Kirk Woodward dro i gang sine årlige Route 66 turer i 1995. Hvert eneste år frem til han døde i 2002 arrangerte han Route 66 turer som startet i Los Angeles og Chicago den andre lørdagen i juni. Konen til Kirk, Pam, har fortsatt tradisjonen og dersom du gjerne vil kjøre Route 66 sammen med andre, men ikke vil være med på et ferdigspikret opplegg, er dette en mulighet. Du må selv ordne med sykkel, reise og overnatting. Les mer her >>

Jeg har hatt mange gode samtaler med Kirk og han skulle være med som hjelpeguide på våre turer i 2002. Dessverre døde han av lungekreft i februar samme år, men turene han startet fortsetter ved hjelp av konen Pam.

Kirk var en sann Route 66 venn.

Om Kirk Woodward (Engelsk)

Kirk first became familiar with Route 66 when he and his family lived in Peoria, Illinois, in the sixties.  He used to drive on it during his sales traveling job with a book publisher.  He thought it was fascinating then, but never gave it any further thought until his interest in motorcycling was renewed in the nineties, when he bought a Honda bike.  As most bikers, he was frequently on the lookout for interesting places to ride.  By this time, he had also started up his own marketing company.  As fate would have it, one day in 1994 as he was glancing through a mail order catalog, he noticed an offer for a book about Route 66, and saw ads for a Route 66 coffee mug and T-Shirt.  Then he remembered the television series about Route 66, too, and it all clicked.  He figured it'd be a great ride for motorcycles, not just automobiles.  Right then and there he decided to sponsor a Route 66 event for motorcyclists, and provide merchandise for it.  He placed ads in motorcycle magazines, got a fairly good response, and so it came to pass that the first Rally began June 10, 1995.

 

Thus the annual Mother Road/Ride Rally was born.  He provided a registration packet with an itinerary, lapel pin, maps, join up points, and sent articles about the riders involved to local newspapers.  The Rally grew and grew as he promoted interest in Route 66 for motorcyclists through his website, www.hhjm.com, as well as through a newsletter, and ads in motorcycle magazines.  He, also, established a website with MSN.com, where riders could exchange correspondence.

 

He became intrigued with the history of Route 66, and enjoyed interviewing many of the shop and motel owners along the road.  And he never tired of exchanging stories with the Mother Road Ride/Rally participants.  His most ambitious project, the publishing of his book, "Motorcycle Guide to Route 66," was a natural outgrowth of the Rally. He, also, produced videos for the 2000 Millennium Run, and for the 2001 Mother Road Rally.  He went on to produce state by state videos about Route 66.  He was just getting ready to produce the last one, about Route 66 in Oklahoma, when he was struck down with lung cancer.  He had already begun planning for the 2002 Rally, but could not finish it, and turned it over to his good buddies, Pat Evans and Lew Bellinger.  He succumbed to the disease February 11, 2002.  It's fitting that his last ride down Route 66 was in his 66th year.

 

He was Owner, President and CEO of both People Centered Programs, and HHJM, Inc.  He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Pam; son, Ted and his wife, Sheri; daughter, Margot and her husband, John Quinn; four grandchildren, and brother, Tom and his wife, Sara.  His fantastic enthusiasm, great sense of humor, and interest in adventures along Route 66 will be sorely missed.