Rees: On the road and in the air

He's spent time in the air and witnessed one of the most pivotal moments of the 20th century. And he has spent lots of time on the road, traveling to parts of the country many of us have never seen, and has helped others to do the same.

His name is Clyde Rees, and he has probably done more and seen more than most will in several lifetimes.

Many in the Bedford County community know him as the longtime owner and operator of Rees Motors, a motorcycle shop that was a Shelbyville business fixture for 30 years from 1960, but when closing time came, he would hit the open highway on his BMW cycle and would go wherever the road would take him.

But Rees wasn't anything like the characters in the classic 60's film Easy Rider: Far from it. There were no drugs or long hair in this tale of the open road.

"If I wasn't at the dealership or home, I was on my motorcycle," the 86-year-old Rees said. "I was always going somewhere."