Leaning into Life: Lessons from the Road

A friend of mine directed me to a thoughtful blog project for December called Reverb10. The idea is to look back on this year and manifest what you want in the coming one through daily writing prompts. I’m joining the fun at Day 3.

Today’s prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

I set my iPod on alphabetical play and head out into Oregon’s high desert.  As I approach the Malheur Valley of Oregon, the July sun will soon move to my back from overhead and I’ll lose an hour as I travel out of Pacific Coast Time.  A week ago I drove this stretch of road going west at twilight and I’ve been eager to see it in daylight ever since.

I take the first hill into the Valley and  catch my breath as synchronicity yields the theme song for Chariots of Fire.   On either side of the road flows an irrigation stream or the Malheur River itself and I imbibe the humid air that wafts through my helmet. As the road sweeps through the rounded hills it occurs to me that from the right distance they would look like they were covered in fuzz instead of sage.  I transform into  a microscopic creature sliding along the little slit that runs between the cheeks of a ripe peach until a road sign interrupts to tell me that Ontario lies ahead.

Many of my Facebook and Twitter friends followed my trip from its conception in March 2010 to its conclusion at Kickstands Down in August 2010.   In this series of four videos, taken from a fundraising event for the Pink Ribbon Possee, a Charlotte, NC  Susan J. Komen affiliate, I recap how I started,  my experiences riding with a pink bra strapped across my windshield and what I’m planning for next year.

How I got my bike

I envisioned a cross-country motorcycle trip but had to cross three barriers: no motorcycle experience, no motorcycle and no money to buy one.  How’d I do it?  Here’s the beginning of the tale.

Conga for the Cause

I believe in a life of service, so I looked for a cause to align with during my road trip. I found Conga — a group of Canadian and US motorcyclists who formed conga lines from their homes to the rally point in Cheyenne, WY and raised money for breast cancer research along the way. What I didn’t realize was the folks who would inspire me to live a better, more intentional life. You’ll meet some of them here.

Life on the road

In this segment I talk about some of my adventures on the road. Wearing a pink bra across the front of my motorcycle made me quite the road attraction. People everywhere wanted their picture with the bike and wanted to tell me stories of their battle with cancer or a sister, or mother’s brush with the disease. I sometimes wonder if the bra wasn’t a good luck charm…

Conga 2011 and beyond

After talking about my road trip plans for 2011, I relay a conversation I had with an oncologist on how breast cancer research has benefited so many other types of cancers…

Thanks again to the Pink Ribbon Posse for asking me to speak at their fundraiser 9-9-10.

Sure, we all had fun riding from our homes across North America to Cheyenne, WY, but there’s something about doing it in service to a higher cause that brings people together.

Here I am in Lava Hot Springs, ID with Shirly, Carrie, Joann and Pam talking about Conga III and our travels together since Cheyenne.

When I first floated the idea of going cross country on a motorcycle I didn’t even have a motorcycle license. My family was, rightfully, concerned about my safety.

Enter Flo Fuhr, whom I’d never met, but whose trailblazing trip from Florida to Campbell Island in British Columbia gave everyone who loves me a glimpse of what a novice rider could do with the support of others.  Here’s the story:

Flo Fuhr, co-founder of the Conga fundraisers for breast cancer research, is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met. So far our Conga III fundraiser has sent $24,000 to the Cause. I was in Cheyenne with the Conga riders 7/7-11/10.

I'm a sucker for diners and for all-day breakfast

As I’ve admitted elsewhere, I have an affection for shiny things, so when I saw a gleaming stainless Denny’s Diner at the bottom of the exit ramp in Zanesville, OH, I had to check it out.

I was headed from my brother’s, who’s been teaching me to ride one of his bikes, back home to NC for a precision maneuvering class with MotoMark1 the next morning.

Finishing up my breakfast-as-lunch I pulled out my smart phone to look for a nearby motorcycle gear shop where I could buy a helmet.  Turns out there was an independent motorcycle shop three miles away.

Pulling into a long gravel driveway to Cumberland Trail Customs, my heart sank. This business transformed bikes into trikes in a shop beside the owner’s home. No bike helmets were going to be found in there.

What the heck, I thought, I’m here and this might be an interesting business.

As a basketball-bellied man ambled out of the shop I said, “I bet you don’t have any motorcycle helmets here, do you?” When he smiled, his eyes became slits like mine always do,  ”I bet you I do!”

Turns out he had a cache of helmets and other merchandise in his finished basement, stored there from the retail shop he’d closed months earlier. He introduced himself as Bob Hittle and told me of his decision to lower overhead by moving his operation to his home property. During the time I’d been trying on the various helmets I told him about my trip and how I was getting sponsors, and that my helmet sponsor, Stock.ly, would be shipping mine shortly.

“Here, just take the helmet,” he offered. Eventually he agreed to let me rent it instead. It’s not often you find yourself in a position of forcing money on someone who owns something you need!

When I tell people I’ve decided to take up motorcycling they often respond with gibes about tattoos, piercings and loud pipes.  The diverse American biker community that I’ve decided to join also includes craftsmen and good Samaritans  like Bob.  I’m glad you’re along for this ride through humanity with me. It’s certainly starting out on the right foot!