Lamonster & Fred Rau's RT Trip across America-Day 4

[Lamonster]

The weather was going to be great today so I decided to wash the RT before heading over to the race track. I found a little carwash not far from us and as I was pulling in there was a cop car pulling out. I saw a homeless looking guy going through the trash and didn't think much about it. I parked the RT and got ready to wash the Spyder when a old man came up to me telling me to watch out for that homeless guy because he just caught him in his car trying to steal his camera and he broke it. He showed my the camera and procided to tell me the whole story. He was really upset because the cops wouldn't do anything and they were telling him that he was going to go to jail if he didn't calm down.

Then the guy started talking about how he was a Colonel in the Army and was a P.O.W. that was left for dead by our government and that he had escaped his captives in Cambodia. He proceeded to tell me all that was wrong with the world today and then he asked me where I was from but before I could tell him he saw the Canadian tags on the RT and said "why am I talking to you, you're not even an American". The first thing that came to mind was the video a friend of mine just sent me last week about the Canadians and us by Tom Brokaw. It was on youtube but it was remove because of copyright infringement. It pointed out a lot of things I didn't know about our neighbors across the border. Canadians are more than okay in my book after seeing that video.

Up until then I let him do all the talking and I thanked him for his service and told him I had two boys in the Marine Corp and one in the Air Force. He seemed to calm down then and went back to his car. He came back with a t-shirt and a coin to give me for thanks to my boys. It turns out he was in the Special Forces and the coin he gave me was his Special Forces coin. I didn't want to take it but he said he was going to die soon anyway and he wanted me to have it because of my boys. I really didn't know what to do or say but he wouldn't take no for a answer.

This is the shirt and coin he gave me. You could tell he had this coin for a very long time. I feel very sorry for this man and I hope the rest of his life is better than it started out today.

After that I washed the RT and dried it off and was pretty much in shock about what just happened. The story is much longer than this and I must say this old man gave me a lot to think about and to be thankful for.

From there I headed down to the Sunshine Mall where all the metric guys use to setup. It was pretty dead when I got there and there wasn't near as many vendors as there were in the good ol days. The RT was a hit though and there was a group of folks waiting to ask me questions about it. That's the way it is pretty much anywhere you park on a Spyder.

Sunshine Mall

After talking with the vendors and some old friends I headed to the Spyder tent at the track.

The place was hopping pretty good for a Sunday and the weather was much better than the day before. I spent the rest of the day talking with folks about the RT and meeting some SpyderLovers from the board and I saw quite a few old friends from my Valkyrie days.

Signing of the SpyderLovers.com banner.

The rest of the pics are some happy SpyderLovers. I'll let them say who they are in the pics so I don't get it wrong. Sorry guys but I'm real bad with names.
It was good to see the excitement all these folks had for the Spyder.

I left the track and headed back to ESI's trailer and from there we went to Betty's for dinner. I had a great burger and good fellowship. Hard to say what tomorrow will bring but the weather should be good again. Hope to see you there.

Hope you're not hungry.

Lamonster- SpyderLovers.com

 

[TicketBait]

wow, I have mixed emotions after reading all that, had you carried lemon pledge with you , you might have missed the episode with the injured war hero veteran, Colonel in the Army and POW.

Americans, Canadians, French, Austrailians.........we are all from the same race, same species..........HELLO, were Human Beings, with different likes and dis likes. So for me it is sad to see and hear about people in conflict that have
very little help and understanding for the sacrifices they have made for the leaders of countries who are no longer in power. Insane.

We could easily have been born Chinese or Asian or African, it just so happens we became spyderlovers, and I quite frankly like it that way. :cheers:

 

[strats]

We could easily have been born Chinese or Asian or African, it just so happens we became spyderlovers, and I quite frankly like it that way. :cheers:

Coldn't have said it better myself...:cheers:

 

[dave01]

Great story Lamont. See ya back there on Thursday. The ryde back home was nice and its time for the 600 mile service..LOL
Mud flap lights really looked good at night. Thanks again ESI:2thumbs::2thumbs:

 

[WaltH]

wow, I have mixed emotions after reading all that, had you carried lemon pledge with you , you might have missed the episode with the injured war hero veteran, Colonel in the Army and POW.

Americans, Canadians, French, Austrailians.........we are all from the same race, same species..........HELLO, were Human Beings, with different likes and dis likes. So for me it is sad to see and hear about people in conflict that have
very little help and understanding for the sacrifices they have made for the leaders of countries who are no longer in power. Insane.

We could easily have been born Chinese or Asian or African, it just so happens we became spyderlovers, and I quite frankly like it that way. :cheers:

You have expressed my thoughts better than I could do it myself. I would add just one thing. Great suffering does not protect us from the fear that causes us to deny our interconnectedness and interdependence with all other members of humankind. I have compassion for his suffering and appreciation for his service to his country. I wish that he will know peace of mind in the autumn of his life.

 

[YPILOT]

That's a moment you'll remember forever. You don't get a snapshot of life like that everyday. I've often said there are millions of different ways to live a life on this rock and everybody's path is different. I really appreciate my life even with the ups and downs that we all go through. I never served in the military but I hold all of our veterans and current servicemen and women in the highest regard. Their sacrifice secures our freedom. Thanks to you we ride. On a different note the eagle on that shirt would look great painted on the front of your RT. :thumbup:

 

[BumbleBee]

wow, I have mixed emotions after reading all that, had you carried lemon pledge with you , you might have missed the episode with the injured war hero veteran, Colonel in the Army and POW.

Americans, Canadians, French, Austrailians.........we are all from the same race, same species..........HELLO, were Human Beings, with different likes and dis likes. So for me it is sad to see and hear about people in conflict that have
very little help and understanding for the sacrifices they have made for the leaders of countries who are no longer in power. Insane.

We could easily have been born Chinese or Asian or African, it just so happens we became spyderlovers, and I quite frankly like it that way. :cheers:

Nicely said :2thumbs:

What a start of a day for you "Lamont", all ended well,
great pictures :2thumbs:

MM, waiting to place my order for the Mud Flap Lights, hurry back :thumbup:

 

[SpyderWolf]

That is a very emotional story Lamont. It is a crying shame that there are still many of our veterans out there whose lives are like this mans. Thanks for sharing the stories, and the pictures, we can't wait to get down there on Thursday to join in all the fun.

 

[frank3]

Great story, great pictures. Look forward to reading your posts each day. THANKS

 

[Wheeler~]

The crazy lookin' dude in the white hat is me! I met Lamont for the first time yesterday at the Daytona Speedway Spyder demo area and it was really a pleasure talking to him. I can't get over how much he crams into a days work, yet he seems to have time for everyone. I'm in fact going back Thursday to meet a BRP rep Lamont told me about. I got some great ideas and suggestions from Lamont that I plan to implement. Meeting him was actually one of the highlights of my day. Daytona was a very busy place yesterday with lots of beautiful bikes and scenery.

 

[MarkLawson]

We could easily have been born Chinese or Asian or African, it just so happens we became spyderlovers, and I quite frankly like it that way. :cheers:

My dad always said that he read somewhere that 1 out of every 7 children born in the world are Chinese, so they decided to stop at 6!

 

[jimclarkf1]

Hi Lamont

THANK YOU very much for the storys, I see there are still a lot of open spots to sign on the banner, HOPE to add mine soon.:2thumbs: All you guys give LIFE a POSTIVE LOOK, hyea:THANKS, John (Omaha Ne)

 

[jnt]

Brokaw video

The video Lamont mentioned is available at nbcolympics.com. You'll have to search for it, as the link has moved around. Look for "Brokaw on Canada/US bond" It's a great story about what happened north of the border on and just after 9/11.

 

[Dukester]

Lamont, great post. Isn't it strange how life throws out these things for us to deal with. There must be a reason that man told his story to you. I feel so bad for that man. One day I would love to make it to Daytona, maybe next year after my son comes home from Iraq. Well keep up the great work and enjoy your stay there. Hope the weather gets better for everyone there.

 

[dave01]

Signed the banner. Man are there a lot of signatures on there..LOL

 

[SpyderWolf]

Signed the banner. Man are there a lot of signatures on there..LOL

I hope you saved room for a couple more signatures on there.