Meet The New Rider # 1341 Bill Morris

 

Hello! My name is Bill Morris from Sanford, NC and I’m Rider #1341 in this year’s Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge.

 

     I retired from the Army in January of 2021 and bought my first motorcycle as a retirement gift to myself. Riding bikes led to wrenching on bikes, and I soon went to Central Carolina Community College to become a certified motorcycle mechanic. After that I went to the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix to pursue the Harley Davidson certification.

 

     Since I was going to be riding from North Carolina to Arizona anyway, I decided to make it a full coast-to-coast ride, beginning in Wilmington, NC and ending in California at the Santa Monica Pier. By the time I arrived I had caught the long-distance-riding bug. The experience of being out on the sparsely travelled backroads of America, where there’s nobody there but me and God, just riding through the world He created really helped me sort out some things in my life. I’ve done 3 more coast-to-coast solo rides since then, as well as another 8,500 mile solo trip that circled most of the continental US.

 

     It was at near the beginning of that trip that my wife told me about this crazy thing she had seen on Facebook called the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge and said that it sounded like it would be right up my alley. As soon as I checked it out I knew I had to do it. The challenge of combining old-school (non-GPS) navigation with strict adherence to a prescribed and unknown route, roughing it by sleeping on the ground beside your bike instead of in a motel, and the goal of completing the 10,000 mile course in under 2 weeks is, like my wife said, right up my alley.

 

     I’m doing this challenge as a fundraiser for a great organization that I came across through my church called Harvest Child Care Ministries. Harvest CCM is a licensed, faith-based children’s home whose mission is to provide a safe, loving Christian home for children who have experienced abuse, abandonment, or neglect. At Harvest CCM children are taught Christian values to aid in equipping them to become responsible, productive members of society. You can learn more about this organization online at harvestccm.com. If you would like to donate, please follow the QR code below and type “HHMC Rider #1341” in the comments. Thank You!