Submitted story: She's a little runaway

Well I'm pretty young in the biking world. My father was a biker he rode a H.D. so I'm a product of a rider. When I was 18 I decided to go on a soul searching tour of the big U.S.A.

I set out on a Sunday when my mama was at church I left her a note saying "I'll be back whenever" and I stole my dad's Harley. I had $250 in my wallet and I intended to go far with it. I started out in Kansas the sun was to my west and I got a hell of a suntan on left side.

That first night I slept in rest stop bathroom stall. I ate the crappy stale potato chips from the vending machines. I continued to do this for about 2-3 more days and on the third day I stopped I think it was highway 27 somewhere near Florida or Georgia when I saw a group of motorcyclist. I asked them "where ya'll going" when the oldest cyclist, a 58 yr. old man by the name of Bill said "down to the Indian reservation for a bike reunion."

I asked if I could go and they said if I wanted too. So from that day on I was traveling down highway 27 in Florida. I instantly fell in love with the pine trees in Florida, the sloping hills of green grass, and we had even passed through a city called Sebring that had a beautiful lake in the center. We had finally come to the reservation where we joined up with some more bikers.

It was my first experience with matured bikers other than my dad. They were burly men and beautiful suntanned women all sagacious and full of humor. I couldn't tear myself away from these people and I was something of an oddity to them. I was only 18 yrs. old, I was a single female, and they started calling me "purdiest li'l angel out in the wild."

I spent a week in their company when they departed. I couldn't go nowhere because I had no money so I stayed in that town until I had collected enough money to make my way back home. I had experienced my first bike ride and I was ready to get my life started. I went back to Kansas where I went to school to study mechanics and got a job fixing up old bikes. I ride everyone in a while but I'll always remember my first ride.