SUMMER 2018

116 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

116 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK JIM RUETZ AMERICAN FASTENER RIDER TOURS AUSTRALIA FOR DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY from page 38 I told Mark I heard him loud and clear and this would not be problem for me. I’ve usually got the bike tucked away for the evening, and am at the local pub looking for that perfect pint of Guinness long before the critters are making their way to the pavement. Mark was also able to tell me if the route I choose had paved roads the entire way and whether there were enough gas stations along the route. Mark and I are planning to meet up during my stay, Lord knows I owe him a big steak and bunch of pints for his help. The map shows the general route I’m considering with the stops along the way noted with slash marks. Many of the stops are one-night stops a few are two night stops, and the start (Sydney) as well as, Cairns are three nights. I will be diving the Great Barrier Reef out of Cairns so I need an extra rest day for that and Sydney, so I can collect my bike and recover from any jet lag. I’m building some flexibility into my route, I will book hotels along the Eastern Seaboard cities where I’m likely to find nicer hotels. After that I’ll have a hotel designated but not confirmed, that way if I want to change the second half of my route I can. About 50% of the time, I end up modifying something on my itinerary during the trip, often it will just be an extra night or one location change. When I did the “Forgotten East Ride” through the Northeast US and Canada (2011), I hadn’t planned on biking up to the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, but was told while enjoying a pint in Stowe, VT the night before that I should add it to my itinerary. Flexibility is a good thing and easy to do when the discussion only has to occur between me, myself, and I. This trip has an additional planning element. My wife will often fly in and meet me at the farthest way-point on my trips. Normally, Karen spends 3 or 4 days at the furthest point on my trip with me then fly’s back home. However, Australia isn’t exactly a weekend side trip from Wisconsin! I may change my route yet again depending on how long Karen comes over for. Karen has always been supportive of the trips-even though like most spouses, she worries about me being on my bike for such a long time. If she decides to come over for a longer stay, I will shorten the bike part of the trip and lengthen the time I spend off the bike with Karen. She enjoys riding on the back for short trips but draws the line on spending the day riding. Watch for further updates on “Jim’s Aussie ride-about Oz 18” via my blog. I don’t know how many rides I’ve got left in me but I’ve enjoyed every one of them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends in the Fastener Industry both here in the US and around the world for their generous financial support of Cureduchenne and the moral support I’ve received. The fastener industry has some of the biggest hearts in US industry! Thanks goes out to the AIS team (which now includes MSC) for their support over the years. Thank you Leo Coar for both supporting the rides via Link Magazine and the kind notes about how he lives vicariously through my rides. Thanks to the Debra Miller and the entire cureduchenne team for their help over the years. Finally, thanks to my wife –Karen- without her love and support these rides are not possible. If you would like to be included on my blog or read about last years “Gaelic Tura’s Ride” through Ireland and Scotland, go to www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JimBMW/. Please consider a donation to cureduchenne you can go to www.cureduchenne.org and look for “Jim’s Aussie rideabout Oz 18”. Every one donating over 0 will receive a much coveted Cureduchenne “Jim ride-about Oz 18” t-shirt. I’m also looking for some corporate sponsors who will be listed on the t-shirt and/or on the Blog site & cureduchenne site. Send me and email if you are interested in being one of the business sponsors for this very worthwhile event (jruetz@allintegrated.com). 100% of the money raised goes directly to cureduchenne to help find a cure. JIM RUETZ

FASTENER FAIR USA CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 11-12, 2018 more photos on page 147