Backroads With Betsy

I think it is fair to say that most people who ride motorcycles love adventure and the great outdoors. After all, you cant ride your motorcycle in your living room. But when we do find ourselves on our couches in front of the TV, the Discovery Channel takes us on a lot of great adventures, which is how a lot of you came to know me through the Discovery Channels “Motorcycle Women” documentary.

Every November in Southern California, a very special motorcycle ride has taken place for the last 23 years. The Love Ride, started by Oliver Shokouh, owner of Harley-Davidson of Glendale, is unique for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is the largest one-day motorcycle fundraiser in the world.

By “ride straight,” Im not talking about your sexual preference thats your own business. Ive long been made fun of for my “John Denver/be high on life” attitude. Not that John Denver was straight, but he looked the part. Ive even been called Nancy Reagan because of my rigid outlook on smoking, drugs and alcohol.

Being the prodigal daughter that I am, going home has never been my favorite part of the journey, even when I have a lot of catching up to do, dues to pay, and miss my dog enormously. I still prefer riding away from, not back to, home. Most ponies run faster once they are turned toward the barn. This pony is always looking for one last fork in the road, one last experience to cram into my journey.

I can’t believe another summer has flown by me! As I lay in bed at my brothers Wyoming ranch, I just dont want my trip to end. I have saturated myself with my familys company all month (and a week of Sturgis in between), and it never feels like enough.

“Sturgis or bust”thats been my August motto for a lot of years. I do this trip every summer regardless of how busy or broke I may be. But then, I am a family-oriented Minnesota girl living as an adult orphan in L.A. I have to visit my family at least once a year in Minnesota, so I am not sure if family is why I go to Sturgis every year, or if Sturgis is why I visit my family every year.

I think it was Harry Chapin back in the 70s who sang, “Its got to be the going, not the getting there, that is good.” That is pretty much the best advice I could give to anyone heading out on a motorcycle adventure. In fact, it is the advice I take with me on all of lifes travels and adventures. Its the best advice just living day to day.

Betsy Huelskamp rose to national recognition in the motorcycle industry when she appeared on “Motorcycle Women,” a documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel in 2003. Betsy led a pack of five women on motorcycles as they rode through several states, inspiring other women to take up two wheels.