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

I'm not much on sharing feelings - but something about 2021 has just spoken to me and I want to share my happiness ;) LOL I have always said that getting my motorcycle license was by far the best thing I have ever done in my life. It trumps owning a home, getting my Master’s Degree, and all of the other things that folks consider epic milestones in life. For me, motorcycling has taught me that a map is just for reference, that there is always someplace new to explore, that some of the best people on earth also ride motorcycles, and that spending time alone on two wheels truly does refresh the soul. I always laugh when thinking about how far I will ride, just to ride. If I have a 4 day weekend, I have been known to rip down to Arkansas to ride the twists and turns of the Ozarks, or rip out to Colorado to chase the fresh mountain air. Those types of trips sound amazing to me (although I would prefer longer trips!) on two wheels. Give me the option of doing the same in a cager, HARD n...

Spring has sprung and that means it is finally 2 Wheel Season here in MN! People often have advice to give when I have my bike out at this time of year. Here are my top 4 safety memos I remind myself of every spring: 1.        1. I check my tire pressure, oil, brakes, and lights before my first ride of the season. Having my bike sitting in the un-heated garage for a couple of short months, usually means my tires are a couple of pounds low and while I tell myself every fall that I will remember what is needed come spring, I never remember. I see sunshine and 40’s in the forecast and riding is all I think about! #Squirrel 2.         2.  Until heavy rains sweep the roadways, I just assume that there is salt and or sand on the roadways – especially corners, tight turns, bridges, and high traffic areas. I am highly aware of how slippery salt and sand can be, especially on 2 wheels. 3.        3. Drivers are not e...

 In preparation for a mini trip to Daytona, I had to get my very fist bike ready "Suzi" (Suzuki Boulevard M50 - 800 cc) because my Victory has too big of a butt to fit into a trailer with 3 other bikes.  And I hate the T word, but MN weather doesn't allow for riding this time of year, at least not consistently. So, having only ridden Suzi locally in the past few years, I figured I better do some maintenance on her if she was going to keep up with the big dog bikes. First things first. I changed her oil and discovered my brand new torque wrench was busted right out of the box. No biggie, I can work around that. Next up: Brakes. Not a HUGE deal while riding locally - I just downshift a lot and sometimes drag my feet. Not safe, not recommended. I dug out the service manual for Suzi - while these manuals may seem too expensive for how little I hope to use it - they pay off 100% the first time it is needed! Especially for newer bikes, which offer maintenance instructions like ...

  We lucked out with the minivan idea, finding a place to call home (Boyd’s campground), and having amazing weather gods looking after us. We woke up the next day ready to explore the Keys on 2 wheels. We found a rental place that delivered the scooters directly to our campground – and one scooter was only $50 for 24 hours – what a steal! We got our two identical twin scooters delivered right outside of our minivan.  The guy dropping them off said “There is plenty of gas for 24 hours…” to which Scootertrash and I side glanced at each other and laughed, thinking…” You underestimate us buddy…”.  We then asked a gal how far Key Largo was – she said, “Only a couple hours”, then we added in, “On a scooter.” With an “are you kidding” look, the gal said “No.” And then laughed at us. We hit the road on our little scooters. At the 2 nd red light,  Scootertrash and I looked at each other and had one thing on our mind: “I am totally going to crush you when this light turn...

A Harley guy and a Victory Girl in Key West - playing on scooters and living in a minivan: Part One!  In the midst of the MN winter, I get ancy. Ancy to ride, ancy to feel fresh (WARM) air in my face, ancy to travel. If there is nothing else positive about the CoVid situation, at least there is dirt cheap airfare! It was midnight and a good friend, Scootertrash, messaged me saying he had spent a lot of time in the FL Keys. Having never been to the Keys, the conversation escalated from that to, "We should go there sometime!".  Fast forward a couple of days and I threw out some dates that would work for me in February. He replied, "I could go this weekend!" So there I was, on a random Thursday, looking at and booking flights to FL. And two days later, we were hopping a plane to Fort Lauderdale, destination: Florida Keys. We each checked a bag- I threw in  a tent and sleeping bag just in case and he had a military looking bedroll in tow. The trip started about as crazy...

  Having just rode the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, I was searching the map for the slowest route west – because it was time to head home and I was stalling. From Blue Ridge Parkway, we turned onto Green Ridge Road, and headed north. We were officially in the backwoods of West Virginia. And I mean back woods. Where the only thing we saw for 40 miles was NO TRESPASSING sign after No Trespassing sign – in every size, shape, color, and variation one could imagine.   There were hundreds of them – and not a soul to be seen other than Stiffy who was riding behind me. Then we turned a corner and were stopped by a road construction crew. They didn’t have STOP signs out, instead, they just took over the entire roadway. We stopped the bikes and waited for one of the workers to give us the all clear to continue. Only they never came over to us. They looked at us several times in a very unfriendly way, but not one gave us even a nod or a spin of the finger indicating we needed to turn ...