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Sunny 2.0 is nearly complete. I flew to Denver to attend services for TG Woody Witte, owner of Woodys Wheel Works in Denver who had recently passed away. The day I arrived in Denver I became terribly ill and ended up in the hospital for four days being treated for acute pancreatitis. Man that was fucking painful. Just discharged yesterday. And I missed the services and memorial ride. Hundreds attended the ride from all over the world. Woody had a great influence in the world of overlanding motorcyclist. It began for sure with him creating wheels that can withstand years of abuse without fail, but evolved into his mentorship and deep friendships with so so many world travelers. Myself eventually included. Aside from supplying me wheels, he gave me a place to live for 18 months while recuperating from having my leg crushed directly after returning to the US from a year long lockdown in Brasil. Even with his own health failing he tried to take care of me in my wheelchair. It was symbiotic. When Woody heard that Sunny had died in Quebec, he not only was instrumental in helping find the low-mile DR that is now 2.0, he offered to buy it for me, wanting the original Sunny to have a place in his Museum above the shop. Not having the funds to totally recreate the bike from scratch, I declined both offers and bought it the next day myself. And here I sit now in Denver, getting on a bus tonight back to Akron. Thinking of him and our times together, and trying to think ahead to more crazy travels and next Spring’s conquest of Newfoundland, the TCAT, then north to Tuk and Alaska and the Arctic Circle. Woody approves.