Ladies, Get Out There And Ride - May 2

Back in December I felt compelled to write an article about International Female Ride Day. You can read the entire article here.

It seems just like yesterday, and now the day has arrived. Tomorrow is officially the day for females to get out on their motorcycles in force, and RIDE. You don't have to be part of a group or club, although there will be plenty of organized rides for those of you involved in such things. Since I have to work Friday, I will be riding to work, rain or shine. Then I will probably get out for a scenic ride after work if the weather holds.

Women are enjoying motorcycling more and more so here is a day to celebrate. Those of us who ride all year can still get out to make a statement to the world, 'We are women, hear our motors roar!'

You men can get out on your bikes too, and take in the scenery of all the women out tomorrow.

Enjoy!

International Female Ride Day 2008

Women riders are finally being recognized as a significant part of the motorcycling world. Female riders have become the fastest growing market in the motorcycling industry. In 2007, organized by Motoress in Canada, a National Female Ride Day was born. When word went out that the event was going to happen, women across Canada and the US started contacting each other to arrange to ride together on May 4, 2007. They made history. Slated for the first Friday in May each year, plans are to continue and grow the event.

The organizer of the campaign, Vicki Gray is a former European female motorcycle racer, instructor and coach whose been riding since 1983.

The aim of the campaign is to raise female rider awareness, promote those who already ride, while simultaneously encouraging other females to take up the activity," says Vicki Gray, campaign organizer. "The 'day' places a spotlight on female riders," she adds.

She asks women to get on their bikes and "JUST RIDE". No matter what style of motorcycle – sport, cruiser, scooter, dual purpose, street, off-road or dirt – National Female Ride Day aims to highlight the many numbers of females currently active in motorcycling and heighten awareness of female riders, inspiring those who have not yet taken it up.

Next year it will officially become an International Event which will take place on Friday, May 2, 2008. We women who ride should make sure that on that day, no matter what the weather, we should band together and be out on the roads. That is the only way younger women and others who have never considered riding will see how fun and appealing it is, and they may discover they have a passion for riding too. I was inspired by following a female on a motorcycle one day coming home from work. She handled the bike so smoothly up our curvy roads and I was pretty impressed. A couple of months later I signed up for the MSF beginners’ course.

The event will become larger each year, and is supported by nearly all of the major motorcycle manufacturers. Local small groups may organize, as they did in 2007, as well as more established women’s riding clubs. I wonder if there will be motorcycle parades anywhere that day………

Here is a nice YouTube video showing some of the ladies who rode in the First National Female Ride Day 2007.

Windshield Weekend

My Vulcan windshield came in that I had ordered the day of the motorcycle purchase. It was very large and I was worried that it might be too big for me to see the road clearly.

Not to worry……I assembled the windshield and put it on a few days ago. It has rained here constantly since then so I was waiting for a window of opportunity to ride with the windshield and see if it made a difference in handling, etc.

I was also a little concerned that if I rode on a cold, foggy morning that the windshield would fog up and I would be blind to the road. One of my fans (I think it was my brother) suggested that I use Rain-X glass treatment to help the water bead off and hopefully the fog wouldn’t collect. I bought the ‘wipes’ and treated the windshield inside and out, the mirrors, and all of our other bikes mirrors with one ‘wipe’. It was easy and didn’t hurt the plastic that the windshield is made of. I’m going to try it on my face shield for the same reasons.

The windshield is optically correct.....you can hardly tell it's there!

I took the bike out for a ride after its treatment, and ‘dude’! I really love this motorcycle. The windshield is great, with no distortion. At 5'3" I am looking through the area about 8" from the top of the shield. It was overcast and around 40 degrees. I didn’t dress warm enough and wore my favorite leather gloves. The ride was awesome, but my hands got so cold I decided to head back home because it was getting painful. I never learn that I need to overdress on the bike, just to be comfortable. It was a wonderful ride anyway, and there should be a couple of dry days this week when I plan to ride to work.

My ride looks pretty good with its new windshield……

Motorcycling and Creativity

It seems to me that there is a common thread among motorcyclists, and especially the women. We are creative and innovative when it comes to solving problems or dreaming up new ideas for things that we need for the motorcycle.

I have also noticed that many of the biker women are knitters, do stamping, are artists, photographers, and other creative passions. The stereotype of the ‘rough around the edges’ biker chick may be a little true. But we also like girl things, and we like to create things that can be enjoyed by others.

As for me, I knit, crochet, am an artist, and am learning to take photos. I have so many interests and hobbies that change with the seasons. My mind is always challenged with something new that triggers an idea and gets the ball rolling.

During the winter when the riding days are few, I spend a lot of time doing needlework indoors. I like to knit sweaters to wear when I ride my motorcycle, warm socks for my riding boots, and this year I will make some wrist warmers to fit just into my gloves. I also have many knitted scarves to keep my neck warm and that are fun to have flowing behind you as you ride down the road.

Music is another commonality among motorcyclists. Whether it is singing, playing a musical instrument or being in a rock band, people who ride have many talents.

Those of us who ride motorcycles have the common view of loving life, living it to the fullest, and watching the weather so we can ride as much as possible. By being creative we can make useful items that we can be proud of and that bring joy to others as well as ourselves.

Meeting other women motorcyclists

I’ve been riding my motorcycle for more than two years now. Mostly I ride alongside my husband or I ride alone. At first, as a new rider, I had to build up my confidence to ride farther and farther out of my neighborhood. We go for short day trips on weekends that may last three or four hours. My gas tank is two gallons, so I need to stop every hundred miles or so to fill up.

Some of the other women motorcyclist blogs have inspired me to go farther and faster and take more chances on my bike. I’ve been riding safe and conservatively, which is fine. But I’ve limited myself by trying to avoid the freeway speeds when possible, and not going a great distance from home.

My solution to this was to join a local Cycle Barn Women’s Motorcycle Club. If I can meet some other female riders, I might have the opportunity to go farther and faster on the organized rides. We live in Western Washington so there is no lack of beautiful day or weekend destinations to ride.

Tonight I went to a dinner meeting of the CBWMC and met the members. There were two other new members and a total of six of us altogether. They have a few others who usually come, but the group was small. The three newest members were the only ones who rode our motorcycles. The older members all drove cars. I found that curious. Those of us who were new felt a kinship right away with the other women. They were all nice, all ages, and all confidence levels. I felt right at home as they talked about being nervous on gravel, not riding in the winter (I do), and tipping over their bikes. These were just women who like to ride their motorcycles, and like to do long weekend and even 4 day rides. It was encouraging to us new members to think of being able to do such long rides.

We parted with a plan to meet next month, aside from a weekend ride over the Cascade Mountains to Winthrop next week. Next month they have two rides which I will plan to go on and that will be all the organized rides for this year. They meet once a month through the winter and discuss and plan next years ride schedule. I can hardly wait to start riding with other women in a group. We found out we all live within 15 miles of each other, so some of us will probably meet and ride on nice weekends anyway. I can see a lot of good times down the road……..

Wedding weekend with motorcycles

My only child is getting married this Sunday, Sept. 16. He has rebuilt his dad's 1971 HD Sportster 1000 and customized it a little. The plan is for he and his groomsmen to arrive on their motorcycles to the wedding site, in their tuxes. They will set up motorcycle parking for others who ride there. I, as the mother of the groom, will be wearing a dress, so won't be riding up on mine.

My 82 year old mother and my brother are flying in from the Bay Area today, so I will have my hands full for a few days. I won't be posting until after the weekend, unless I get some free time away from all the festivities. I plan to take alot of pictures so my next post should have some cool motorcycles in it.

So for now, here is a video I found interesting about women bikers in India: