Ever since I can remember I have wanted to ride.  Even in my teenage years, I longed to have a cruiser of my own (a Harley, no less, just like everyone else). As I grew older, graduated from university, got married, and bought a home, the passion still did not subside.

Living in central Ontario where the riding season is 5 months out of the year (8 months, if you’re hardcore), getting a car was far more practical and better suited for those cold snowy winter months, and so my desire to ride remained on the back burner.

Fast forward a few years, and a now divorced me standing in the parking lot at Humber College ready to take my first rider’s training course. My boyfriend had given me the final push to enroll just prior to his departure on a solo motorcycle journey through South America. Unfortunately, this first attempt, I failed miserably.

I persevered, though, and eventually passed with flying colours at the make-up test, with a little extra practice. Since then I have been riding almost everywhere – to work, back and forth from the city to my parents’, even taking courses in off-roading, and going on short-term and extended road trips.

In addition to touring around Ontario,  in 2011 I took a two week trip across the USA to Moab, Utah to ride amongst the red rocks.

In 2014, my R.A. (Romantic Associate) and I sold our car, quit our jobs, and moved out of our apartment in search of adventure. It was intended to be a round the world trip including Africa, Europe, and the Americas, but it turned out that motorcycle travel can be pretty expensive and a little tiring so we had to cut it short before we could get across the ocean. In the end we had travelled for nine months and through thirteen countries, ending in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

And that Harley? Well it turns out that cruisers really weren’t for me (even though I truly loved my 1985 Honda Rebel 250), and decided to get a dual-sport bike. I have owned two Suzuki DR650s and have had very little complaints. It’s lightweight and zippy and takes me where I want to go (for the most part), off the road and on. I don’t have to worry too much about riding over curbs or potholes because I know my bike will handle it, and as much as I would like to have a pretty bike that gleams in the sunlight and I needs to be cleaned with a cloth diaper, I’m more of a rough and tumble girl who wears her mud splatter like a badge of honour.