Tracy "Dumpling" Smith
Hometown: San Diego, California
Age: Old enough to know better-young enough to try it anyway.
Bike for the ride: 2006 Harley Davison Heritage Softail.
Occupation: Healthcare professional.
The 2006 LRLR ride: a 650 pound bike, a 120 pound woman, a 15 MPH curve at 30 MPH, a patch of gravel . . .the road went this-a-way, the bike went that-a-way and Tracy stayed at the fork. Just a bruised ego and a couple of scratches; she picked herself up, got on the bike and rode away. Voila! The "Dumpling" legend is born!
"Dumpling" approaches life head-on, with no apologies. A retired Navy Chief Petty Officer and now a cardiac tech for Sharp Hospital, "Dumpling" is not a theatre person (although some of her best friends are), but she has her reasons for riding. It's personal. It's very personal: AIDS stole her brother. So she rides for the cure. A few summers ago, she and her partner, Carol, pedaled their bicycles some 600 miles over the mountains of Montana for a similar cause. 3,000 miles on a Harley will be nothing-not if it means a cure, sooner than later.