Kyle Petty Charity Ride: Off and riding across country (cont'd)

DAY 6: HAYS, KAN.

Kevin Kane Photography

Don Tilley has been leading the Charity Ride from the beginning.

Don Tilley saw Kyle Petty motioning him to pass, so he hit the gas a little harder as a group of 32 motorcycle riders left San Francisco in 1995.

It was the inaugural Kyle Petty Charity Ride, and Petty was leading the route -- at least until his tank began to run dry. "Lead this thing a while, I've got to get off and get some gas," Petty told Tilley. When Petty pulled off, Tilley took control of the ride and he's been leading the way ever since.

Tilley, a former racer who worked for Richard Petty when Kyle was born, has always been on a motorcycle. He used to ride to races, taking his bike to the local tracks or all the way from Charlotte to Daytona.

So when Kyle Petty approached him about riding a bike with Harry Gant and a few others out to the Phoenix race in 1994, Tilley was sold. The trip was a success. Petty decided to take an annual fundraising trip across the country each year to raise funds for ill children, and Tilley was among the first he asked to join.

"And I've been in front ever since," said Tilley, who's been riding motorcycles for 60 years; his first was a '49 Harley-Davidson knucklehead that he rode to Tampa, Fla. "It used to be I [orchestrated] the whole route. But now it's so organized that the highway patrol is out front, and they put the car in front of us. So I'm just what you call the lead dog right now."

And he's had a major influence on Petty and the Charity Ride.

"I love this guy more than anything because he taught me how to ride long distance and learn what it's all about to be out there in God's country under the sky," Petty said.

Thirteen participants who have been on all 15 Charity Rides were honored Monday night for their dedication and influence. Each received a commemorative patch to go on the leather jackets they received when they celebrated 10 years on the ride. There were laughs and tears. And there's more to come.

"The biggest thing is we've been able to raise a lot of money -- and to keep it going," Tilley said. "We figured the first year it would be a great thing. Then we did the second year and the third year and it's just grown from there. It's gotten more organized and more press. It's a big deal right now. We make a lot of money for the camp. It's just a great thing to do."

Tilley's steady hand on his motorcycle has put the Kyle Petty Charity Ride in front of countless eyes across the country. When supporters line the streets to welcome the ride into small towns like WaKenney, Kan., it's Tilley they see first. When 154 miles on the High Plains ends in driving under a bridge with three fans waving below, it's Tilley they see first. And when the Kyle Petty Charity Ride rolls into North Carolina later this week at the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the kids will see Tilley first.

Perhaps just as important, his influence and presence has helped turn the ride into a safer trip.

"This man, to a lot of us, has passed on something that I can never repay him for, and that's the love of riding a motorcycle," Petty said. "I thought I knew how to ride until I started hanging out with Don, and that's no joke. He's taught a lot of us, maybe not directly but indirectly, about the love of the bike and what the bike is all about." (Continued)