Bad to the bone?

By Elaine Mincey
Staff Intern

July 01, 2008 07:32 pm

— It was 40 years in the making, but Jerry Dixon’s “Bones Bike” is now a reality.
Dixon, a retired high school teacher, has received what appears to be overnight success with what began as his “Bones Bike.”
And the bike, known as “Last Ride,” is a dream come true for the Somerset resident and his family.
The bike will be on display in the parking lot at Shiloh’s Roadhouse in London on Thursday from 2 to 11 p.m.
The skeleton and frame of Dixon’s bike is hand made and anatomically correct. Not only is it a legally operable vehicle, but it’s a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
The public got its first view of the bike on FOX Television in 2007 at the Detroit Autorama. After it’s first showing in Detroit, the bike appeared in Cleveland, Kansas City, Hutchinson, Kan., Midland, Mich., Orlando, Davisburg, Mich., Sturgis, S.D., and East Jordan, Mich.
In November it will be in Las Vegas.
Dixon’s aunt, Shirley Verrill, said Dixon has been drawing for as long as she can remember.
“I think the motorcycle is just awesome,” Verrill said.
She remembers Dixon as “a very quiet child and always having a pad and pencil in his hand.”
Verrill said the property Dixon’s family owned when he and his brother, Mike, were growing up is part of the London/Corbin Airport.
“It used to be a huge pine grove,” Verrill said. “Jerry and his brother both graduated from Cumberland College and they both taught school at Nancy High School in Nancy, Ky,” she said.
Roger Stanifer, owner and operator of Stanifer’s In-surance here in London, is Dixon’s cousin. “Jerry is a great person,” he said. Stanifer said that Dixon is three or four years older than he is and that as a young boy, he “always looked up to Jerry.” He said he has always believ-ed Dixon to be “very artistic.” As for the bike Stan-ifer said, “Jerry has always been very talented. The bike is amazing. It’s wonderful. It’s all hand-formed.”
One family member who has special story about Dixon is his sister-in-law, Charlena Chestnut. Chestnut said Dixon and her sister, Sara, were already married when she was born. “Jerry has been such a wonderful brother to me,” said Chestnut. “He’s such a caring, good person.” Chestnut continued by saying Dixon would help her with her school work and said “he was the teacher everybody wanted. He was an inspiration as a teacher.”
She told the following story about Dixon and the day she and her husband delivered their baby girl. “When we had our daughter in the hospital at Somerset, Jerry sat there in the waiting room while they were waiting for me to have her and he drew a 10-page book of our experience.
“It showed cartoons of us in our car wheeling into the parking lot on two wheels. It shows my husband carrying my luggage into the hospital. Then he drew me being pushed down the hall to my room in the wheel chair. Toward the end of the book, he drew me and my husband showing off our brand new baby to family and friends. It’s beautiful. The book was just a special gift to get to share with our daughter about the day she was born. And with everyone else. But that’s just the way Jerry is,” she said.
Chestnut went on to say that Dixon has designed many of the new buildings that have been built in Somerset. He has a great sense of architectural style, she said.
Glen Turner, manager at Shiloh’s Roadhouse in London, said he is looking forward to seeing the bike in person. He got interested in the bike when Dixon’s son-in-law, Joe Mike Wiese, came up in May and asked if he would put flyers up in Shiloh’s that showed the bike, Turner said. “I’ve not seen anything but pictures, but I’ve heard a lot about it. The bike’s in Michigan right now. We’re the first show when it comes back to Kentucky.”
The next time The Last Ride bike will be on display after Shiloh’s will be in Somerset at the Pulaski County Public Library. The dates for that showing are July the 19th through the 26th. The bike will be part of an art exhibit the library will be hosting consisting of Dixon’s art.

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