Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Winter 2014 | IRON BUTT MAGAZINE  FROM IRON LUNG to Iron Butt is the story of Bob Mutchler’s life, as told through the writing of Lynda Lahman, an Iron Butt Rally veteran and regu- lar contributor to this magazine. Even though I have only been around Bob a few times, he has always made quite an impression on me. So it is a given that I was looking forward to reading Bob’s story and I knew Lahman’s insight would make for an interesting read. I first met Bob during the  Iron Butt Rally. We were at Pat Widder’s business in Ojai, California for a - point bonus stop. Terry Pipes, Al Willis, and I were talking with each other just before departing to ride to the check- point at Brown’s BMW in Pomona. Bob came up to us and asked if we were going to the next checkpoint and if it would be OK if he followed us. Terry pulled me to the side and qui- etly said that we would need to slow down, compared to the way we had been riding through the heavy Los Angeles traffic up to that point, so that Bob could keep up with his sidecar. After riding several miles, working my way through the heavy traffic and continuously check- ing my mirrors to make sure the sidecar rig was still with us, Bob passed me and took the lead, riding at rally nomi- nal. That short ride through L.A. traffic turned out to be one of the great memo- ries of my first Iron Butt Rally experi- ence,not to mention a great introduction to Robert Mutchler’s inner drive and force of will. Bob was afflicted with poliomyelitis (polio) when he was just a baby. Polio is a viral infectious disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. The develop- ment of an effective vaccine came too late for Bob and he has been fighting and overcoming the ravages of this ter- rible disease since . From Iron Lung to Iron Butt is the story of an amazing Rotarian who rides his sidecar towards the goal of eradicat- ing Polio. Lahman skillfully documents the pain, rejection, and deep inner strug- gles that he has fought and conquered, from childhood all the way through to the current challenges he faces. We are taken to the hospital to experience what it was like to endure the separation from his family as a baby. We are allowed to witness the heartbreak of a small boy who cannot run and play with the other kids, but desperately wants to have friends. We have a front row seat to the plight of the Mutchler family as they faced dif- ficult economic times. We are along for the ride as his musical talent blooms and leads him to the trade of piano tuning. We can understand and relate to the joy of a young man finding a measure of freedom on a motorcycle with a sidecar and that freedom subsequently opening up the world to him. Bob’s riding around the nation even- tually led him to ride in the Iron Butt Rally. With determination and a lot of effort, he successfully finished the  IBR. Like many of us, he was hooked on the challenge of the event and the people who make it special. Bob returned for another successful finish in . Mechanical issues with his bike kept him out in ; however, Bob was undeterred and finished the  IBR, despite fighting an infection from an injury and more mechanical issues with his bike. Bob’s next LD challenge was com- pleting a cc Quest in . He tried to retire from multi-day rallies and sat out the  IBR, only to come back for another try in . The obstacles Bob had to deal with in the  IBR just kept coming, one after the other. If dealing with polio and a recalcitrant sidecar were not enough, he also had to endure a painful crash. While the lost time meant lost bonus opportunities, which kept him from get- ting enough points to be counted as an official finisher, it did not keep him from getting to the finishers’ banquet. In spite of the setbacks in the rally,Bob overcame everything that tried to keep him from getting across the finish line, just as he has throughout his life. Bob continues to be active in the long- distance riding community. He attends events around the country to raise funds and increase awareness about polio. He also organizes and hosts the NoPo- lio! Rally, which is a successful annual fundraiser for PolioPlus. His focus as a Rotarian on furthering the Rotary Inter- national’s “Service Above Self” efforts to completely eradicate polio remains strong in the midst of a resurgence of the dreaded disease in some parts of the world. Bob has traveled to several coun- tries to educate local leaders and visited Ghana to deliver polio vaccine in the FromIronLungtoIronButt by Lynda Lahman By John Harrison FromIronLung toIronButt Riding Polio Into History Lynda Lahman Diagnosed when he was not even a year old, Bob Mutchler understands firsthand how life-altering polio can be. Yet he and his family refused to let the challenges of this debilitating disease affect his future. As an adult Bob combined his membership in Rotary International and his love of motorcycle riding to help with The Rotary Foundation’s commitment to provide polio immunization to children everywhere through a program called PolioPlus. This is the gripping story of a man who knows from his own experiences exactly what a “world without polio” can mean to children and families. Crisscrossing Australia and North America on his motorcycle, “Motorcycle Bob” shares his own personal struggles as he tirelessly dedicates himself to the eradication of polio worldwide. From Iron Lung To Iron Butt Lynda Lahman BookReview continued on page 