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It took a divorce at age 32 to realize her dream. As Dawn puts it, “I'm 32, out of divorce credit hell, driving home from work with the windows down, smelling the honeysuckle, and thinking this would be a great day to be on a motorcycle.” She pulled into the Honda shop and bought a Shadow ACE 750 then and there. When asked why she’d waited so long to realize her dream, Dawn says that she’d gotten busy living life and growing up, and besides, she says, if she’d gotten permission to buy a motorcycle at 16, she’d probably have killed herself. As Dawn says, “To quote a dear friend on the MTF, I lacked the maturity and restraint to ride back then. I just finally got to a point in my life when I was both mentally mature enough and financially stable enough to ride a bike.”

When she bought that Honda ACE, she didn’t have her motorcycle endorsement, so the salesman had to ride it home for her. She sat on it in the garage making motorcycle noises until she could get into an MSF class. Once she got that endorsement, she says she’s never looked back. That was in June 2000, and she hasn’t looked back. Dawn says one of her most memorable rides was one they took in 2004. “We did a 17-day fly-and-ride to Europe that was organized by a member of the MTF. It was beautiful and memorable for a number of reasons. Stelvio Pass was probably the most technical riding I've ever done. I won't go so far as to say I did it well! It was the only place I've ever had to back down a 3d hairpin turn so that a motorhome could do a 3 point turn to get around the corner. Going down the other side the roads were not nearly so twisty but suddenly the pavement just ended! I was very glad I was on a BMW F650 GS rather than an RT! There were some other passes in Italy that were just stunning. Every day was different and the scenery was second to none.”

While Dawn has, in her words, “dabbled” in the LD rides, she characterizes herself as a big-time Flower Sniffer. The thing she enjoys the most about riding is being outdoors. It’s relaxing for her, and she finds enjoyment interacting with nature, appreciating the sights, sounds and smells. But true to MTF form, she admits to riding a long way to get somewhere quickly in order to do some serious “sniffing” once she gets there. Her most memorable riding experience was coming through Yellowstone National Park and having a close encounter with a buffalo. They were winding their way along a narrow, wooded road when they came upon traffic stopped the other way. It was then that she realized they’d stopped to let a buffalo cross the road. Dawn tells it this way: “The buffalo walked right between our bikes to get to open pasture. It’s quite amazing to be that close to the animal with nothing between you. “

When asked where her Delphi “handle” comes from, Dawn confessed to a fascination with birds and flying. Something that her fellow MTF’ers might not know about Dawn is that she took flying lessons as a young teenager. Dawn has also had several pet birds and had a number of “close calls” with nearly hitting birds on rides. So, when Dawn signed up at Delphi, she decided that “Wings” was appropriate.

Dawn is on the Board of Directors and serves as the Forum Manager. The one thing about the MTF that has kept Dawn involved is the people. As a result of her long-standing involvement with the MTF, she has made friends with other riders from all around the world. She hasn’t met all of them in person... yet. But as Dawn says, “Without the MTF I wouldn't have met nearly as many wonderful people as I have.” There are so many positives about the MTF. It’s hard for Dawn to find a “least favorite” part of the experience. However, she does admit that it’s torture reading about all the great events and not be able to make it to them all. Dawn and her partner, Mike Russell, have been together for three years and have children of the “furry” kind: Two Pomeranians and one Chihuahua. Mike claims parental rights to Rascal, the boy “child” Pomeranian who is 12 months old. The other Pomeranian is Maggie, a charming little redhead at 15 months. The Chihuahua is named Mouse, and is the oldest at 1.5 years. Mike says he’s their Uncle, but Dawn says they’re all hers.

When Dawn isn’t riding her beautiful BMW R1200RT, she works as a DRG Manager, managing a group of nurse auditors. They review hospital bills for insurance companies. Before she started riding, Dawn admits to being a daddy’s girl with a do-it-yourself mentality. She was spending her non-working hours fixing up her house. But she admits that, once she bought her first bike, the house has pretty much been left alone. Now that’s getting her priorities right!

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