2025: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

As a motorcycle rider, I have a fond appreciation for any human who loves being on two wheels, no matter what 'kind' of two (or three) wheels they prefer and no matter what their reason for riding. Over the past year I have hung out with a more diverse motorcycle crowd - venturing out of my comfort zone and into the unknown world of choppers. I have always had mad respect for the chopper world - the creativity and art that goes into every single chopper is 100% impressive. To take an old bike and make it their own, with no two bikes the same, is a skill that not everyone has. Since dating ScooterTrash, who rides a 97 Heritage, I have had the opportunity to learn more about the bikes, more about the folks who ride them, and have a newfound appreciation for it all. Having a 'standard bagger', I (still) feel 'different' from the chopper crowd, but have learned that they are perhaps far more 'my people' than any other 'type' of biker I have met. They...

 Sturgis - its like CHRISTMAS to me!!! I am always so ancy for it to arrive, but yet sad at the same time, because its arrival means the tail end of summer is near. The 12 hour ride west is always filled with excitement of getting there - people to see, places to go, things to experience. The older I get, the bigger the cankles are after a full days ride! This year's Sturgis Rally was predicted to be impressively big - and the first weekend was definitely busy! Traffic was slow, lines were long, and things were abuzz every direction we turned.       Main Street - Bikes for miles!!!! We managed to ride Spearfish Canyon on Friday before the actual rally started and we had it mostly to ourselves - a welcome treat from the chaos of town!! There's still reminders of the tornado that rolled through the Spearfish area a year or two again - it is crazy to see such big trees laying flat along the hills of the canyon.   We tried to ride AWAY from town as much as poss...