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Wheeldog: (hwel · dog) n. [dog sledding terminology] Usually a big, strong dog placed directly in front of the sled. Their job is to turn the sled, and to keep it from hitting trees or other obstacles. They also can help get the sled broken loose if it is stuck or bogged down.
Not a bad nickname for our own Roger Bliss. Roger is a Charter Member of the MTF and we can always count on him to break us loose when we get stuck or bogged down. You don’t have to look far to see Roger’s trademark “Alaska Rocks” sigpic on our forum. Just pick out any discussion and you’re likely to run across one or more of Roger’s helpful and friendly posts.
Roger has been around since the earliest days of the forum and for a time Roger acted as it’s manager. When that became a little too much of a “chore” he handed over the day-to-day stuff to others and freed up time to do other things – like ride! Like many of us, Roger used to spend a fair amount of time on a brand-specific forum. But, as he put it “I wanted to hear more about rides/trips people where doing. The MTF was the only [forum] that talked about riding. I found the place the second day it opened and have been enjoying it ever since.”
Roger, his wife Mary Ellen, and their son Sean all ride – which is quite an accomplishment when you consider that they live in one of the most demanding riding environments in the world – Alaska. As I mentioned to Roger, you have to admire a rider who knows from first-hand experience that it’s virtually impossible to get a motorcycle to run when the temperature gets lower than -20* F! Good Lord, who would think of riding when it’s that cold! Well, as it turns out Roger does (as do a few of his friends). Perhaps his penchant for being out in the cold should not be surprising, since Roger is one of a hardy-few people who have completed the legendary Iditarod dog-sled race. Running a dog sled for over 1000 miles from Anchorage to Nome in the bone-chilling cold of the Alaskan winter would be mere macho fantasy to many of us, but to Roger, it’s “the Last Great Race.” “How can you keep from freezing when you’re exposed to those temperatures for that long?” I asked. “It’s not bad when you’re wearing the right gear,” Roger explained, “I look like the Michelin Man out there!” Roger explained, “it’s all what you’re used to . . . I think that you guys riding in Los Angeles are CRAZY!” When we discussed the IBA members who completed an SS1000 within the Los Angeles city limits, Roger laughed “when I heard about that, I figured we needed to start drug testing!” Well, I can’t argue with that, I guess we’re all a little crazy.
Roger and Mary Ellen both grew up in different small towns in the Fingerlakes region of New York State. Roger confided in me that while in New York he even spent some time “very little time” in a seminary preparing to be a Franciscan monk. I expressed a bit of surprise and he retorted that most of his friends are more surprised that he’s never been in jail! (Hmmm, Friar Wheeldog . . .) After college, Roger worked as a teacher and picked up some extra cash working on farms. I asked if it was the “call of the wild” that took him to Alaska. Roger laughed that his motivation was “greed.” In Alaska “they were looking for warm bodies with a teaching certificate . . . and I had both.” While it may have been the higher pay that drew Roger to Alaska, it’s the expansive beauty of the place that keeps him there. He loves “the sights, sounds, and smells” of riding in Alaska . . . “It brings out the ‘free spirit’ feeling in me.” In talking with Roger, you know that he means it. He and Mary Ellen enjoy winter activities but, as Roger explained, “it wouldn’t be a good idea to live in Alaska if you don’t enjoy the cold and snow.” Like many of his Alaskan neighbors, Roger and Mary Ellen extend their hospitality to those of us who are visiting their part of the world. Every year Roger and Mary Ellen play host to a few MTF members who share Roger’s love of the last frontier and who decide to take him up on his usual offer . . . “If you ever make it to Alaska, first beer’s on me.”
Shortly after my conversation with Roger, I was riding to work from the suburbs to my job in downtown Los Angeles. It was just after sunrise following a night with a heavy rain. The temperature was in the low forties as I passed a golf course and noticed a couple of guys about to tee off. “Those guys have to be crazy,” I thought. Then I remembered my conversation with Roger and realized that the golfers were probably thinking the same thing about me. As Roger says, “it’s all what you’re used to.”
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