Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas June 2014 | Page 38
FEATURES
beginning.
Of course, as any road trip
goes, 95 miles into the ride,
we had our first maintenance
concern. Since we’d pre-warned
the Harley-Davidson service
departments along the way
that we were bringing a group
through their town, Alefs was
standing ready for us to arrive
with this minimal problem which
was fixed as we had our lunch.
Back on the road into the gusty
40 to 50 mph head wind up
I-35, we were all starting to feel
comfortable in our riding pattern
next to our new riding sisters. As
the new riding partner feeling
wore off, we roared West onto
I70 heading to our first night’s
destination, Hays, KS, where
we were literally treated to a red
carpet welcome!
Deanna of Doerfler’s HarleyDavidson and Janet of Hays, KS
Convention and Visitors Bureau
rolled out the red carpet and
treated us to a great dinner before
we retired to the hotel and the
hot tub to soothe our aches and
pains from the windy ride. You
should have seen the surprised
38
Thunder Roads Magazine of OK/AR
quickly history as we were
bombarded with hugs and
greetings from the ladies who’d
followed our journey on Thunder
Roads Magazine OK Facebook.
We knew several of them as well
since we’d followed their journey
postings too. A few had slipped
and slid on snowy roads, while
others freaked out by the high
winds and yet, others, attempted
iron butt rides only to be cut short
due to weather issues. But yet,
over 300 riders made it to the first
Summit safely. They were from
all over the USA, plus Canada,
Europe and Australia. It truly
was an amazing and inspirational
gathering of women. Some of the
who’s who in motorcycling were
also present to share their love of
the road, motorcycles, building,
life skills, personal defense,
riding skills, inspirational and
motivational talks.
Upon our entrance into the
However, those men were
look on the three young fellas
who’d been staying at the hotel
all month as they popped in to
sit in the hot tub which was filled
with eight women! Priceless!
We decided on an early start
and were on our bikes at 6:30am
to ride into Denver. We wanted
to get there as early as possible
because the schedule showed
we could have our bikes washed
by hot, shirtless firefighters upon
arrival. Oh wait, I mean so we
could see all the speakers that
afternoon!! But prior to arriving
there, we had to have another
highway hiccup or two which our
chase team took care of without
fail. And let me tell you what a
great welcome party the shirtless
firefighters were, as the twelve of
us entered the Summit after a
fast 350 miles through towering
windmill fields.