One thing we’ve learned running the TransAmerican Motorcycle Endurance Run is that it almost never goes exactly how you planned. Something breaks. Weather rolls in. Plans change. The teams you remember most aren’t the ones with perfect runs. They’re the ones who just refuse to quit. This year, that was Team Vicious Cycles all the way from Maine.
Tyler Golletti showed up ready to ride his 1920 Harley-Davidson J. The bike was dialed, the team was excited, and they were all in from the start. And then the bad luck showed up almost immediately. Mechanical issues right out of the gate.
A lot of people would have called it and headed home. It’s a long way from Maine, and an even longer way to chase a race across the country. But Tyler, along with Jared Leduck and Steve Coe, weren’t interested in quitting. Instead, they loaded up and drove from the start in North Carolina all the way to Kansas to get help from the crew at PVP Cycle. Just to get the bike sorted and get back on the road.
They fixed it, chased us back down, and met up again at Wheels Through Time. Then, unbelievably, more bad luck issues. At that point it almost felt personal!
So they did what they’d already proven they were willing to do. They stuck with it, headed back to Kansas, worked with PVP again, and decided they were going to make this thing happen no matter what. And once it finally came together, it really came together. From there on out, Tyler didn’t miss another mile. He rode in the rain, in the cold 36 degree mornings. Sunny days. In Fog along the coast.
Every day we lined up, he was there. After missing multiple days at the beginning, he still finished out the rest of the run like nothing could stop him. Honestly, it was just fun to watch. No big speeches and no big frustration, I would talk to Tyler about keeping his spirits up and about pressing on, and he’d always say “I’m not worried about it, we’ll get it” and this was every time we talked, he was NEVER down and out. He is just a guy who wanted to ride his old Harley and wasn’t going to let a little (some may say a lot) bad luck take that away.
That’s the kind of attitude that makes this event what it is. We love seeing all the people solving problems in their own way to get to the end destination, that’s what really makes the stories.
Photos by: Olivier Touron, Ed Harriger, Eddie Phillips, Kazuo Matsumoto
Want to sign up for our email list? Do it here!
Sponsored by: Legends Motorcycles, Sinless Cycles, Competition Distributing, Veritas Vintage, Antique Motorcycle Club of America
