I had no intention of ever riding my own motorcycle; I was very content to be a passenger behind my husband Danny on his motorcycle. lt was quite nice being able to watch the scenery on long trips and not have to worry about the operation of the bike or the other drivers.

About 15 years ago, Danny and I decided that we with my daughter and her husband would take the Washington State Safety course. That way if something happened to Danny while we were riding I might be able to bring the bike to a safe stop without killing us.

After 10 years I happen to mention to some people that I had taken the course and that is when everyone started saying I needed to get a bike.

When we were on the Harley 100 ride, I happened to mention that we owned a small bike - Jim Shreve heard me and I thought he was going to get whiplash turning around and asking where it was, and what was it, and if it ran and if not then we could fix it up.

You would think I would learn to keep my big mouth shut, but no I have to tell people things.

We did own a Kawasaki 450 that we had gotten from my brother-in-law some years earlier and was now at my daughter's house.

So with a lot of help from Jim we got it running. I think I had rode it about 60 miles when we were at Owen's and found a Harley Sportster that was pre-owned and had a lot of chrome on it. We were going to buy it but Owen's wanted to check it out first since it was on consignment. This turned out to be a great decision since it didn't pass their inspection and asked to owner to fix it, but they decided to keep it instead. So they showed us a new Sportster and I fell in love with it. But we needed to match Danny's bike which was red so they got one from another dealer for me.

This was in 2006 and I have been riding ever since. We have gone to Billings Montana with the HOG group to the National Rally, when I had been riding only 2 months. We went to Sturgis South Dakota during Sturgis week in 2008, when I had been riding 2 years.

The worst ride I have taken is always in my mind before I go on a trip - the what could happen, what might happen - what if. A bad ride is only a different experience than you are used to or expecting.

When you are a new rider - first take the State Safety Course, then when you are learning to ride the best way to learn is to go on a very long ride - about 2- 3,000 miles. And just like I have said before: on a long ride you learn to be one with your bike because no matter what the weather, no matter how you feel that day YOU ARE TAKING THE BIKE.