MEANDERING
Written by Henry N. Patterson

It was early spring 1941 when Rex Bowen said he wanted to go to a T. T. Race in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a pretty good rider and wanted to try racing. We polished ports and ground the valves on his 1939 61 inch and thought we had a pretty good running machine. The race was to be on Sunday so we got up early on Saturday morning to leave. At that time of the year Red Mountain Pass from Ouray to Silvertown was not kept open. So we had to take the long route through Utah. By the time we got to Moab, Utah we were soaked. There was not much available in rain suits back in those days. The weather did not look good and I was ready to go back home. Rex wanted to race so he called and asked how the weather was in Albuquerque. They said it was good and for us to come on down. We were somewhat dried out so we started on ahead. About twelve or fifteen miles out of Moab it started to snow. We pulled to the side of the road and again had a conference. Before a decision was made a stock truck pulled up and asked if we needed help. By chance Rex knew the driver. He offered to take us as far as Monticello so we took him up on the offer. He backed the truck into the borrow pit and we tied one machine to each side of the truck and took off. It kept on snowing and the windshield wipers didn't work part of the time. The road was very winding and hilly and I still don't know how we made it. When the windshield got too badly covered the driver would put his head out the window to see if we were still on the road. We finally got to Monticello and found a loading dock where we could unload the bikes. On down the road we went. No more snow or rain but the wind was something else. I had a sport windshield that had three rivets in the bracing to hold the pyralin upright. The wind was so bad that the machine leaned so much that I looked over one of the side rivets. I broke the wind for Rex. He kept his head down and just followed me. A couple of times he nearly lost it on small drifts of sand on the road that he did not see. This side wind was all the way from Shiprock to Gallup, New Mexico. About halfway between these two towns we found a Trading Post and stopped to get a drink. Two Indians were sitting out of the wind with their heads down and did not even acknowledge us as we walked by. On down the road we met two spring wagons. Each wagon was driven by the Squaw and the Chief was covered with a blanket. Once in awhile you could see a trail where the wagons might go but never a sign of their hogans. It was a very desolate part of the country. We learned when we got to Gallop that the Indians had a big Pow Wow and were on their way back home. At last we got to Albuquerque.

They had the races but Rex was way out of his class and had nothing but fun. You must remember that most of the racers there had ridden their machines to the race. We took off the headlight and front fender and were ready for him to race.

The star of the day was Eldon Beer from Amarillo, Texas. He was one of the best riders in the Southwest and he had someone to make his machine run good. It was an education to see him start a race. The flag would drop and he would get the start and then a few racers would pass him as he was shifting into another gear. He did it so fast that very few were ahead of him and none of them were when he got to the first turn. From there on it was follow Eldon.

When the race was over we put the fender and headlight back on and headed home. About halfway to Gallup a jack rabbit ran across the road and I hit it. I heard it pop and the next thing I knew Rex pulled up along the side of me and cussed me out. A part of the rabbit had hit him in the face.

It was an all night ride home and somewhere before we reached Moab I fell asleep on my bike. Thank goodness the rough ride at the side of the road woke me up without any damage. Finally we were home. After a hot bath it was time to go to work.