, and faced with continuing on
solo around the world, “I believe Dave
Barr, in the Introduction about Clancy’s record setting first motorcycle ride
around the globe, realistically reflected what my situation was like in the
book MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURER (http://bit.ly/w39HNg) when he
wrote:
“Grit and determination — these two
men, before they started out and during the first part of their trip, had a
sense of adventure. From what I’ve read I don’t think his friend, Storey, was
fully prepared how great the adventure was. Obviously Storey wasn’t a
motorcyclist to start with and it seems he just didn’t have the bottle for it,
I mean, the falling off and having Clancy come back and ride the motorcycle, it
just didn’t sound like Storey was a man with a lot of pride and determination.
I can only guess though. Then when he left Clancy, who knows, maybe he wrote a
letter home to have a “Come home” letter catch up with them saying, “Hey, call
me home,” and he then had a way to weasel out of the rest of the journey. But
if he really wanted to make the adventure and stay with his friend he would
have. He didn’t. What I do see as being devastating was when Clancy got used to
traveling with Storey, you know for better or worse, he would have been used to
him, and it’s like the devil you know. When Storey left, there’s a part of
Clancy that was gone, and he was truly on his own. We have all traveled with
people we got along well with and we’ve been through some hard stuff—the
weather, the road, living conditions, border crossings, a lot of uncertainty,
and we come to learn how much we can depend on the other person, how much of
the load they can carry. Then one day you say goodbye, and you never see each
other again. A part of you goes with them, and then you’re traveling
differently. We have to learn to handle that emptiness well because that is who
we are, but it still would have been tough for Clancy to soldier on alone once
Storey left. But at the same time, we have had it happen to us a number of
times and we just carry on alone, no problem, whereas he didn’t start out to be
a lone traveler. He had to make an incredible adjustment. We have also seen
from what the man did afterwards that he was not the type of guy to quit under
any circumstances, unless he was killed. This guy Clancy would have done the
ride around the globe no matter what, because when he put his mind to
something, if he felt it was worthwhile, he was in, boots and all. You can see
from his record afterwards Clancy was an achiever. And when he put his mind to
something he did it.”
As Clancy kindly wrote of Storey’s
abandoning him (Clancy was 21 years-old, Storey was ten years his senior), “At this point Storey was imperatively
called back to America and, knowing no one to take his place, I determined to continue
on “around,” all alone."
Abandoned in 2002 by Ironbutt icons, Bob Higdon and Mike Kneebone, who turned around in Moscow and headed back to the USA, and having taken with them the money, maps (GPS) and dreams of riding across some of Russia in a club car on the Siberian Express, Frazier knew how to soldier on against some dark odds. Described as "No stranger to danger," he felt that if Clancy, at 21 years of age in 1913 could keep moving around the globe, nearly 100 years later he could carry on in the spirit of 'round the world adventure motorcycling, a Clancy style.
Dr. G kindly said
of # 7’s decision to return to the USA and abandon the ‘round the world ride, “He
became fearful of what lay ahead, I could smell it on him from the day we landed in Colombia. Whether it was, as he claimed, upon the
advice of his attorney, or severe trepidation based upon his own interpretation
of an expired Travel Alert from the US State Department, either way he became a
self-imposed DNF (Did Not Finish) on February 26. I’ll determine whether I can
manage to continue on ‘around,’ alone as did Clancy. I’d previously carved the time out from my
work schedule and turned down other requests, so now it will be conjuring how to change the plan from two
adventurers to one, plus financing the expedition.”
Dr. G returned to his “Top Secret –
Eyes Only” USA base (photo above) at The Jumping Fish Adventure Resort, far
away from the motorcycle paparazzi, and began making plans for the additional 3,000-4,000
miles across Europe and Asia needed to bag a complete loop of the globe.
A paramount economic decision was
whether to ship one of his own motorcycles to Europe, make roadworthy one he
had hidden there 10 years before, buy one in England or rent a motorcycle for
use in Europe. Shipping was estimated to
be $2,500.00 and time consuming. Making roadworthy his own motorcycle was
estimated to be $1,500.00 plus a significant number of days to make it
roadworthy, only to again store it once the European leg was completed. Purchasing a motorcycle in Europe was
possible, but something meeting his minimum requirements would start at about
$3,000.00 and the paperwork to make it legal could be prohibitively time
consuming. That left the option of
renting, which had previously been part of the two person plan. Two rentals had been reserved. Renting would
save a significant number of days, allowing for mileage requirements to be met
by the “return to USA target date of July 2.”
Financing the balance of the ‘round
the world ride was another 'stumbling block.' Dr. Gs' options ranged from selling
assets at bargain basement prices due to his limited time frame, borrowing
money, or securing sponsors (Dr. G described that option as “begging” at the
last minute, an unpalatable option for him). One book publishing opportunity
presented itself, a possible way to recoup borrowed funds. During Frazier’s pit
stop he prepared a requested draft outline of a book with the working title of
THE LOST MAN, first to be published in Thailand, a recounting of his travel experiences with a man lost outside his home element of America on a global motorcycle ride. He said of the book option, “Geoff Hill
taught me a few tricks, gave me some tips, on the Clancy Centenary Ride (http://bit.ly/n6bXGX). Upon completion of Hill’s ride
around the world he wrote the book IN CLANCY’S BOOTS (https://amzn.to/2pT4bP7), a reflection of his global loop. THE LOST MAN could be done the same
way, with a few similar characters.” Dr. G laughed and said “However, I
might add more sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll to pimp book sales.”
While on his pit stop one of
Frazier’s BIG DOG fraternity associates, Jeff Alleman, prepped Dr. G for his
possible crossing of Russia (Alleman left in the photo above, Frazier right)
with some time spent in cold snow.
Alleman said, “June in Moscow could still be cold and wet. If you’re going to use a German motorcycle,
coming out of Germany, to cross Russia, remember that the cold was what stopped
Hitler’s plan for Russia. You might want
to re-route yourself across Asia through a more southerly route, warmer and closer
to the equator.”
Early in 2010 Frazier said, “I’m
out!” after reaching the shores of the Indian Ocean on a beach in Java. He
stopped that attempt at a 6th ride around the world and was quoted as
saying:
“I’m not done tasting the
environments, economies and cultures of the world from atop a motorcycle.
There are still plans to attempt reach distance places, as well as to return to
some I want to see more of, like Colombia and Brazil in South America, as well
as more of Eastern Asia and Africa. I merely plan to quit this foolish
squandering of travel funds to transport motorcycles over water. 75% of
the earth is water and the increasing costs and bureaucratic hassles associated
with transporting motorcycles to the remaining 25% have been seriously cutting
into my remaining travel years and project budgets.”
With his credit cards cleaned to -0-,
a revised plan and route for Europe and Asia, and a motorcycle reserved on the
continent for Europe, Dr. G said, “I often laugh at myself, not taking myself
too seriously, but prefer to be an achiever, don’t want to be a loser, to fail, DNF during this
second attempt at a 6th ride around the world. I did that once
before, self-imposed a DNF, and it didn’t taste very good afterwards. I tried
to blame my personal weakness on others, anything but admitting I was a loser, just
giving up, didn’t cowboy-up as we say in Montana. This time I am firmly committed.
However, I suspect my future eating and
sleeping will be at the lower end of the cash budget scale, but if I move fast
enough I may be able to stay ahead of the credit card charges for airline
tickets, gas and tolls.”
In an interesting turn of words
regarding manliness and determination, in THE GASOLINE TRAMP (http://bit.ly/2qpizmi and at Amazon), a previously unpublished manuscript by Carl Stearns
Clancy recounting of his 1912-1913 ride around the world, in the second to the last paragraph in the
final chapter Clancy wrote:
“I had started a boy, I had come back a man.”
The last paragraph in THE GASOLINE TRAMP reads:
The truth of the old adage, “Where there is a will there is a
way” has been proven once more.
(Next: After
a return flight to Frankfurt, Germany it will be trains, cars, taxi cabs and
eventually an extended motorcycle adventure in Europe.)
