Congratulations Jessica!!!

I am so happy for you Jess! Going through MotoFemina with you and Laura was a great experience and one I won't forget. I sincerely hope that all of us will stay in touch and ride together; short trips and long adventures.
Synth

MotoFemina Sipapu Invitation

Fellow Motorcyclists:

The cast and crew of MotoFemina and the staff of Santa Fe BMW invite you to the awarding of the red 2006 BMW F 650 GS motorcycle to the winning MotoFemina contestant at:

The Land of Enchantment BMW Riders Bavarian Mountain Weekend Rally

Location: Sipapu Ski Resort

Time: Saturday September 9th at 4:00 p.m.

Please forward this invitation to your motorcycling friends.

We look forward to seeing you all ride in.

Laura, Jessica and Synth

A Motorcycle Road Trip

Well I survived my first motorcycle road trip. It was thrilling, exciting, and scary at times but what a great experience.

Synthia and I met in Seattle and rented bikes from a family business in Issaquah, WA called Mountains to Sound Motorcycle Adventures - about 15 miles east of Seattle. I got a 750 Honda Magna and Synth sported a Honda Shadow (1000 ccs I believe). We headed north on a country road on the east side of Lake Washington and boarded the Edmonds Ferry with little to no problems. We chatted with a few other riders and swapped some motorcycle knowledge. I'd been dreaming of riding a motorbike on a Seattle ferry for years. I lived in Seattle during graduate school and always watched motorcyclists load first and get off the ferries first. I was green with envy at the idea of exploring the beautiful Northwest on a motorcycle.

Once off the ferry we went North toward Port Angeles to visit a fairly prolific motorcycle writer (and rider) named David Hough. David has authored various motorcycle books including Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well. Synth and I stopped in Sequim to get gas and directions and her Shadow would not start again. There seemed to be something wrong with the starter. After a few failed attempts of trying to jump start the Shadow (picture two women in motorcycle outfits, one pushing the other down a small incline in the QFC parking lot) and a bit of frustration on the phone with the rental folks (yes, the kickstand is up) they agreed to trailer out a Triumph Trophy for Synthia and give us another day of rentals. While we waited for a bike that worked we continued on to talk to David and his wife Diana. It was a great evening, we had dinner in Sequim and mostly listened as David chatted about motorcycle stories. David, Synthia and I explored some of the rural roads in Sequim, WA. What a quaint little town. Some of the roads were literally on the water's edge. We said good-bye to David and Diana and stayed the night in Sequim after Synthia was able to get a new bike. The next morning we took off for Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park just outside of Port Angeles. It was a beautiful twisty ride with spectacular views of the Straight of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic National Park. This was my favorite part of the trip. I could feel quite a difference in the way the bike turned when I rolled on the throttle and leaned the bike through the turns. It felt so much more stable. Wow, a minor breakthrough in my riding I think.

After the ridge we headed to a cute small town on the northeast edge of the peninsula called Port Townsend. The next ferry took us to Whidby Island then to Mukilteo. We thought we'd try to bypass the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic on I-5 and got caught in a traffic jam on some random country road north of Redmond. My clutch hand was killing by the end of the day. We got the bikes back an hour late (sorry again Brenda) and with only one minor scratch (the Pt. Townsend ferry lot pavement ate the Trophy's left signal light after Synth and I bumped saddle bags- oopsie).

We had such beautiful weather and only a few minor problems. It was an adventure and a lot of fun. Both Synth and I had quite a few "firsts" on the trip. Can't wait for the next one! More Photos

Riding Away

Well, like Synth, I sold my car a few days ago. It was an exercise that opened a flood gate of thoughts and memories. I thought it would be adventurous to try and get around town on only my bicycle (that and my student loans are beginning to rear their ugly heads). I commute to work about 45 minutes each way and it has worked out to just ride my bike to the bus stop and take the communter bus. Besides how to get around and navigate a bus schedule, selling my car has forced me to think about the past a bit. I thought about all the trips and interesting places the car has taken me and about all the winter storms the car faithfully helped me travel home in. I thought about my dog Teddy, for whom I mostly bought the car. I thought about struggling to make payments on the car during and after graduate school and how secure I naivley felt I was four years ago when I bought it.

Last year I moved to Santa Fe from Seattle to start a new life. I was going through a divorce, trying to finish my master's degree and was offered a job in New Mexico. Ironically, I lost my dog in the divorce but got the car (and Daisy, the cat). I would have 1000 times over rather have kept Teddy than the car but I guess that's the way life goes sometimes. I think getting rid of the car symbolized an act of moving on and unburdening myself. Funny how something as simple as selling a car can make a person reflect. It forced me to think about things I've tried to keep way down inside me.

Learning to ride a motorcycle and riding with the women in the MotoFemina project has been the culmination of a dream of mine. Nearly every spring for the last six years I've found myself visiting showrooms and sitting on bikes and knowing that when I finished school I would be able to save money to buy one. The freedom and independence that I've felt from motorcycling is so thematic in my life right now. My new life in Santa Fe has given me the opportunity to be really alone for the first time in my life. The friends I've made and the experiences I've had since moving to Santa Fe have become part of new memories I'm making. I feel like I'm becoming part of a community in a town that can otherwise sometimes be very solitary.

Before I moved to Santa Fe I used to write and sing music a bit. For the first time since my divorce I was able to sit down and write a song the other night. It's rough for sure, but I'm just excited about the fact that I could actually put pen to paper and create something again. I can finally express feelings I've experienced the last year and a half and move on from them. I wanted to share it here with the MotoFemina folks because it has a bit to do with my experience here and with this project. To all I've crossed paths with here in Santa Fe, thanks for the advice and inspiration (and help) to create a new life for myself out here in the Southwest.

Ride Your Own Ride

Riding through Northern New Mexico the vistas and terrain are ever-changing; from the colorful sandstone formations near Chimayo to the majestic peaks and green valleys of Cundiyo and Truchas.
Last Sunday was a perfect day for a ride from Santa Fe to Taos. The air was crisp and the skies were clear blue. Three friends and I took off up hwy 599, through the Tano Road area, to Tesuque. At the intersection to 285, we changed leads and I followed at the rear. (Two of my friends were riding on one bike so there were three bikes all together.) Traffic was not too heavy and the roads were dry. Just past Pojoque, we turned right on CR503 to Nambe. Shaded by a canopy of cottonwoods we made our way up the valley to the intersection of CR503 and CR520 to Chimayo. We decided to continue on 503 to the small town of Cundiyo. The sandstone, soon turned to pinon covered foothills making for a twisty, rolling ride. This road dips through several arroyos and after heavy rains, such as those the night before; the pavement becomes more of a dirt road. The small town of Cundiyo is quite charming; reminiscent of a small European town with narrow roads and small, charming homes. Just as we started out of town, a small grey kitty, decided to meander across the road. I slowed as he made a leisurely crossing and thought he must have a pretty good life here.
The road climbs out of Cundiyo and makes a rapid, steep decent to the next valley. The pavement is uneven and tight curves are thrown in for extra measure. I was now in the between the other two riders. I kept my speed down and stayed to the outside in order to avoid the traffic from the other direction. Whew! That was exciting.
From here we turned north on CR76 which took us up to the towns of Truchas and Trampas and Chamisal. I continued to follow in between the two bikes and kept my focus on the skills I’d learned throughout the MotoFemina project; taking an inside, outside, inside path of travel, countersteering through the curves and keeping my speed at one that I was comfortable maintaining.
Turning onto CR 75, it’s a short jaunt before the intersection that takes you up to Taos. So we were about ¾ of the way through our trip. As I came up on a curve, I noticed a Winnebago coming around the corner and crossing the center line by about 2 feet. I came out of the lean to avoid the Winnebago and just as you would expect, the bike took a straight line and I went straight into the guard rail, slid along the guard rail for approximately 15feet. The bike came to a stop, fell onto the guard rail and sent the front fender flying. I won’t go into how the rest of the day went but I would like to share what I learned.
Obviously I over reacted; coming to an upright position rather than coming out of the lean just enough to avoid being scraped but continuing to countersteer all the while.
Katherine (from MSF) was scheduled to come down this past weekend to train us on more advanced riding skills. Ironically those skills included stopping and braking in a curve, emergency reactions, countersteering and delayed apex to name a few. Since the bike was out of commission she was not able to train us on the road but rather went through these skills in a classroom setting. Her thoughts, her experience, and her lessons were eye-opening. After talking over the crash with Katherine, I realize I was riding above my mental skills and that going slower could possibly have prevented the crash. RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE. It’s easy to get caught up in following someone else. I did it on the race track some months back; trying to catch someone on a straight away only to have to brake before the corner because the speed was beyond my capability.
The TAKE HOME I got from Katherine: when you come to a turn that you can not see through, keep riding on the outside line, delaying the apex, until you can see, and then countersteer through the turn. Whenever you feel you are about to lose control in a curve, countersteer even more. As Laura said she learned from Torsten, “trust the bike”.

Femmoto

The weekend of October 7 and 8, in Las Vegas Nevada, an organization called Femmoto is holding two events; a motorcycle demo day and the MSF Dirt Bike Course. You have the choice to register for one or both. The demo and the dirt bike course will be held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is a great opportunity to see what types of bikes are available, how they fit, and how they handle while meeting other women who ride. And to top it all off, you can sign up for the MSF Dirt Bike Course and learn some off road riding skills that are sure to help on the street as well. You can register for these events at Femmoto. It should be a fun weekend!

Lara Croft Rides a F 650 GS!

No... not me ;) The Angelina Jolie version of Lara Croft that is. When she isn't busy doing her own stunts in Tomb Raider or collecting knives, Angelina rides the Dakar version of the F 650 GS. Oh and where is she going? To the supermarket.

Her bike looks great - she's even got the knobby tires. I looked at these pictures and kept thinking of the line in The Long Way Round where Ewan McGregor is raving about how great it is to ride a motorbike as a celebrity. "On the road with your helmet on you're just any other bloak on a motorbike." You'd never know that it was Brangelina on the motorbikes would you?