Hard Ride, a Motorcycle Pilgrimage

In early 1984 I traded up from my 1970 Triumph to a 1000cc Harley-Davidson Sportster. My brother Derrick also bought a Sportster and our older brother Doc picked up a Harley Super Glide. We all enjoyed riding together and decided to attend the 1984 Canadian Harley Rendezvous in St. Thomas, Ontario. Saturday morning we mustered for coffee and then headed down the 401 towards St Thomas, tents and sleeping bags packed.

Here we are stopped for some fries and a stretch just before getting to London.

The Rendezvous event began with a day at the drag strip watching a variety of bikes take on the 1/4 mile. There were vendors and food tents, hot-air balloon rides and an ‘Artistry in Iron’ custom bike display. I bought a Shoei Helmet there that I still wear.
This is Derrick and I watching the races trackside.

In the late afternoon it was time to head to the campground and we joined a procession of about 300 thundering bikes and made our way a few miles to a large private lot in the country that appeared to be a sandpit complete with swimming hole.
There was an area up a hill to the back that we thought would be a nice place to pitch our tents and take in the spectacle so we headed for it.
Getting up the hill was a bit tricky as it was deep soft sand but we managed to get up there, park the bikes and set up camp without incident.
Before long, others saw the hilltop as a good spot as well and they began coming up the sandy incline which was getting softer and looser with each bike. People began to gather on both sides to watch, cheer and help as more and more bikes lined up for their turn to attempt the climb. It turned into a couple of hours of sand-blasting, beer-drinking fun and afterwards we headed down to the swimming hole for a refreshing dip.

A large flatbed had been set up in the main area to accommodate the live entertainment and the headline act that evening was the Cameo Blues Band, whose members started out around 1970 as the Greaseball Boogie Band and then Shooter in 1975. They then formed Cameo which by 1984 included bassist Joe Agnello, drummer Sonnie Bernardi from Crowbar, guitarist Gerry Markman, saxophonist Wayne Mills and vocalist Malcolm Tomlinson. It was a great show and the music went on until the wee hours of the morning. Although we had beer to drink, at some point I found out that the french fry truck was also serving shots of Jack Daniels and by the time I staggered back to my tent I was done for the night and fell into a deep sleep. Apparently I missed the night-long shenanigans of the group of 1%ers who were camped next to us and had to hear all about it the next day from my brothers.
The entire weekend event was a real eye-opener and was my first time experiencing riding in a large group, attending a motorcycle festival and being up close and personal with a partying bunch of bikers. All these things helped become the basis for my life-long love of motorcycles and the biker lifestyle. Within 3 years I was organizing my own biker event with all-weekend bonfires, games and live music, the annual Thundering Hearts MC ‘Spring Bash’ which I still host 25 years later.

In 1986 I purchased my home outside of Parry Sound, Ontario and decided that the nice detached workshop would make a great party spot for me and my rag-tag group of friends as well as a place to work on our motorcycles. By Spring of 1987 we had a home base and the Thundering Hearts Motorcycle Club was born. The name was inspired by the John Mellencamp song of the same name and was fitting, as the clubhouse was in a valley.
“…Ride that Harley-Davidson in the hot summer heat, Lord knows that I just love to ride… …In the valley of the Thundering Hearts”.
Initially we called it a motorcycle ‘enthusiasts’ club mainly because several of our members didn’t actually own a motorcycle, but were there for the comradery and the parties just the same. Over the next few years our official membership grew to about 15.
Our Spring Bash parties every Victoria Day weekend were a big hit and drew many of our biker friends from far and wide.
They were good times. We were young, reckless and enthusiastic.
By 1993 a series of events had come about which caused me to move away from my home and as several other members had moved away, sold their bikes or simply lost interest, the club faded into obscurity.
I had also been diagnosed with a chronic hereditary bone disease and as the years passed I became more and more disabled. By 1999, I hadn’t ridden a bike for a few years and eventually could not even work. Even just getting out of bed and walking was a painful struggle. Despite these setbacks, I managed to buy back my home and did my best to keep the tradition of the annual Spring Bash party alive.
By 2007 I had found the right combinations of medications, exercises and mindset to tolerate my pain and illness and had made great improvements. So much so that I began to think about getting another motorcycle, even if it was just to take short rides to town on. I bought a 1997 Suzuki Marauder that was mildly customized and it was perfect for me. My brother Derrick had bought a new Honda Shadow Aero and we soon began taking weekly rides for some cold beer and chicken wings over a few games of pool. I was able to ride without too much pain although my hips and back hurt constantly and my hand couldn’t grip and twist the throttle for very long. But it didn’t matter. I was loving being on a bike again and I found myself wanting to move up to a bigger bike more suited to longer trips. In 2010 I bought my Harley-Davidson FLHTPI and as soon as Spring 2011 hit, Derrick followed suit. We had made plans, the Hard Ride Tour and several charity motorcycle events and we made that happen. We reveled in our new-found love of motorcycling and reminisced about the glory days of the Thundering Hearts motorcycle club.
Our older brother Doc, who at one time was more of a biker than any of us, has recently expressed his desire to pick up another bike and join us on some of our rides and Derrick’s son Jon is considering trading his rice rocket for a Harley V-Rod.
This is looking to be the rebirth of Thundering Hearts. Charity toy rides and poker runs will be a big part of what the club is about. Plans for this year’s Spring Bash include asking guests to bring non-perishable food items that we can donate to the local food bank on behalf of the club. It’s a new start and the beginning of more great times and memories, in the valley of the Thundering Hearts.