In 2022 I entered my first Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge and did well as a first-time starter. I returned in 2024 and, with the knowledge and experience of my 2022 ride, I finished well ahead of my first Hoka Hey pace. I will line up in Woodstock, Illinois in August for my third Challenge and I am looking to improve once again.
Improving for me is not only about the time it takes to cross the Finish Line. Improving represents riding well, being in the present, engaging more with the locals when the time and the place permits, and sharing my stories and experiences with the new riders in this year’s Hoka Hey. There is no doubt that the lessons learned from previous Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenges deepen one’s knowledge of how to navigate the 10,000 mile journey and how to endure the many days and nights on the road, and this knowledge will continue to serve me well in 2026 and beyond.
This year I will be combining my love of motorcycling (I am the Captain of the Ft. Lauderdale Drill Team and third time entrant into the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge) with my passion for the game of golf (I am the Starter for several PGA TOUR golf championships) as I set out to raise funds for the boys and girls of the South Dakota First Tee Program specific to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The First Tee is a nationwide charity that views golf as a metaphor for life – a game with unexpected challenges that help build strengths beyond the technical skills of playing the game. The First Tee focuses on helping kids develop character, resilience, self-confidence, and inner strength (much like how the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge positively affects participants) by using golf to empower personal growth while enabling the kids to learn to play the game.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota Nation, is recognized as one of the poorest reservations in the US, with high unemployment, poverty rates exceeding 50%, and severe infrastructure deficits. There is no golf course in all of the vastness of the Pine Ridge Reservation, yet The First Tee is there and currently assisting the boys and girls with life lessons and golf lessons. It is my goal to raise funds for the benefit of these outstanding boys and girls.
And if the Hoka Hey route this year should take us through the Pine Ridge Reservation, it would be an amazing thrill for me to pull off the road for an hour or two to visit with the kids, and the coaches, and maybe even hit a few dozen golf balls with them!!!
Hoka Hey!!!
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