Will Barclay has won his second Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge.
Barclay crossed the finish line in Cape Breton last Friday, two weeks and more than 10,000 miles after he started. He’ll take home a $250,000 prize as long as he passes the post-race bike examination, and lie-detector and drug tests. The next 24 finishers will split $250,000 between them.
Barclay sounded pretty beat when the Cape Breton Post interviewed him, but still found time to praise the Cabot Trail, saying it reminded him of “Maine on steroids.” He’s planning to catch up on his sleep in the next few days, and spend time hanging out with the other finishers as they roll in – and maybe spend some time thinking how to spend that quarter of a million dollars in prize money.
Barclay, of course, won the Hoka Hey last year as well, splitting the cash with the second-place finisher – they’d made a deal to do so, so they wouldn’t end up in a life-or death race to the finish. They rolled over the finish line together, but organizers declared Barclay the winner by a hair.
And what of Canadian entry John Ibbitson? From his blog, it appears Ibbitson is still down in the States somewhere. He may be a few miles behind, but he seems to be enjoying himself, which should be the first rule of any motorcycle ride, anywhere.
Now, sit back and wait for the fuss to start in the online forums. A lot of people weren’t happy last year with the way the prize money was handed out, and made all sorts of accusations. With Barclay’s repeat win, you can bet they’re going to kick up a fuss all over again.
