Hoka Hey

Thought it would probably be a good idea to start my blog with an explanation of what the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge is. Let's just call it HHMC so I don't have to keep typing that out. Anyway the HHMC is an endurance ride that challenges even the most seasoned rider.We knew we were riding from Key West Florida, to Homer, Alaska but that was it. The riders are given a set of directions not previously viewed from check point to check point. The directions are not "go twelve miles and turn west on to such and such it just tells you turn left, turn right and so on. So you don't know if you are going two miles and making a left or two hundred miles. There is a deadline for the rider to reach the final destination and the icing on the cake is no gps and no indoor accommodations. Yep that's right sleeping outside. On the bike, next to the bike, under a picnic table, on top of a picnic table, tent. Rain or shine. So your saying to yourself now why would anyone want to do such a crazy thing well the ride last year was a winner take all of a half million dollars. The goal was to have a thousand riders who payed a thousand dollars but there were only about 500 who rode last year. And you thought there were a lot more crazy bikers out there then that and there probably are just not as many with the money or time off from work to give it a shot.


For me when I read about the HHMC it was a bucket list thing. I have always wanted to ride to Alaska on my motorcycle. I read about the ride while hooked up to a IV pumping poison into my veins trying to kill off the cancer that showed up in my breast for the second time in my life. You know chemotherapy. 


Being a 49 year old single Mom riding off on Lucie(that's what I named my Heritage softail classic) for a month to do something this epic is really hard to even entertain. But with the support of some awesome friends and people I didn't even know, it started to become a reality. The first was my oncologist. He's gave me a hundred dollars and told me to "Go live your life." So that's where it all started for me.