Pam Vickery
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
AGE: 47

BIKES OWNED:

1982 Kawasaki 440 LTD
1997 Virago 1100
2008 Harley-Davidson
Heritage Softail Anniversary

CURRENT RIDE:

2008 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Anniversary model. I have been an avid rider for 10 years now. I have also spent the last 5-years instructing at a Motorcycle Training Program.

HOW I GOT STARTED:

I started out on a 1982 Kawasaki 440 LTD that probably should have been junked for parts, but it was all I could afford at the time. We towed it home and I took it for my first ride–across the road and into the ditch. Apparently, someone had been using it for dirt biking and the steering head bearings were encased in mud.

I didn’t have much for gear either; an old army jacket, some second-hand gauntlet gloves and a borrowed helmet. The bike required some work to make it at least reasonably road-worthy. I paid $350 for the bike, put another $150 into it and I was on my way. Well, sort of… I didn’t have enough money left to register it for the road, so I spent the first month riding around the yard.

Eventually, I made it out onto the road. I’d come home every day from work and off I’d go. Everyday I would go a little further until, after three weeks, I was ready to tackle the one-hour ride to work in the city. I prayed all the way there and back that I wouldn’t get stuck on a hill. I didn’t get the bike on the road until the end of August and still managed to clock almost 5,000 kilometres. Not bad for a first season.

At the time I didn’t know any other female riders so I would go riding with the boyfriend and/or some guys from the Valley Shifters Motorcycle Club. They didn’t coddle me, but they didn’t expect me to ride outside of my comfort zone either. Before too long I was keeping up pretty well. By my second full season I was ready for a real road trip. I travelled to Cape Breton from Windsor, Nova Scotia with two male friends on Softails. This was to be about a 1,000 km round trip, but on the return ride I blew the engine just 100 km from home. That ended my riding season for the year in the first week of July.

That winter I came into a little money and bought a 1997 Virago 1100. I was nervous on the bigger bike but soon realized it was actually easier to handle than the old 440 LTD.

My first season on the Virago, I rode alone to Laconia Bike Week and a tradition of long distance trips was born. I have been making the pilgrimage every year after that first long ride. I’ve made many long trips in the years since, some solo, some with friends, but each one has been an experience. I’ve ridden the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina/Tennessee, travelled the route from Calgary, AB through Montana and Wyoming on my way to Sturgis and have ridden to Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. In 2008, I completed over 7,000 km on a solo ride to Ontario, crossing into Michigan through Detroit, down through Indiana, across the Ohio River into Kentucky, stopped to visit friends from Florida in Ohio and continued through the Northwestern US and back home to Nova Scotia.

If things go wrong when I’m travelling I don’t worry about it too much–my motto is, “If nothing ever goes wrong, then I won’t have any great stories to tell”. I’ve had my bike blessed by a Blackfoot Indian in Montana, had to buy gas from a farmer in Saskatchewan, drove into a tornado in Alberta and drove through the slums of Cincinnati late at night and all alone.

During the summer of 2008, my rides were finally on my dream bike, a 2008 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Anniversary. I loved this bike back in the 80’s before I ever knew what make or model it was and feel extremely fortunate to finally be able to realize my dream. I knew it was the bike for me when my son, Kyle, rented me one for my trip to Sturgis in 2006. I’ve never felt so in-tune with a machine in my life.

I ride from mid-March to at least the end of November and longer if the weather cooperates. The only month I haven’t ridden in is February. This Christmas I decided to prolong my riding season by taking a trip to Hawaii where I rented a Heritage Softail. Although I didn’t clock a lot of mileage on this trip (only about 1,000 km), I enjoyed a variety of riding on the Island. From barren lava fields to mountaintop horse ranges to lush tropical forests, this island really has it all.

As I write this, snow is covering everything outside and my thoughts often wander to where I’ll travel to next. I’ve made up my mind to ride Northern Europe in 2010 and then, in five to ten years I want to do a world tour. In the meantime, there is still much of North America for me to explore. Hmmm… so many places… so little money, but that’s never stopped me. MMM