I
grew up in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, where big skies and long
highways probably programmed me early for a life in motion. In 1992 I
joined the U.S. Air Force and accidentally turned the world into my
neighborhood. Germany, England, and Japan weren’t just duty stations,
they were launchpads. I chased every leave block like it was a boarding
call and somehow stacked up visits to around 60 countries.
England
is also where my two-wheeled alter ego was born. I earned my motorcycle
license in 2001, and by 2013 I had my first Harley and a front-row seat
to the Alps and the Pyrenees while stationed in Germany for the second
time. Nothing resets your perspective like leaning into a mountain curve
with another country waiting on the other side.
My
official 25-year Air Force anniversary? Celebrated in Afghanistan…
under a desk… while rockets were incoming. Subtle as a brick and just as
effective. I took the hint, retired in 2018, bought a one-way ticket to
Bangkok, and spent the next 15 months backpacking across 21 countries
and four continents with no fixed address and a very overworked
passport.
I’d only been
back in the States a few months when COVID shut the world down, so I did
the only thing that made sense, pointed the bike at the map and rode
the lower 48.
In 2021 I
met an incredible human named “Lumpy,” who told me about the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge. After a little research and a lot of “sure, why
not,” I put myself on the wait list without fully grasping the beautiful
chaos I was volunteering for. Lumpy passed before the 2022 run, but he
rode every mile with me. I finished in under 14 days, even after picking
up a flat tire 200 miles from the finish, because quitting was never
going to be part of that story.
These
days the mission continues in the form of a 100,000-mile charity ride
for Mile Monsters Inc. Same heart, new patch, bigger purpose. Still
chasing horizons, still collecting stories, and still believing the best
route is usually the one that wasn’t on the original plan.
Nancy Webb
HHMC1072