That's the title of an article I wrote in this month's issue, a special New Rider edition of City Bike Magazine. Pick up a copy today!
Guestblogging Revzilla, MotoSFO
Revzilla graciously allowed me to guest blog about gear recently, just in time for spring shopping! http://blog.revzilla.com/2010/03/how-to-be-your-own-personal-motorcycle.html
THANK YOU to the readers who continue to support GearChic.com through your purchases at Revzilla. And if you haven't, please visit Revzilla when you need to order anything from helmet parts to bike parts.
And as they say, when one door closes, a new one always opens! I will no longer be appearing on Side Stand Up podcast shows. I enjoyed my time on the show immensely and certainly gained more visibility in the riding community. I wish Tom and his team the best of luck. You can still listen to my old episodes here.
I'm starting a whole new adventure with my wonderful friend, Carla King. You may know Miss Adventuring from her multiple travel dispatches over the years, and her vast experience in the motorcycle travel and writing blogosphere. If not, well then you're in for a big treat. We've decided to start a new podcast show, based in and focused on San Francisco's motorcycling community. We'll be featuring prominent guests and businesses in the Bay Area as well as everything you need to know about riding in our community. Everything from where to ride, how to learn to ride, where to stay, where to eat, you get the picture. You can find a brief 15 minute introduction to the show here:
As a couple of women who live and ride all over the SF Bay Area, we thought some of you who live in various parts of the country might be interested to know why we are a great vacation destination. There's so much to do here in terms of motorcycling, traveling and adventure. Everything from cruising up Highway 1 on your boss hog, to Dual Sporting, to SuperMoto'ing, to Track Days, to Off Road Riding, the list goes on and on. As we all know, San Francisco and the Bay Area are so very different from the rest of the country. And that certainly applies to motorcycling!
I think our show will give you insight into a community you may not be familiar with. We have so much planned for this show, so please stay tuned via MotoSFO.com!
I'm also in the midst of unpacking my life and have finally been able to settle in for a bit. Now that the shows are over, I'm trying to find some work (non moto related) and work on my website and get back to a normal blogging/newsletter/review schedule. A couple of things on my to do list in the next week besides MotoSFO include: an IMS wrap up, an article in City Bike magazine's upcoming New Rider issue for April 2010; a review of a ScooterGirls jacket, another article for City Bike on Corazzo (scooter and motorcycle) gear, and a writeup on my recently acquired Shoei X-12 Vermeulen TC9 which I've only ridden a few hundred miles in so far. I'm enjoying the new feel of this helmet, as I've always been an Arai girl. But more on that in my blog review to come!
Newsletter February 2010!
In case you haven't subscribed as of yet to my newsletter, here's the latest and greatest: http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=822eee2c65c3e34b108a15f33&id=08346b028b
DC, NYC, now Cleveland
It's been a crazy month. I've never traveled this much before in my life. I'm kind of enjoying it. Even if my body still thinks I'm on the East Coast.
I've met so many interesting, exciting people. Mingling with the motorcycle industry has been my dream for so long. My dream would be to work fully in a motorcycle capacity and never go back to a finance/technology/blah blah blah company ever again.
I have 3 shows left, I don't know what I'll do with myself once I'm back at home. Oh yeah, keep up with my website! With only 2 days home every week, and working nonstop from the minute my plane hits the ground, it's been difficult for me to keep things up to date. (Big, huge, ginormous apologies to my newsletter subscribers!) I'm truly, truly sorry and will try to at least post some short and sweet updates every week.
I have a few shout-outs, so to speak, on some cool companies that I've met this month. First, in Greenville, I must give a big thanks to Donnie Unger, the Owner of Duc Pond Motorsports in Winchester, VA! I scored the gorgeous Ducati bag above at the Greenville show, and wouldn't be looking as good without it. Thanks Donnie!! I've already customized it. :D The DucPond also carries one of my favorite brands, REV'IT, so stop in and see them if you're in the Greenville, SC area.
In NYC, I met Todd McNabney, the founder of Heroic Racing. It's so hard to find one piece suits for women, off the rack. And it's even harder to find dealers that actually carry them! Gloves are a tough one too, especially real race gloves for those of you who love track days. (Which I fiercely avoid, since I KNOW that I'll become addicted. All I'll want to do is race and I just can't do that right now).
As soon as I passed by the Heroic booth, I had to stop and smell the roses. I'm a huge fan of black and white when it comes to gear. The first thing that caught my eye, and I'm sure yours too, especially in the pics above, is the agressive gauntlet. Most people wouldn't want something that 'crazy'. Even myself, I only wear Racer High End gloves, which I wouldn't wear on the track, but trust on the street.
I hope to get in touch with Todd sometime over the next month or two and do an in depth review and interview about these gloves, as well as the suit. Unfortunately, by the time I went over to take a pic of the suit, he had the nerve to sell it to a needful woman who needed a suit! I hope she's thrilled with it. If it fits nearly as hot as it looked, she'll be utterly satisifed.
Speaking of suits, I'm going to see Michael, one of the founders of Veloce about the new women's Achillia suit and boots! I can't wait, and hope to post something in 2 weeks.
The other cool thing I saw was a collection of motorcycle inspired tees from Art of the Bike, Although he doesn't have a lof of "women's tees", I really loved the designs, and especially the use of Alternative Apparel organic tees. Now, if only I could get a Norton....
I think one of the best things I've been able to see so far, is all the cool women who stop by the Women's Center. If you're a woman, and you have questions about riding motorcycles, but don't have anyone to talk to except your SO/Husband/Boyfriend/Male Friends, come to the Center!! We're here to talk about Anything related to riding. The 2 amazing women I've come to know and love have more than a million miles of combined riding experience. Sue Slate and Gin Shear are the founders of the Women's Motorcyclist Foundation, The work they've done in recent years to help find a cure for Breast Cancer is unbelievable. We're also giving seminars (not for women only) on everything from taking your first MSF class, to Dual Sport Riding, to Gear (how to shop!), Twisties, choosing the Right Bike, and More.
Of course, I'm going to brag about me too and tell you that if you wish you could have a personal shopper help identify what sizes/fits/cuts work for you, then the IMS is the perfect opportunity!
