H.O.G ENTRY Dragon Entry

The night the Dragon went out alone to slay California after making sure we were all nestled in all warm. She said she had to get an extra state on her map seeings she came all that way.This was definately Cold California near the end of the Conga!! What a great time to reminis as I set off in a week to head sout of the boarder to Mexico. Dragan and I are both entring stories to H.O.G. I wanted to make sure her feelings were posted too. I will never forget howmuch it meant to me.

Dragons Words:
What began as another woman’s journey turned into a challenge and triumph for me. A fellow lady rider on Vancouver Island decided to buy her first Harley in Florida and ride it home instead of shipping it. This would be an incredible journey. With the assistance of lady riders from online forums her trip across North America (nicknamed the Conga) was born. She had offers from ladies across states, to travel with her and aid in her safe return to Canada. This worked well until she arrived in New Mexico. For her trip north to Canada, she had no travelling companions. This is also where my journey began.
In hearing the time frame and lack of companions to finish this ride, I decided I was going to head south as far as possible to meet with her and bring her home. At this time, I had been riding for not quite 2 years, but for me the only thing that I could think was not to let fear or common sense hold me back. I just knew that I was going to take advantage of this opportunity and go and get my fellow rider and bring her home. I consulted a few maps and plotted out what might be my best course to travel. I wasn’t looking for scenery just mileage. I had 5 days to travel as far south as possible and return. I had a few naysayers but I didn’t care and just knew I could do it and be fine.
I made arrangements to meet my friend in Northern California, in a day and a half. Against mixed blessings from friends, I headed out on a Thursday morning to catch a ferry and head for the border. I had decided to take the I5 straight south to make the most of time and mileage. I left in a heavy rain but thankfully it tapered to just a mist. Little did I know this was only going to be the beginning of the inclement weather I would hit. After 7 hours of straight riding except for gas stops, I was in Roseburg, Oregon, approximately 600 miles. I could have continued to travel further but knew I had to stop and make contact with those at home that were waiting to hear from me.
The next day, we would meet in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I was advised to take highway 138 through Crater Lake and to connect to highway 97 into Klamath Falls. Supposedly Crater Lake is gorgeous! Well I have no idea as all I saw was snow! The Umpqua valley before heading up to 6000 ft was beautiful even with the light morning mist. But as I ascended in elevation it got colder and sure enough it started snowing! Thankfully it wasn’t heavy and wasn’t sticking to the road. So I persevered, I was determined not to let a little thing like this stop me and not to mention there was nothing along this stretch of highway to stop at! I still had an hour to travel to our rendezvous point. I warmed up and gassed up and off I went.
For the next day and a half the weather was great and we had a wonderful journey to the border. Although my weather tests were still not finished. In Bings, OR, home of the windmill farms, I truly experienced high cross winds. Nothing like riding a sportster sideways in a corner, being pushed towards the guard rail and praying that the gust doesn’t stop. I laugh now but there were more than a few expletives coming out of my mouth on the way through. We finally crossed the border into Canada and our welcome home to BC was typical Wet Coast weather. It turned into a torrential downpour and we had to keep going. You could barely see the lines on the road. We arrived on Vancouver Island soaked to the gills but to the awaiting arms of many friends.
There was so much more that happened in those few short days. I met many people along the way that thought what I was doing was a little crazy, not to mention those at home. Well I may be crazy but to have the chance to have the freedom of the open road and the wind in my face is something I would never have passed up. For me it was a test of my skills, my determination, independence and my love of riding. At some of the worse points, I did have to dig deep within myself but it was all worth it in the end. I proved to myself as well as many others that I had come a long way in a few short years. From a minor accident 5 days after getting on a bike, to taking on the open road by myself. Now that I have bought a Heritage, there is no end to where I may travel to next. The love of riding has been in my blood for years and this trip just confirmed what I already knew.