Nancy Stark is a bag lady. No, she's not homeless -- she has a lovely home in sunny Phoenix -- but the woman is all about the bags. Saddlebags, that is.

Before making the move out West, Stark was a lifelong North Side resident and bought her first motorcycle -- and her first set of saddlebags -- here in Pittsburgh. Like so many women, her earliest exposure to life on two wheels was through a boyfriend.

"I was maybe 17 years old and he was a biker," she says. "He rode, I think, a 600 Yamaha -- huge back then -- and I was just in awe. He was in a club and was sort of the leader of the pack. It was just exhilarating. I rode with him for maybe a year, but then I didn't ride again until I turned 40 and learned to ride myself. I always had the passion, though. I loved the whole mystique of it, the brotherhood, the camaraderie.

"Just before I turned 40, I found out about the safety lessons. ... Once I took the course, I decided to do something for me, and I bought my first motorcycle."

While she admits she chose that first bike, a Honda 750 Shadow, primarily for its color -- classic cherry red and cream -- she was all business when it came to choosing accessories. And one of the first accessories she bought was a set of oversized saddlebags. On group rides Stark's saddlebags were storage for her and her riding companions, and she boasts that she was able to fit a "McDonald's drink carrier with four large yogurt parfaits, along with everyone's breakfast sandwiches" in her bags on one occasion.

Because she had family in Phoenix, Stark made the journey from Pittsburgh to Phoenix often, even buying a bike to keep there for her frequent trips. Partly because of the higher speed limits, she went looking for a bigger bike and ended up with a 1600cc Yamaha Road Star. And, of course, a bigger bike calls for bigger bags, and Stark was thrilled that the Road Star already was equipped with them.

Several years ago her cross country life ended when the opportunity to move to Phoenix, with its longer riding season, presented itself. Stark packed up house and home and Honda and headed west. The Shadow moved in with the Road Star, but the union was short-lived. The Yamaha lost a fight with a car, and Stark wound up with a plate (Fiesta Ware, she likes to say) in her pelvis and an empty space in her garage.

During a visit to the local Harley dealer Stark spotted a dark green Road King and, once again, chose a bike for its paint job. "It matched my eyes," she confesses. But this time the saddlebags are not off the rack. "I had them custom made at Lutz's Leathers outside of Beaver Falls," she says. "And they're huge."

Most Sundays will find Stark and her riding buddies on a scenic 250-mile loop north of Phoenix. She can't say enough about the joys of the Southwest's scenery. "Once you get out of the city it's awesome. We pass copper mines, small towns, and the color through the canyons is phenomenal. Depending on what the sun or clouds look like -- it's different every time. It's like therapy."

The group sets out early to avoid the worst of the heat, and riding out West has taken some getting used to for the native Pittsburgher. "Three things I've learned: always carry water, always carry sunblock and always get gas when it's available," Stark says.

One look at those saddlebags tells me she's carrying the water for everyone.