Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas October 2017_web | Page 27

GAVE him the parts that my bike
needed. While passing through
the gift shop, Dale also grabbed
a DVD and threw it in my bag
free of charge! WOW, what a
place and what a terrific man for
helping his fellow rider!
As we proceeded to roll into
Aberdeen, which was about 25
miles from Rockingham, we saw
that the bearings weren’t my only
problem as I had also lost a front
axle nut! Since we had a chase
truck we did take some extra
parts in case of breakdowns, but
I never expected to lose an axle
nut! Our only hope was to drive
to a hardware store and hope
that we could get one. When we
arrived at the local Lowe’s, our
hopes were high but were soon
shattered as the 3/4 fine thread
nut was nowhere to be had. I
stood there facing the realization
that I wasn’t going to be able to
ride my bike to The Smoke Out,
after coming 1000 miles across
the country.
As I stood in that aisle I did
the only thing I knew how to do,
I prayed to GOD and asked that
He put the idea in my head to fix
my bike. And just like that, he
immediately told me “trailer ball”.
I ran to my husband screaming
“trailer ball”. Lo and behold for
only $8.00 there was the solution
to my problem!!!
God put the wisdom in my
head so that I could continue my
journey. We did make it to The
Smoke Out but the real journey
was getting there. God showed
himself in many ways during the
trip and gives me even more faith
and determination to change the
mindset of what a “biker” looks
like and more importantly, is
made of.
My ’56 Panhead did an
amazing job on the trip and all
of the donations that I received
from my sponsors helped make
it possible. I am very thankful
for the sponsors that turned my
dream into a reality!
I love my ole Panhead that
I call “Panacea”, which means
“a solution or remedy to all
difficulties”. I hope in today’s
stressful world that everyone can
find their own “Panacea”.