Who are you?
A person who resists rhetorical and or existential questions...
A Biker-Yogini (female yoga practitioner) who is a native alien to just about everything in this world. I am not afraid of dying but am afraid of not fully living and that is why I ride whenever I can and do my best to be here now-- and make the most of it because each moment only comes once...I really hate wasting time and energy.
I’d like to consider myself a successful business person just by virtue of the fact I love my work. I thrive on being creative and learning. I like a challenge as it can lead to growth. I have become most humble the past couple years in my battle to survive stage IV cancer. I have deepened my ever increasing gratitude to my amazing & incredible sisters in the wind as joining Sol Sisters has been one of the most healing & empowering experiences in my life (otherwise I can be the rather antisocial lone wolf !).
I think I’m a bit more hip then enigmatic these days. Many yogis would be perplexed at discovering I ride motorcycles, and bikers often were puzzled when I’d show up at a biker bar but don’t drink, smoke, or wear leather ( however, I will not hesitate to wear pleather). Today I feel more native and less alien as my once considered counter culture worlds of yoga and motorcycling have both become mainstream.
Why did you start riding?
First got on a motorcycle in high school before I could even drive a car (legally). Then my best friend got a bike in my senior year and I was hooked. Turns out oil is thicker then blood. When in college and got my first Harley my dad told me he used to ride. I had NO idea (who knew my father actually had a modicum of coolness ever ?). Come to find out my dad’s dad road too (wish one of them would have gotten me on a bike sooner) !
Why are you doing the Journey to Graceland?
I am fortunate to tag along with my sisters for a day or so as the timing (and Colleen’s old bike) fell into place for me. I get a break from chemo in June and this will be my longest ride since I had to put my Indian in storage when I was diagnosed in late 2006. I relish cross country trips (and ironbutts). This is going to be therapeutic for me (and with any luck maybe it will inspire some other survivors).
The last cross country trip I took was to the American Motorcycle Association rally in Georgia. On the way back I took a little detour to Graceland because I am an Elvis fan. At that time I was wishing I had some Sol Sisters with me as earlier that year we took a group ride to Vegas and most of us dressed up as Elvis.
I would do anything I could to support my sisters as they have done so very much for me. They’ve volunteered to: do demolition on walls for me in order to save my business, clean my home when it had gotten out of hand as I was too weak to clean (my pet pig Buddha even got a bath, now that’s service), give me rides to the hospital for treatment, kidnap me and whisk me away for the day on a great motorcycle ride when I really needed it (I’ve learned to really enjoy being a passenger). I want to support this trip but honestly I feel my main goal is selfish- I just wanna ride even if only part way. I miss riding long distance and trailblazing journeys.
Name one thing that the Girlz of Graceland would be surprised to know about you.
I don’t think they realize how dark my humor can be yet I know that no matter how bizarre I could ever seem I will always be in the compassionate hearts of my kind and generous sisters in the wind. I cannot imagine any group of beings more accepting and gracious as these strong and sincere Sol Sisters.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“If you have sympathy for a poor dumb animal it doesn’t matter how you treat people”
~ Homer Simpson
“It’s only a flesh wound”
~ Monty Python
“Silence, I kill you”
~ Achkmed the dead terrorist
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