< left: 1981 Sam and fellow performer, Heather, whom Sam taught to ride the wall when she was touring with Sonny. Heather later left the business to get married & have children.
Paying her dues
Sam found the family she never had within the drome and she did whatever needed to be done to prove herself and pay her dues while waiting for her chance to learn to ride the wall. She worked inside the hot drome ticket booth, swept up, helped set up and tear down the walls and learned maintenance of both the walls and the vintage bikes. It was an extremely tough life, constantly traveling the carnival circuit and sleeping next to the bikes parked in the center of the drome, or underneath the wagon if the drome was packed up.
Collectible Card
Learning to ride the Wall of Death
Finally Sonny gave in to Sam’s consistent begging to learn to ride the wall. Sam was 15, but fibbed that she was 18 years old. Sonny Pelaquin took Sam under his wing and became her teacher, mentor and the father figure she never had. In Sam’s words, Sonny not only taught her how to ride the wall, but taught her about life, respect, love and most importantly how to laugh. In the 1960’s motor dromes were nearly extinct due to the dangers they presented; the bad reputation that some carnival drome riders had for riding inebriated and fighting and a lack of interest from future generations in learning the skill. Sonny Pelaquin’s drome survived long after most had gone because he insisted his riders be sober, professional showmen with an act fit for family entertainment. All training was done during actual shows with an audience, so as Sonny said, “If you got hurt it wasn’t for nothing”.
The school of hard knocks
Sonny was adamant about keeping the riders inside his drome safe - he didn’t say much when you got something right, but he would definitely let you know if you did something wrong. And wrong in Sonny’s book was defined as anything unsafe. He wouldn’t tolerate big egos that made you cocky and led to mistakes. He went behind each rider checking their bikes after every show. He insisted all the bike frames be painted white so any cracks in the frame would show up when the bikes were wiped down after each performance.
Sam said she was not a born natural at riding the wall. She fell down a lot while learning and had to work very hard to master the skill. Being tall and thin, her long legs were a hindrance and she learned to tuck her knees up close to her chest so as not to hit the handle bars especially when performing trick riding. She studied Sonny and the other riders’ styles constantly and listened to their advice to perfect her own riding skills.
Sam and Jay Lightnin’ on the wall of the American Motor Drome. Jay said he had complete trust in Sam to perform this difficult stunt with her.
Sam with her beloved dogs,
Daisy and Mischief
Sam was a fighter and despite the many injuries she sustained over her 30 plus year career including breaking her back in 3 different places and getting burned performing a firewall stunt, she made riding the wall look graceful and awe-inspiring to spectators. She said that she would always have “butterflies” before riding, not out of fear, but anticipation. She would drink a glass of chocolate milk (to keep her bones strong), hug her dogs and tell them she loved them, then get on her bike and do her show, sometimes as many as 13 times a day. Once she circled the drome and sped her way up the wall she felt centered, safe and confident. It was the place where she said all her pain and the world’s pain went away and she felt completely free and happy. Sam said she never rode the wall for money, but because she felt it enriched her life. Motor Drome riders have no medical or disability insurance and therefore rely on the donations from spectators for medical costs for any injuries they may sustain.
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