GLEN DALE – Cold nights and numb butts are part and parcel with every biker’s journey. For many across the country, there are other components just as integral to the experience – charity and compassion.

Glen Dale’s Robert “Hoagy” Carmichael has been riding for a cause for nearly 20 years now. Back in 2003, Hoagy hand-picked around 20 people to ride a “practice run,” which, at the suggestion of one of the chosen, raised money for A Special Wish Foundation. A cobbled-together initiative led to the formation of the informal group, which another named in Hoagy’s honor – first “Hoagy’s Hardtails,” then “Hoagy’s Heros.” After the typo was corrected and the proper web domain purchased, Hoagy’s Heroes was up and running.

The inaugural run, Hoagy said, set a world record for group rides, with a final count of 67 people riding for 1,536 hours. All but one person completed the ride, though only 55 had properly submitted their paperwork to the Iron Butt Association, a motorcycle association affiliated with long-distance riding.

From humble beginnings, Hoagy’s Heroes now serves as a major fundraising effort, with thousands of dollars raised each year, and with a total milage count usually reserved for measuring the distance of satellites.

“We made 30-some thousand (dollars) that year,” Hoagy said. “We’re up to $347,000 and change (raised in total), one million, five hundred-some thousand miles, and with riders from over 30 states, five provinces of Canada, Norway, Dubai, (Guatemala). Some of our riders, it took them years to become citizens, and they’re the proudest of it.”

In the past, Hoagy’s Heroes has done numerous charitable drives, including an ongoing collection of soda pop tabs for Ronald McDonald house, although the low return on investment saw enthusiasm drop. A suggestion from a friend inspired Hoagy to sell plates of food at $50 a head, which brought in over $4,000.

“We had a guy came in over 1,500 miles just to meet me and eat my food. It blew my mind,” he said. ”

Hoagy’s Heroes partners with local community members to help assist. Student craftsmen at John Marshall High School, he said, lend their services to produce the metal trophies for charity events, while Tyson Concrete donates loads of stone.

This year, summer plans are already set. A 500-mile run in May will benefit the Augusta Levy Learning Center, “Insane Ride Week” in June will feature rides from 1,000 to 3,000 miles, as well as a pair of rallies for 12 and 36 hours. 2021 saw the first Insane Ride Week, where riders would follow a route of their determination through West Virginia, Pennsylvania or Ohio.

“We go out and find different places, we get a picture and GPS coordinates. If you pay to ride in it, we send you the GPS file a week beforehand, and it’s up to you to figure nout how many places you can get and back in 12 hours,” Hoagy said.

August will see the “Up In Smoke” barbeque contest, and September will see the Pop-Tab Run and Shrimp Boil, both located at the “Heroes’ Haven” in Glen Dale.

The September event, Hoagy said, is the only event where the money raised goes to help defray their expenses, which he estimated came to around $10,000 spent on insurance and food. The rest, he said, goes entirely to charity.

“We give 100 percent of the sponsor money. When I started this, I said, if I take a penny off those kids, I’m not doing it anymore. … Some guy asked me once, he said, ‘What do you spend on this?’ I told him, ‘Number one, that’s not your … business,'” he said, colorfully. “Number two, the big man up there didn’t tell me to mark a … thing. It’s a one and four numbers after that, and I don’t keep track.”

Looking into the long term, Hoagy said he hopes to find someone willing to serve as webmaster, helping them expand their online presence, as by his own admission Hoagy is not particularly comfortable working on the web.

“We’re looking for some more smart volunteers,” he said. “… I don’t do emails. My wife can’t do them. It would be nice to have somebody on board that would like to really push us that way.”

For him personally, the 66-year-old Hoagy said he’s “still rolling, baby!” and would like to hit $500,000 raised as an overall goal. With a spring already packed with rides and events, Hoagy is unlikely to settle into his couch anytime soon.