JENNA PRICEThe Register-MailVladimir Yarets, a 64-year-old deaf-mute from Belarus Russia, is traveling the world on his motorcyle. Yarets made a stop Friday at G and W Harley Davidson on Grand Avenue.
Russian motoring around world
Deaf-mute hopes to ride into Guinness record book
Saturday, July 30, 2005
GALESBURG - About two hours after Kyle Petty and his entourage of about 200 bikers roared into town Friday morning during their 11th annual charity ride, another cyclist arrived in Galesburg.A yellow BMW 650 motorcycle pulled into the G and W Harley-Davidson shop at 2365 Grand Ave. about 11:30 a.m. Loaded down with matching sticker-covered saddlebags on either side and numerous smaller bags and rolls, the sign on the windshield proclaimed this biker was from Minsk, Belarus, Russia.
Vladimir A. Yarets, 64, started his journey from Belarus on May 27, 2000. His goal, according to his sign of introduction, is to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first deaf-mute person to travel around the world on a motorcycle.
The short, smiling man, dressed in camouflage pants, black-laced boots, a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt and black vest, communicates by pointing, pantomiming and body language. When a written question and a pen were handed to him, his reply was scribbled in Russian.
He carries some notes written in English with information to show people, and has maps to show where he has been. He displayed several books and some loose photographs from his various stops.
He indicated a black and white bound notebook was his most precious possession. He has already filled two of them. Inside is a list of every stop he has made with a Harley-Davidson sticker, called a dip dot, the business stamp, date and city. His latest dip dot was from G and W in Galesburg; the previous stop was Kewanee.
Putting on his thick black-rimmed glasses, Yarets showed his maps to everyone in the business. He has been in every state, including Alaska and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Europe. He indicated his next journey would be from Illinois to San Francisco. From there, he wants to fly to Japan and later visit New Zealand and Australia.
When Africa and South America were pointed to, he shrugged his shoulders, his body language indicating he was not enthused about Africa.
Yarets pulled out his digital camera and had a customer in the shop take a snapshot of him with some of his new acquaintances. He also provided a Web site address that has information about his trip, written in Russian and translated into English, and photographs from his adventures.
Before leaving, Yarets gave everyone a thumbs-up, which they returned, and went outside. He sat alone on a bench outside for a few minutes before leaving, looking at a map, presumably to plot his next destination.
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One the net: www.yarets.com.
