During the week of May 31 to June 4, Americas will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The world’s largest touring rally has long started from humble beginnings when founder Bill Dutcher came to a crossroads in his life and asked, “What’s next?”
A lifelong motocross racer who started off road racing in the mid-1960s, Bill is a man of unbridled drive. I will never forget meeting him at my first Americade in 2012. I was the featured speaker on Tuesday night and the title of my talk was “Lessons Learned from the Accidents. , countries and cover stories”. Bill introduced me to the audience, but before I stepped onto the stage, he shared a story about a time he wore racing leather under his robes to Harvard University. He was scheduled to compete in a race later that day, so after he and his grads tossed their hats to celebrate, Bill hit the track. He then got the audience excited about getting to the starting line late, overtaking his head to catch up, and eventually getting knocked out of the race. He is a tough act to follow.
Related: Americade Race Report 2021
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Bill spent his career in the motorcycle industry, holding marketing positions at Bultaco and Can-Am before becoming head of public relations at AMF/Harley-Davidson, a position he held until 1981. Ready for a change, Bill and his wife, Gini, decided to start a touring rally near their home in Lake George, New York. Understanding the importance of brand recognition, Bill contacted Til Thompson, organizer of the Aspencade rally, which has been held since 1971 in Ruidoso, New Mexico, to license a naming convention for an event. winter. That’s the easy part.
Bill recalls: “In the fall of 1981, I approached Bob Blais, the mayor of Lake George Village. “When I introduced him to my idea of ’Aspencade East’, he took a deep breath when I said ‘motor rally’. About a decade ago, when he was sheriff, he took care of some bloody cyclists who got too loud at one of the local bars.” Bill eventually won the position of mayor and with his support the village council approved the proposal.
The first Aspencade East was held in 1983, and the Dutch expected perhaps 1,000 people – about the same number of people who attended the rally in New Mexico. Bill said: “When more than 2,000 people showed up, I was amazed. “We’ve run out of t-shirts and caps and everything else.”
Gini added that when attendees first arrived at the registration room to collect their tickets, there was a “certain energy about the protest.”
“People are very excited about what’s to come. We know they are just as excited about this new Aspencade East as we are.”
Attendance doubled in 1984, doubled again in 1985, and reached 10,000 in 1986. That same year, the Dutch renamed the event Americade. It has grown far beyond its association with the original Aspencade rally. And the Dutch don’t want their event tied to a particular brand or model of motorcycle since Honda introduced a luxury touring version of the Gold Wing called the Aspencade in 1982.
Although the number of people attending the Americade has repeatedly exceeded 50,000 over the years, it has always been a family affair. Bill and Gini’s son Christian Dutcher, who took over management of Americade a few years ago, said: “Bill’s original vision of hosting a family-friendly motoring event continues to motivate push what we do. “We have many riders attending other rallies and they tell me they love the Americade because it continues to be ‘sane’.
“Despite being a part of Americade all my life,” Christian continued, “I was caught off guard by the letters we received. We receive letters from people who want to get married here, who bring their children because they met their spouse here many years ago, and some even scatter their ashes. ride their horses all their lives at the rally. It’s very moving and reminds us that what Americade has to offer is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Through his PR position at Harley-Davidson, Bill knew horsemanby the magazine’s founder, Denis Rouse, and many of the magazine’s editors and contributors. “horseman was a part of every Aspencade/Americade,” Bill recalls. “I can’t think of any other company that has attended every event except Rider.”
Over the years, horseman sponsored Americade’s Opening Ceremony, mini tours, dinner cruises, and other activities. Our editors and contributors have hosted seminars and talks, led tours, and met thousands of readers and fellow travelers. We evaluated bike shows and photo contests, helped select Queen Americade, and published dozens of reports on the rally in magazines and on our website.
And we will be there again this May, joining the Dutch, many dedicated volunteers of the rally and tens of thousands of attendees to celebrate Americade’s great 4-0 victory. We will have more details on the festivals in the coming weeks. For registration and other information, visit American website.
See you at Lake George!
this is First device column written by Editor-in-Chief Greg Drevenstedt for the March 2023 issue of horseman.
