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"I thought I was out of my mind," she said. "But really, I was strong."  She arrived solo at The Legendary Buffalo Chip where thousands of bikers gather each year to camp and see some of the world´s biggest bands.

This August, Covill - known as Iron Cowgirl Missy - will perform there along with acts like ZZ Top, Motley Crue, Kid Rock, The Guess Who and The Doobie Brothers.

A few months before her first trip to Sturgis, life seemed as perfect as that sunrise. Covill was in remission from bronchial cancer and planning a life with a Toledo man she had been seeing for a year.  Then, out of the blue, he ended it - in an e-mail.

There on top of that hill, Covill buried the misery.  "I cried. And I cried. Every ounce of pain," she said. "So that´s when I said, ´I´m done with this.´"  And Iron Cowgirl Missy was born.

Covill came home and put words and music to her experience, producing songs about strength, and leaving everything behind.  She rode 15,000 miles in 10 weeks that summer. Her relationship ended in April and she bought her bike June 11, the day her three boys went to their father´s house for the summer.  She toured the Michigan coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Smokey Mountains, returning home after each trip with an empty heart.

When she came back from North Carolina, she left the next day for Sturgis.  "People were so free out there," she said. "Nobody judged you. Nobody knew I had a broken heart. I was just some chick on a Harley."

Covill admits she isn´t the best singer, writer or guitar player. But she found people could relate to her story - and songs.  Organizers of this year´s Buffalo Chip thought so, too, and put her on the bill.  Covill and band members practice several times each week in her living room near Napoleon.  She says they helped bring her songs to life. Before, they were all acoustic, and some were slower, crying-in-your-beer tunes.

There´s also a new man in her life.  "I tripped over a log at a bonfire and fell right into his arms," she said. "If there´s a God, I think he sent me somebody who really loves me and who really appreciates my love this time."

The band - lead guitarist David Sears of Lansing, bassist Philli Assenmacher and drummer Roger Pratt of Jackson, and sound engineer Bob Burton of Brooklyn - will travel to Sturgis in a silver, converted school bus.  Covill plans to follow the bus on her bike.

"Just when you think that you can´t go on, something will grab a hold of your butt and push you forward," she said. "In my case, it was a Harley."

(via Claire Cummings Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot )