Bikerlady!

Harley-Davidson's Women's Day Parade....A BLAST!

2008-03-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

HARLEY-DAVIDSON'S WOMEN'S RIDE 2008 WAS AWESOME!

Presented by Sasha http://www.bikerlady.com/: Yeah, the skies were pregnant with a little rain all day. But I'll tell you what didn't wait to drop, TEARS of JOY. Oh, the 400+ women riding in the parade felt the joyful tears take a cheekward stroll as we participated in a history-making event. Harley-Davidson's first ever women's parade. Apparently it was 500 strong. All I could gather was several lines of Harleys and Buells stacked up ready to ride -- I had no idea what the final count was.

From Music City USA, I rode the southbound twists and wide open highway enroute to my destination: the curvaceous celebration of Harley and Buell chicks riding together in the first ever Parade of its kind. Oh the power of our HOURglass - it is ALL in the CURVES as folks hailed the femme force of riders roarrring down International Speedway and onto A1A!

Led by Karen Davidson of the Harley-Davidson empire and a group of six selected females who wrote compelling essays about their riding experience and mentors, including the female executives of Harley-Davidson's women's outreach program, we waved and revved blazing a new Parade trail. The Parade was also a fundraiser for MDA. The energy was full throttle excitement. Let the pictures tell the story.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chromecowgirl/HARLEYDAVIDSONSWOMENSRIDE2008 Enjoy! Love, Sasha

The Garage Girls are HERE!

2008-02-21T16:19:00.001-08:00

Let's give a huge round of applause for Sara Liberte's launch of the Garage Girls! She and Jody Perewitz are two bike building femme fatales with a big heart to teach chicks the world over all about taking care of their rides....getting out there and living and riding free!

Please, take a moment and visit these gals at:

www.garage-girls.com

Send a note to Miss Sara Liberte, a genius windsister who is a wonderful artist and fine spokeschick in the world of girls on motorcycles. www.saraliberte.com

Jody can be found working alongside her brilliant daddy, Dave Perewitz. Talk about truth, this girl certainly has engine oil in her veins. She's all about EVERYTHING to do with motorcycles. I think she was literally born in the saddle of her parent's motorcycle. www.perewitz.com and dig the blog she keeps here: http://www.lifeatperewitz.com/

I adore these girls and you will too!

xoS

HARLEY-DAVIDSON'S EPIC ALL GIRL RIDE at DAYTONA!!

2008-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt of an e-mail that I received recently from Harley-Davidson regarding their all girl ride on March 4th...which is so popular...that they had an overwhelming response to the slots available.

CONGRATULATIONS SASHA! You have been chosen to join Karen Davidson, great-granddaughter of one of the Company’s founders, and the Get Down to Daytona winners on their final leg into Daytona! We had an overwhelming response from women interested in joining the Women’s Day Ride in Daytona on March 4, 2008, benefiting MDA Summer Camps, so we have decided to no longer limit the ride to 105 women, and are now accommodating 500 women riders! Yes, 500! The ride will be one of the largest Harley-Davidson women’s rides ever, and we’re thrilled to have you share that piece of history with us.

Okay, I feel like I JUST WON THE GOLDEN TICKET like the Willy Wonka story... but I'm so like little Charlie, not Violet the glutton blueberry gum chewing girl --- no, I'm like dear Charlie, the little underdog...though as the former little girl with thick coke bottle glasses totally unpopular, wall flower kid of yore -- yes she, ME, is going to be a part of this epic ride.

I get to ride with ALL these amazing women and I shall write for days about it...I shall take photos, and film footage with my pocket camcorder and present the most awesome journey...oh, this is a thrill beyond belief. I'm taking you all with me and sharing this victorious moment.

Rock it Roll it Ride it like you stole it...all the way to Daytona to join in this amazing event. Also, there is a wonderful cause abound....MDA...this is a fund raiser event, too.

Open your big heart! I have a fundraising goal of $1,000. It'd be cool to include you or your company on my list of contributors helping me reach an important goal.

Your donation would help MDA continue the important fight against muscular dystrophy. Check out my donor page by clicking on the link at the end of this e-mail. There you'll find all kinds of information about MDA, and be able to make your tax-deductible donation on-line using your credit card.MDA serves people in our community with muscular dystrophy by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, braces and communication devices, and summer camp for kids. MDA also funds research to help find treatments and cures for diseases that affect people of all ages, right here in our community. On behalf of the families MDA serves, thank you!

Love,

Sasha

Click here get info about this epic ride, visit http://www.harley-davidson.com/womensride.

If the link above does not bring you to my Participant Page, cut and paste the address below into the address bar of your internet browser.
https://www.mdaevent.org/ParticipantInfo.aspx?j=14117b2a-22f2-45ff-be53-31227574cba4

International Female Ride Day - May 2, 2008

2008-02-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

From a press release issued by DS Publicity Group:

(Toronto) – Last year’s introduction of FEMALE RIDE DAY in Canada was such a success that this year it has gone international. FEMALE RIDE DAY is a synchronized day, worldwide, where women motorcycle riders demonstrate their enjoyment of motorcycle riding. The event takes place annually on the first Friday of May, spotlighting women who ride and celebrating the many numbers who do. This is a day devoted to women of all ages and all experience levels to highlight their passion for and pleasure in – alone or together – the activity of motorcycle riding.

“On FEMALE RIDE DAY, all we ask of women is to be on a motorcycle and just ride!” says Vicki Gray, campaign founder. “It is not an organized ride, not a charity or fundraiser. Its sole focus is on women riders.

Of course women are free to decide how they spend the day and some clubs and rider groups have indeed incorporated a charity or an organized ride. This is the beauty of the day, the freedom to enjoy it as you wish no matter what type or style of motorcycle – cruiser, sport, touring, scooter, off road or ATV. Women are encouraged to simply join in, take part in the camaraderie internationally and just ride,” she adds.

International FEMALE RIDE DAY, made its début last year as a national event, with the intention to go global on its next occurrence. This year it will be celebrated internationally, which was not a difficult step to make, as last year women throughout North America and areas of Europe enthusiastically took part. As each year goes by, there is no doubt that FEMALE RIDE DAY will continue to catch on and be enjoyed by more and more women, as country after country joins in.

In 2007, participants were invited to send in their photographs capturing a moment during their FEMALE RIDE DAY experience and be featured on the website. Additionally by forwarding the photo to MOTORESS, they received mementos and souvenirs in return. Participants will be offered the same opportunity in 2008. According to Vicki, the buzz within online social communities already demonstrates soaring participation this year and she hopes to have enough souvenirs’ for everyone. Some of the club rides and meet-ups planned for May 2nd have decided to produce their own souvenir of the day – a t-shirt or a Female Ride Day badge.MOTORESS is an international brand with a strong online presence. The purpose is to “connect women with motorcycling” and assist women to achieve the most they can out of the activity of motorcycling.
Whether just starting out or experienced, MOTORESS’s feminine and competent representation provides a community where female riders can flourish, progress and, most of all, have fun in the lifestyle of motorcycling.

MOTORESS founder Vicki Gray is a motorcycle racer and instructor for both street and track, devotedly promoting the rewards and enjoyment of motorcycling since 1983. Originally, from Ontario, she got hooked on motorcycling when taking the rider training course in Nova Scotia, motivated by the need for an outlet away from her demanding career at Revlon International. Since then, she has taught motorcycle riding to thousands of beginners, trained police in the Caribbean (Netherlands Antilles), raced throughout Europe, co-instructed with MotoGP racer Katja Poensgen, partnered events with famed TT Circuit Assen, and co-hosted a television program for the Discovery Channel.

GET READY FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE

2007-02-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

I've got four blogs happening now and I'm realizing I need to whittle down to one sometime. But here, for the Bikerlady blog which is a community for women riders, I'm going to make a comment about motorcycle riding trend and women.

We're the fastest growing segment in the marketplace. Still. We are expanding and growing in leaps and bounds. The Motorcycle Industry Council puts out press releases on this fact, the motorcycle manufacturers report the same. Clothing manufacturers are finally making women's size motorcycling gear.

Looks like chicks on bikes are on the map for good. We cannot be denied. All the says of a chick don't belong riding a bike, even as recent as of, hmmm, yesterday that can be heard, are really long gone. As we know, since the invention of the bicycle, we've commanded the driver's seat. We've always been in the driver's seat.

What's next for women in motorcycling? I think from a media perspective alot more. I think women in motorcycling on TV will continue to change the perspective of people the world over because it is so dialed into the feelings of freedom and truth and independence for the everywoman.

Now, it's only a matter of time before really awesome media is created that will service the big desire out there in TV, film and music land....

girls on bikes is POWER. A woman on a motorcycle defines so much of what we feel and may not be able to SAY. Riding a motorcycle explains everything we are. It defines our truth. Our bikes are an extension of our souls. And don't we motorcycle mammas look bad ass with class rolling up to our meetings, to school functions with our kids, out for a weekend st'roll' -

We as high powered amazing women have the power inside ourselves at anytime to be our truth. To be loyal to our beauty inside. Falling for the superficial hype of how we ought to be is slow death, let me tell you. If you go to the mirror right now and look at yourself, warts and all, cellulite saddle bags, wrinkles, whatever and you realize that "oh my God, I'm a living breathing human being with talent and gifts even though I may not know what they are" - kick yourself into gear and move forward. Motorcycles don't have reverse.... they only know how to roll forward.

So, get ready for the ride of your life.

peace love and windy freedom,
Sasha

Sturgis.

2006-07-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sturgis. In two days.

Glory bound. The sunshine. The moonshine. The asphalt. The Phat Ass Phalt.

While my tires roll over the ass phalt...that piece of ass is mine. All mine.

I like to hang out while I"m riding. As if I'm sitting at a picnic table, or kicked back in a lawn chair...you know. My boots are resting on the engine guards.

I'm dirty.

I'm sweaty.

I'm happy.

I've got bugs that met their maker laying on my face.

I've got fine lines of road dust resting on my throat.

My mascara is not waterproof like it says. It's under my eyes. All smudgy and smoldery.

My finger nails that looked really good, all polished and manicured when I left, are now all filthy and the color is chipped like an undone puzzle.

When I get to Sturgis I will have an ice cold glass of __________.

And if I smoked cigarettes still I would puff on a Camel Turkish Gold.

I'll be grinnin' very wide. I'll be sleepy and I'll set my tent up and cuddle in there with my few belongings.

I'll dream about God and I'll dream about environment....heaven surrounding me.

I am home again in the Black Hills....

let the party begin.

The June Bug

2005-06-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

That June Bug has bit. June means on the road. Get out there. Wild & Free.

The June Bug is knawin' on this gals psyche.

Time to go. Time to get juiced by the wind.

I'll tell you, folks, having suffered a challenging go of it over the past, what, year or so, I feel such a need to get wind rushing through my soul with the asphalt whizzin' ' neath my feet. Dig?

And that June Bug is biting at the regular routine...tearing it to pieces, chewing holes and showing this motorcycle mamma, "lookie here, this is God's sign to boogie, get out there...."

So, I will take the sign of the June Bug who is knawin' on me to release the doldrums, the stress and smelly BS that runs us ragged...

Time to go. I hear the roar of the road.

Stay tuned....

Female Motorcycle Builders

2005-04-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

They are out there. Female motorcycle builders. It's just that you didn't know about them until now.

Christine Vaughn of Wicked Women Choppers is making some noise...oh yes. And a TV crew is filming her shop out there in Chicago...or shall I say CHICKago. That rumble you hear is the sound of girls fabricating some styling bikes. www.wickedwomenchoppers.com

Yours truly has a few bike designs, crazy artistic concepts of her own. I bet lots more ladies out there also are sketching out their dreams bikes with the hopped engines at over 100 cubic inches, chopped fronts. Yes, we are. We are creating the receipes for our own iron rolling casseroles.

My dream diva bike or shall I say bikes at this point, is all power. all function. and funky, too. Girls love power, because we are power. We are the multi-taskers. We are the warriors who have to manage so many roles in a day. That's power. And we want to roarrr. We want to get movin' down that road, tearin through the wind with a FORCE. TO BE RECKONED WITH.

It's all about our SOUL. Our souls are powerful. We want our rides to be POWERFUL.

We want our rides to be UNIQUELY ours. Just like the way we SHOP. Looking for the UNIQUE, and powerful. Power suits.

Yep. POWER SUITS US JUST FINE. Ladies, if you're out there designing and building and fabricating, let me know and we'll flaunt your wonderful IRON RECIPES here.

Effie & Avis Hotchkiss

2005-03-31T02:06:00.000-08:00

May 1, 2005 marks the 90th Anniversary of Effie & Avis Hotchkiss' departure on an awesome and epic cross country ride on a Harley with a sidecar. Mother and daughter departed Brooklyn and scooted off to San Francisco. There weren't even ANY roads!

I'll be doing articles about this remarkable duo, friends. In the meantime, watch my website for the heritage page regarding these ladies!

xo
stay free. [say, are those maxi pads still around. that's such a great saying, isn't it?]

Hemispheres.

2005-03-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

April 2005 United Airlines magazine called Hemispheres has an article on page 26 entitled "Women on Wheels" and it's a wonderful commentary about female motorcycle riders.

One day I got a reach out from the editor of that particular mag asking if I would write something for them...oh I was quite happy to do so, yes indeed. But it wouldn't be all my opinion or perspective about things.

Oh no.

It needs to have lots of voices, I thought, like I usually do about these things....the sisterhood needs to so-called "write this" with me. So I dialed into Rebecca Bortner, Jan Plessner, Carla King, Christine Marafioti-Firehoch, Alice Sexton and got their voices heard, as well.

I only had 250 words to work with. Whoa. I'm a dialoger....logger....word hogger...

But it was done. And the article featured all the other voices, too.

There are references sites attached to the article as well. I hope all the ladies enjoy the web traffic that I hope that article spins for them.

So look for it when you're soaring through the air, on United Airlines.

United we stand...or ride.

We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

2005-03-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

Most people think that women just started riding motorcycles over the last few decades, when in fact, we’ve been riding them since they were invented. Why do you think the bicycle was so outrageously popular with women during those pre-motorcycle days? That’s because we could ride the hell away from all the roles we were supposed to be all day long and just enjoy our personal freedom without babies and husbands hanging off of our “you-know-whats.”

And women across the globe have those early pioneering women proclaiming their personal freedom to thank for the “vehicle” that set social and dress reform in motion: The MOTORCYCLE. Women are inherently both nesters and nomads because as matriarchs we have to be able to adapt quickly and make quick decisions, at the same time being masterful “Jills of all Trades” in our home lives and at work. We are nomads at heart because sometimes, we just want to depart from the demands of everyday life that leaves us little time to just be ourselves. Just be “Jills” of our own hills. Who the hell am I anyway? We will ask ourselves after having so many people and life demands consume our personhood. And that question is quickly answered when we vavavroom away from everyday roles and the stuff that demands attention….all the stuff that won’t ride away from us. Then we return refreshed, in command, the cobwebs blown out and ready to be in command of our household highways. And when I say household, I’m talking about everything in our lives, including careers.

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and JD Power and Associates brand new marketing studies we account for 10%. I think it’s way more than that because lots of females ride their significant other’s motorcycles that may be registered to another name, or they purchase used bikes, and lots of the marketing information is based upon new bike sales. I think it’s more like 30%. So do many other people. Go to a rally and check out how many gals are riding these days.

And let’s not forget that the female passengers are also motorcycle riders, however in a different location, though not commanding the controls. But they are in control in another way: they are in control of the household purse strings. They DRIVE the budget. So if “shepassenger” wants great new leathers and a brand new pillion pad to save her ass on those long rides, then what she says goes. Spoil her rotten with cool leathers and a comfy seat. I get mail from men secretly asking me how they can either: (1) convince their lovely ladies to allow them to purchase a motorcycle, and (2) convince their lovely ladies to partner up with them on their motorcycle journeys—to which I send them to www.bikerlady.com because it’s all there.

Finally, the motorcycle manufacturers of clothing, accessories, motorcycle parts and motorcycle builders are realizing the viability of our market share and presence and are diligently working to service the biker chick market. Bravo. Because we matter and the path that our pioneering ladies have charged, all the way back to the bucking bronco cowgirls who began the personal freedom movement on horseback, we have to thank for our glorious personal freedom.

I think if it weren’t for women bitching about the greasy conditions of the early motorcycle, the difficulties of functionality and demanding improvements, there may not have been so rapid an evolution of this machine. It’s funny to hear people come up to me and say all goofy, “You rode all this way on a Sportster?”, when I do my cross country excursions. Or, “Girl, can’t you handle a bigger bike?” To both of these things I answer:

Yes, I rode all this way on a Sportster. Did you know that in 1915 Effie and Avis Hotchkiss rode from Brooklyn to San Francisco on a Harley with nary a resource, not even roads?
Yes, I can handle a bigger bike, but I don’t have a bigger bike. This is my bike and she rocks. She is my soul. Would you like to give me a bigger bike? I won’t object to growing my little family of motorcycles.

Motorcycle riding for us truly is in our blood, ingrained in our spirits because this early two-wheeled motorized version of the bicycle we so treasure has delivered us from the hell of giant hats, long skirts, corsets and household imprisonment. We ladies are kindred spirits with the motorcycle machine more than a man will ever know, and we’ve come a long way, baby, to get the world to realize that we’re motorcycle mammas FOREVER.

Time to Ride.

2005-03-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Official Bikerlady Blog, friends. This is your place to digest about things, and provide commentary.

Daytona Bike Week has come and gone and for the winter riders, bike week is the sign of Spring. Everyday I hear more and more bikes motoring through the city. I have some friends who ride all winter, as long as there isn't snow or ice of the roads.

I ride in the frigid temps, too. Though, I could ride for MUCH longer if'n I had the appropriate gear. My goal next year is to get me an Aerostitch so that I can ride in those freezy temperatures and just be all bundled up nice and warm.

But, with the Spring time upon us, who cares. I got my leathers and sheepskin and it works fine. I'm planning a trip to Nashville hopefully the first week in April and that ought to be really fun, indeed.

Then, I really hope to be in Vegas for that Motorcycle fundraiser happening at Las Vegas H-D. If I could, and I will, no doubt, buy me a FunMover and live out of that cool contraption that is half camper/half garage and I'd take myself all over the country and live on the road.

The Road is MY HOME!