Men in iron pants bike for cure to MS
Published: June 1, 2006
Riding a motorcycle across the country in less than 30 days is not for the faint of heart.
But it is a journey one Pinecrest resident plans to make — for a good cause.
Larry Kibler, a general contractor with Gryphon Construction, will ride in the Ultimate Coast to Coast Tour regulated by the Iron Butt Association.
The round-trip motorcycle tour will take place from Key West to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, starting Saturday and ending July 2.
Kibler will not be riding alone. His long-time friend Norman Anderson, a Key West resident, will be joining him. Both will ride Limited Edition 2006 Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle Ultra Classic Electra Glide motorcycles.
The cause: to raise more than $100,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Kibler’s elder brother, Robert, died of multiple sclerosis in 1997 after struggling with it for nine years. He knows friends who have the ailment. Anderson’s former wife, Charlene, has been battling the incurable disease for 18 years.
The tour will also be dedicated to two friends of Kibler’s who died last year. Dave Hudson, an Iron Butt member, was killed in a motorcycle accident and Leon Williams died of MS.
”Everything that we love to do we can do for other people,” Kibler said. “We enjoy long rides but we combined it with something that helps our fellow man.”
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society was founded in 1946 with the aim of funding research to find a cure for the disease that affects the central nervous system. The society has chapters around the country, including one in South Florida that assists persons affected by the disease.
Kibler has been sending out e-mails and letters to family and friends asking for pledges. Money that comes in is logged by his wife Terri and the donations are then forwarded to the MS society which sends each donor a tax receipt for their records.
Donors will receive a daily update from Kibler and Anderson on the road, a way to make them feel like they are on the trip too. A daily updated journal with pictures of the two men will be posted online on Kibler’s company website, www.gryphonconstruction.net/larry.
”When people pledge money, they get to participate in the ride without having to go,” Kibler said.
Since they started making plans a year ago for the MS ride, Kibler and Anderson have raised more than $50,000 in pledges.
The two men — the only ones from the area to make the tour — will ride an estimated 13,500 miles across 21 states and seven Canadian provinces. Expenses for items such as food, gas and hotel are estimated at $7,500 and will be paid out of their own pockets.
”This is a good cause that I would only do with Larry,” said Anderson. “It is a long trip and the only guy I would ride with is him.”
A typical day on the road for the two motorcycle ”dudes” will include rising at 6 a.m, working out for 30 minutes, eating breakfast and heading out by 8 a.m. They will be on the road for 10 to 12 hours a day, with gas and lunch stops and some sight-seeing.
”There are points when you are really tired and some people want to quit but you made a commitment to do this and people pledged money on your commitment,” Kibler said.
The Iron Butt Association, the national long distance motorcycle organization, has issued the rules for the tour and will be certifying that Kibler and Anderson complete it. Iron Butt, founded in 1986, has more than 25,000 members who go on long distance tours every year as a hobby.
The association will check all paperwork submitted by Kibler and Anderson, such as documents signed by police officers or witnesses in each state, as well as receipts for gas, food and hotel.
The association adopted its unique name from the fact that members have to sit on their bikes for a long time and must have ”iron butts,” according to association president Michael Kneebone. Its logo is a man wearing steel pants sitting on a motorcycle.
”Not a lot of people have completed the tour,” Kneebone said. “The last 500 miles are the hardest in Alaska; it is not for the faint of heart.”
This is not Kibler and Anderson’s first time attempting long distance tours. They rode in the USA Four Corners Motorcycle Tour three years ago, from Key West to Madawaska, Maine and Blaine, Wash. to San Ysidro, Calif., in less than 21 days to raise money for four charities.
Kibler is ”a special kind of person,” said John Bennett, a friend of 20 years who donated to the cause. “I respect him and he will be able to reach his goal and more.”
Kibler’s family support has motivated him every step of the way.
”I am concerned about his safety but I think he’s doing this for a good cause,” said his wife.
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