PAUL AND VONI GLAVES "BIG BEND", TEXAS - U.S.A.

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Voni Glaves Photography To go to the Photography Page

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1,100,000 MILES ON BMW MOTORCYCLES

Unique in the world!  One of a kind! The only woman recognized by the manufacturer to have ridden 1,100,000 miles on  BMW motorcycles. Both BMW Motorrad USA and the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America have recognized Voni as having ridden 1,100,000 miles on BMW motorcycles. Voni reached this milestone one mile south of Silverton, Colorado on U.S. 550, the "Million Dollar Highway" on August 12, 2017.   This was 11 miles south of the Red Mountain Overlook where Voni and Ardys Kellerman each reached the 1,000,000 mark in 2011.  We rode the added 10 miles to the Red Mountain Overlook to celebrate!

	Voni at Red Mountain Overlook on the Million Dollar Highway betwAteen Silverton and Ouray, Colorado, August 12, 2017. https://www.durango.org/blog/post/an-insiders-guide-to-the-million-dollar-highway ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=rr_story

We have been called motorcycle "Enthusiasts"  but that might be a bit of an understatement.  There are lots of things about riding BMW motorcycles which we enjoy.  We're glad to share some of our enthusiasm with you.

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Voni's Page	Long Distance Riding	Bench Wrenching	BMW MOA

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Voni was featured in an Iron Butt Profile in the Summer, 2014 issue of Ironbutt, the quarterly
magazine of the Iron Butt Association -dedicated to the sport of safe long-distance ridi
Toread this article:

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Voni's Interview in RoadRUNNER

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Voni featured on Global Women Who Ride

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Listen to Voni's "Million Mile" Interview on Adventure Rider Radio



(Then Click the Arrow to Play)

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Every Big Bend home needs a new shower! Click here for Voni's Article in the BMW Owners News Apres Riding - Wine Open Spaces

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Voni is a "Millionaire"

Voni has just reached a motorcycle riding milestone attained by very few people worldwide.  She has documented her One Millionth Mile riding BMW motorcycles.  She began riding a BMW motorcycle on Mother's Day, May 15th, 1977.  She reached her millionth mile on Monday, August 29, 2011.  Our good friend Ardys Kellerman was also approaching this milestone.  By pre-arrangement Voni and Ardys met at Ouray, Colorado to each ride their millionth mile on U.S. Highway 550, the "Million Dollar Highway.  Voni and Ardys thus became the first two women to ever log a million miles riding BMW motorcycles. More here from the BMW MOA Owners News Here is what BMW Motorad USA had to say. And from the Big Bend Gazette (Scroll down a page)

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On October 15, 2011 Engle Motors in Kansas City presented Voni with her One Million Miles awards from BMW Motorrad USA.  These awards included million mile medallions and a certificate, as well as a bronze sculpure of Ernst Henne, a BMW racer of the 1030s who incidentilally lived to be 104 years old.  The presentation occasioned a dealership open house attended by over 200 people, including our son, daughter, grandsons, Voni's 4 sisters and a couple spouses, a fiance here and there, and many of our riding friends.  Mary Baker, the Editor of the BMW Owners News came over from St. Louis to cover the event and gather additional information for publication of an article by Jack Riepe in the Owners News. Engle Motors also presented Paul with a special award, the "Mechanics Award" honoring Paul as "A One in a Million Smiles Mechanic". To read two articles published in the December, 2011 BMW Owners News    and

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Voni Has A New Bike On May 11, 2010 Voni got a new motorcycle.  We rode to Bentonville, Arkansas and she traded her 2000 R1100S in on this beautiful low mileage 2007 BMW F800S.  Our trip to and from Arkansas was adventurous but uneventful as we chose a route to skirt severe storms and tornadoes on the way there, and another to avoid thunderstorms and high winds on the way home.

   
NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 2010

We just returned from a spectacular tour of New Zealand.  We were in NZ for two weeks and rode motorcycles on both the North and South Islands.  We signed up with Fred Rau Adventure Tours, in conjunction with Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours, LTD for the "Ted Simon New Zealand Tour". To read more and see photographs from this trip to New Zealand,

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HAWAII 50

We stopped off for 8 days in Hawaii on our way home from New Zealand.  This provided an opportunity to ride a BMW motorcycle in our 50th state.  It was our good fortune to find Gary, a fine gentleman who willingly allowed us to borrow his 1982 R100 for a short ride each.  We didn't exactly go for a tour of the whole Big Island, but did each ride around for a little while, accomplishing our ceremonial BMW ride in our 50th state.  Now we can proudly say "all 50 states".  Thanks Gary!

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Intermot Cologne 2006

From October 10 through October 15 we attended the big motorcycle and scooter show, Intermot, in Cologne, Germany.  Intermot 2006 was held at Koelnmesse, the Cologne Exhibition Center, which is an eleven building center not far from the banks of the Rhine River.  This is the major European motorcycle trade show held once every two years.
	The show was attended by more than 187,000 visitors and over 1,300 exhibitors from all over the world.  Here Voni catches her first glimpse of the many motorcycles featured by manufacturers at Intermot Cologne.
Voni couldn't wait to hop on the new BMW G650Xmoto.  This is one of five new models introduced by BMW.	Paul found Chris Pfeiffer's F800 easy to do a stoppie with, at the BMW exhibit.
You just never know what you will find if you look hard enough at a major motorcycle trade show!!!!!  This is very interesting!
	The Cologne Cathedral is a magnificent landmark.  It dominates the skyline, day or night.

Our articles, and lots of pictures from Intermot appeared in the January, 2007 issue of the BMW Owners News.

FOR MORE DETAILS FROM COLOGNE

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The Rumors Are True!
We Bought a House in Texas in 2006!!

The house is on 12 acres located in Texas' Big Bend Country, about 25 miles north of Big Bend National Park. Both Voni and Sarge adapted well to the challenges of living in a remote location.  They're ready for anything!

For All The Details

For More About the Texas Big Bend

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48+ STATE RIDE - May 16 to May 26

	We rode our "48+" ride, which is riding through all of the contiguous 48 states and then to Alaska, starting on May 16 in Baker, Montana. It turned into a 40 States in 7 Days ride when Paul was involved in an accident on I-40 in New Mexico.  He's OK - the K75 is a total loss. But, before this abrupt ending we had a lot of adventure and a lot of fun. For the complete Ride Report:

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WE'RE BACK FROM AFRICA

In 2004 we spent almost two months motorcycle touring in southern Africa with Ayres Adventures.  We rode in 5 countries - South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.   A few of the highlights included visits to the Blyde River Canyon, Kruger National Park, Cape Aghulas (Africa's southernmost point), the Capetown waterfront, and Soweto, in South Africa;  Fish River Canyon, the huge red dunes at Sossusvlei in the Nabib Nakluft National Park, the seal colony at Cape Cross, and Etosha National Park in Namibia; Chobe National Park in Botswana; and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  Wildlife viewing was spectacular.  We took nearly 3,000 pictures - many of wildlife up close, including lions, zebras, elephants, giraffe, rhinos, hippos, and a variety of other animals.

On August 22, 2003 Voni and Paul both completed the 2003 IRON BUTT RALLY sponsored by the Iron Butt Association.  Paul rode "Old Smokey", his 1986 BMW K75T, which he has ridden over 340,000 miles, and Voni rode "Big Red", her original 1994 BMW R1100RS. which turned the odometer past 300,000 miles during the Iron Butt Rally.

This 11-day long-distance rally started in Missoula, Montana on August 11, and ended back in Missoula on August 22, by way of checkpoints at Primm, Nevada, Lake City, Florida, and Buxton, Maine.  There were numerous and varied bonus locations to ride to between the timed, mandatory checkpoints.

We rode the entire rally together, and had a great time at bonus locations including  the Black Rock Desert at Gerlach, Nevada; Highway 5 to the top of Mount Evans in Colorado, U.S. 129 at Deals Gap on the Tennessee-North Carolina border ("the Dragon - 318 curves in 11 miles"), the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and Cooke City, Montana at the base of Bear Tooth Pass and Yellowstone Park.  This was not just an interstate highway dash around the United States.

We both finished - earned enough points for Bronze Medals - and, had a great time.  "Old Smokey" ran flawlessly and we had only a couple of minor glitches with "Big Red"  (headlight adjuster and speedometer drive) neither of which threatened the completion of the rally.  Not bad for a couple of "old" bikes with well in excess of 600,000 combined miles.  If Voni had not made a technical error on her fuel log, (she had to write in the name of the City, but didn't also write down the station's phone number) our point totals would have been identical.

Paul previously completed the 1999 Iron Butt Rally and had so much fun then, he did it again in 2003 - this time with Voni for a riding partner.

For more about our Iron Butt Rally ride

For information about the Iron Butt Association

Voni and four friends completed a "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" scouting tour, through British Columbia to Hyder, Alaska in 2003.  For a quick review of the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun Tour"

It all started innocently enough at age 14, back in Grand Forks, North Dakota!   The 49cc Allstate Moped, from Puch in Austria, was available in any Sears and Roebuck store.  It got more interesting later on the Yamaha RD250 with my dog Sam.

 To read a July, 2004 Cycle Connections article

Voni on the cover of Woman Rider magazine.

The Fall 2001 issue of Woman Rider magazine contains a feature article entitled "Going the Distance Alone", highlighting Voni and a number of other women motorcyclists who travel long distances on their motorcycles by themselves.  Voni's picture, taken by noted photographer Michael Lichter, appeared on the cover of the magazine.

The "Woman and Motorcycling" exhibit at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum at Pickerington, Ohio includes an exhibit about Voni.  Click Here for more information.

Voni was the 1st Place Finisher in the 1999 BMW Motorcycle Owners of America annual mileage contest.  She rode her R1100RS, K75, and R80ST a total of 73,660 sMiles between April 10 and October 11, 1999, a Personal Best .   This surpassed the Women's Division record of 50,089 miles set in 1990 by Ardys Kellerman, and was the 3rd highest total - men's or women's - in the history of the contest. In 2006 Ardys rode just over 80,000 miles in the 6 month contest - and rode more than 100,000 miles in 12 months!  Go Ardys!!  Voni on her favorite Red 1994 R1100RS

Paul is a Past-President of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMW MOA).  With nearly 40,000 members, BMW MOA is one of the largest recreational membership associations in the United States, and one of the world's premier marque motorcycle organizations.

To learn more about BMW MOA:

To access the BMW MOA Web Site:

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"Bench Wrenching" in the BMW Owners News:

Paul is the Technical Editor of the BMW Owners News, the monthly magazine of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America.

Saddle Sore 1000 Bun Burner 1500 1998 Minnesota 1000 1999 Minnesota 1000 1999 Iron Butt Rally Bronze Medal 2003 Iron Butt Rally Bronze Medal

"Old Smokey

For More Information

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IBMWR

We are both members of the Internet BMW Riders.

For information on the IBMWR

Not any more!  When not busy with motorcycles, Paul did work for the City of Merriam, Kansas.  He WAS Merriam's Community Development Director from 1993 until 2004.  He retired on March 31, 2004.    Voni retired May 27, 2004 after teaching for 31 years, 21 of them at the Shawnee Heights district near Topeka.