Meet The Rider # 893 William Felts

 

My name is Will Felts number 893 and I am 53, married and the father of 2 girls of 11 and 9 years old. We are in the Tulsa Oklahoma area. I have many hobbies and riding or building motorcycles are my top two as I have the time. I like to ride Iron Butt challenges and started to certify these a couple of years ago with the goal of completing 20 within a year and prepping for the 2024 Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge ride but had a crash in southern Arkansas when doing a Tour of Honor certified ride. I was able to get my 20^th on the 14^th month so still close to my goal. This next goal of completing the HH is a high priority for me for several reasons.

I first attempted the HH in 2018, I made it just outside of Cody Wyoming with just over 7,000 miles. I noticed my front tire had threads showing when I stopped for construction. I started to look for a tire shop in town. Being a Friday afternoon I could not find anyone with a tire my size and it would have been the following week before I could get it sent in. I threw the towel in at that point and loaded my bike in to a U-Haul due to vacation day limitations at the job I had at the time and headed home just thankful for the country I was able to see. I was excited for 2020 and bought a bike that had a common size tire and was preparing for the ride when COVID hit and I was unable to get the time off…  I set my targets for 2022. In October I had a crash on a 4-wheeler that took out 2 of my tendons in my left knee and I had to have cadaver parts installed to get back in service. I made a strong come back with intentions of 2024 when I had a bike crash in 2023. After another surgery and a few screws with plates I was able to get back after it but did not have the time to make the Alaska trip so focused on a couple of rally s and wondered if I should even plan for 2026...

 

 

 

 Back to the “why”, when I first went on HH in 2018 I had all kinds of thoughts and plans on how I was going to do that ride. None of it was as I had envisioned or planned and I learned to adapt and just enjoy the trip. It was a real struggle around the 5^th day but I powered through with a "moment" and things began to change for me. I continue to search for that feeling these days and sometimes find it when on the Iron Butt rides. The only way to explain that feeling is there comes a time for me when everything in me is exhausted, work stress and anything else is completely gone…

 

 

 

 

 I find my self floating through floating down the road and time on my bike with absolutely nothing else and once its over I have a huge rush of gratefulness for my family and being able to be there to experience it… its only for a moment and it’s very hard to put in to words but that feeling when I find it is something that cannot be replicated by any other means that I have found... It always comes during a long distance ride when pushing myself... Maybe I can find it again on this trip and see some old friends and new roads. Also, I need to finish this ride for once….

St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I chose this due to the fact the children that do not have a choice in any of this and in most cases when they need this type of assistance as there are no other options at all for them to get help and try to turn around their situation.