My Sister Rides A Harley
My Sister Rides a Harley, written by John Benach, is a humorous and heartfelt first-person memoir about a motorcycle journey that becomes much more than a trip to the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
At the beginning of the story, John is approaching forty and overwhelmed by serious financial and family problems, including an IRS claim of more than $1 million connected to his late father. Once carefree and adventurous, John has become worried, skeptical, and consumed by the pressures of adulthood.
His younger sister Maria is almost his opposite. Recently divorced and determined to reclaim the years she feels she lost, she embraces motorcycles, buys a Harley, and throws herself into the biker lifestyle. She convinces John, along with their riding companion Bill, to leave Los Angeles and take a two-week motorcycle adventure to Sturgis, South Dakota. John initially thinks the idea is irresponsible, but part of him remembers the adventurous person he used to be and eventually agrees to go.
What follows is an unpredictable road trip filled with beautiful scenery, mechanical breakdowns, questionable sleeping arrangements, strangers who unexpectedly offer kindness, sibling arguments, practical jokes, drinking, motorcycle culture, and plenty of moments when their carefully made plans fall apart. The three travel through some of America's most memorable landscapes, including the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Rocky Mountain National Park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, Glacier and Zion.
Along the way they sleep wherever they can, including on a trampoline in a stranger's backyard, and encounter the type of generosity that slowly challenges John's belief that everyone has an angle or wants something from him.
The emotional heart of the book is John's gradual transformation. The farther he gets from Los Angeles and his problems, the more he begins enjoying the uncertainty of each new day. He develops a deeper respect for Maria and realizes that the unpredictability of the trip is exactly what he had been missing in his life.
A particularly important moment occurs at Devils Tower, where John reflects on how short life really is. He comes to understand that "Sturgis" is not simply a destination, it represents a way of living: looking forward instead of backward, meeting new people, accepting uncertainty and refusing to allow fear and problems to control every day.
By the time the riders return home, John's problems have not magically disappeared. The IRS eventually takes the family house, but John finds that he is handling adversity differently. He begins working with Bill, becomes less focused on money, surrounds himself with people he enjoys, and realizes that peace of mind is more important than constantly chasing financial success. His lasting lesson from the journey is to slow down, enjoy life, appreciate good people and remember how quickly time passes.
The book ends perfectly in keeping with the humor and sibling relationship that runs throughout the story. Maria tells John she has sold her troublesome Sportster, briefly making him think her motorcycle days might be over. Instead, she reveals that she traded it for a much larger new Harley. Then, just as John is trying to absorb that news, Maria casually tells him that Harley riders also make a trip to Daytona, Florida every year.
John's reaction, essentially, "Oh no, not again", brings the story full circle and leaves the reader with the feeling that their adventures are far from finished.
At its heart, My Sister Rides a Harley is not really a book about motorcycles, it's a story about a brother and sister, the freedom of the open road, unexpected friendship, and a man rediscovering how to enjoy life when life's problems have nearly made him forget how.
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