‘Trip of a lifetime’: Loveland mother and son duo cover 1,100 miles on three wheels

Scott Banks, a longtime motorcycle enthusiast, made his first trip to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this summer.

With him came his 77-year-old mother, Linda Lewis.

Banks and Lewis took the trip to Sturgis, South Dakota in three days, covering around 1,100 miles, entirely on their Renegade trike. Purchased by Lewis and her husband in the early 2000s, Lewis has kept the trike, which she now shares with her son.

"He was an old hot rod guy," Banks said of his late stepfather. "Looking at him you could just tell."

The pair will occasionally show the trike, custom-made by Renegade Trikes, at car shows, but Sturgis was their longest trip in the vehicle.

"I've done 600 miles on a motorcycle," Banks said. "I was more comfortable in this."

It's not exactly a limousine though. There is only a small windshield that does little to keep out the wind or rain, and the only thing for Lewis to hold onto on the cramped passenger seat is a small armrest. Still it has a single cupholder, and Banks has an iPod hooked up to the trike's stereo.

Lewis worked at a race track as a young woman and grew up around race cars, but Banks' appreciation began with Evel Knievel.

Lewis and Banks' birth father bought him his first motorcycle at the age of 13, and he continued his interest through his young adulthood and keeps it to this day.

His current project is repairing his stepfather's Honda Gold Wing.

"I'll probably never get to do that again," Lewis said. "So I'm making sure I'll get to do it the first time, and we'll go from there."

According to Lewis' daughter Cindy Banks, the 77-year-old will try anything once. She recently went river rafting, but did not enjoy it, citing the speed.

"I don't like water," Lewis said. "I can't swim."

That didn't keep her from the rafting trip, nor did it stop her from buying a pontoon boat that she will take out on the lake frequently.

"That goes five miles an hour, which is more than enough for me," she said.

The pair had little time to waste during their trip, driving from Loveland to Sturgis in a single day, seeing the sights, waking up at 8:30 a.m. the next morning to drive to the events i n Deadwood, spending the night there, and then driving the trike back to Colorado the following day.

"It was the trip of a lifetime," Banks said.