Going with the Flo

Originally Published in Southeastern Rider Magazine, August 2017

I started riding when I was four or five, which occurred in the early 1970’s. As a kid, I would go out with my father and we would buy motorcycles, most of them in pieces scattered in multiple boxes. We brought them home, put them back together, road them, and finally, sold them, usually for a little profit. Most of the sellers and buyers were men. Once, when my dad had a black chopper, with ribbons painted down the tank, that he got running, and then found out that he didn’t like a bike with an extended fork. So it went up for sale. The eventual buyer was a single lady, probably in her thirties, with long blonde hair. She showed up in a Chevrolet El Camino, while wearing a white leather jump suit. One with a zipper down the front, and it was probably zipped lower than it needed to be. My mom said she wasn’t aware that my, my brother, and my father’s jaws could drop so far.
Just like how everything else has changed since my childhood, women have made inroads into motorcycling. I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it certainly is no longer a surprise to see lady on her own steel steed. I saw lots of women riders when I attended the Honda Homecoming in the mid 2000’s and attended a Women Who Ride Luncheon. There was still a hefty amount of men at the meal, but the focus on women riding was certainly clear. I first met one of the founders of the group, Donna Palladino and her husband, “Ride Like a Pro” Founder, Jerry “Motorman” Palladino at that event in Marysville, Ohio.

I’m also a member of the Facebook Group “Women Who Ride Rock”. Well, I’m not really a member, but a Cabana Boy, and allowed to be part of the group since I was around when it started.

It would be five years later that I would meet the other founder of the Lady’s Group, and ride with Flo Fuhr. The year before, Flo wanted a new bike, and the one she settled on was on the opposite end of the United States from where she lived in Vancouver, Canada. So she decided to hop a flight to Florida, buy the bike, take a lesson from the Motorman, and ride it back home. Fellow lady riders got wind of her plan, and decided she should not ride alone. Some made plans to join up with her for part of a day, a whole day, a week, or for however long they could spare. It didn’t take long to visualize the bikes puling in and out of the group, and how that would resemble a Conga Dance Line, so the name Conga Ride was applied. 

The following year, Flo was back at it, and was ready to ride escort on another ride from Florida to Vancouver. This time more people knew her plan, including yours truly. This meant Flo would have a lot of company. It also afforded the opportunity to benefit a great cause, so donations were accepted that would go towards finding a cure for breast cancer. Conga II would also be known as the Conga for a Cure.

Cookie, myself, and Flo posing at our first stop in
Nashville, Indiana during the Hoosier Portion of
Conga for a Cure.

Since the second version of the line was going to come through Indiana, I decided not only to join in, but lead the group through the Hoosier Hills. The May 15^th, 2009 trip would meet up in Scottsburg, Indiana. My brother, Kasey and I arrived early, as I planned to make a video out of the trip. (The link will be posted below.) After recording an introduction, I grabbed footage of the Conga Line pulling in. We all greeted each other. I did a couple of on-camera interviews, and we were off, with me in the lead, to show this group some of the best roads the Hoosier State has to offer.

The first leg was not proof of this concept, as we hopped on Interstate 65 to head north. It was only for a few miles to get onto SR 250 to head east and join up with SR 135. This is a well-known road among two wheel travelers of the nineteenth state. The state highway snakes it way through southern Indiana, where the land rolls up and down. Unique small towns also dot the highway and feature names like Freetown, Story and Gnaw Bone. Our first stop would be Nashville, Indiana. The town is a haven, not just for motorcycles, but craft makers, craft buyers, and people who love good old greasy Hoosier Cookin’.

After a brief rest, fuel tanks being topped off, and some discussion about being on roads that were too curvy, we continued further north on 135 into Morgantown, Indiana. There we turned left onto State Road 252, and headed west. We also crept north into central Indiana, marked by the hills flattening, and the scenery changing to more expansive farms.

We made our way through Martinsville, and then up State Road 39, another road off the beaten path, with few straight sections of asphalt. Monrovia, Indiana is marked by a jog in the road, and then we crossed over Interstate 70, and then The National Road, US 40, at Belleville. The turns through the Hendricks County Farmland are more jagged. Sweepers were fewer, and turns at right angles become more common. The down shifting and upshifting made it more work to move along the road. Between the increase in exercise, and the sun blazing above, it was getting close to time for another break, and one that would be a little longer.

We rolled into Danville, Indiana just about time for lunch. Good thing, because the Hendricks County Seat has a great eatery named after a classic television show. I planned it this way, and Danville was also Kasey’s current home. After parking the bikes, we walked across US 36, stepping passed the old police car that sits out front, and entered The Mayberry Café. Numerous televisions play the series over and over, and the air is filled with the smell of Aunt Bea’s Fried Chicken. We all made our selections from the character themed entrees, and when the delicious food wasn’t in our mouths, conversations of past rides were.

With our bellies sated, we continued north out of Danville on SR 39 until a slight left to join State Road 236. Sweepers and wide open vistas at the tops of the rolls of the landscape dot this road to North Salem, Indiana. 

State Road 75 would be the next leg, and the steering bearings would get a break. This was a long straight stretch though many fields of corn and soybeans. The views here are what everyone thinks of when Indiana hits their ears. Full stomachs can sometime make your eyelids droop, so it was nice to have a section of road that was not so technical.

After a great lunch at the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana, some of the
group took a break in front of the Hendricks County Courthouse.

A stint east of State Road 47 after Thorntown would hook us up with US 52. We then would head north and west. The dual lane road is pleasant and lightly traveled. Interstate 65 runs along the road, taking the mass of the traffic. We rolled into Lafayette as the sun was moving down in the sky. Despite being May, the days still didn’t last long enough. My brother lives here, the home of Purdue University. We made our way through town, catching the early run of rush hour traffic, and made our way to Eagle Harley Davidson.

It was getting close to dinner time, and the Conga crew was ready to call it a day. One of the employees at the dealership had a connection at nearby hotel, and got them rooms at a discounted rate. My brother offered to escort the group, so that Kasey and I could head back to Danville.

It had been a long day, and we didn't make all the way
across Indiana, but everyone was still in good spirits.

I have always been someone who enjoys something more when it can be done for a good cause. Throughout my career, many of my favorite video projects were ones I did for charitable groups. For me, riding is enough, leading some lady riders, helping to raise money for breast cancer, and creating a video was all gravy.
This was a ride I would never forget, and Flo is one of those tremendous personalities you always carry with you. I kept in contact with her through email and the Women Who Ride Facebook Group. Seven years after sharing the Hoosier Landscape with her, in 2016, while Flo was vacationing in Mexico, she needed some dental work done. Complications from the procedure led to all of us losing her. 

I can’t help to think about the lives she saved. We will never know how many. There are some who were saved by a friend’s awareness of breast cancer was raised. Then there are those, particularly women, who discovered the courage within them to grab a new lust for life, finally throw a leg over the saddle and take two wheels out into the unknown.

For more information:

Conga II for the Cure Ride Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDMJF9sxr8E

To read more of my motorcycle stories, you can check out my Motorcycle Blog at:

www.Blogspot.RodneysMCBlog.com