If riding on the street doesnt satisfy your need for speed, then youve probably thought about racing on a track. The main benefit to riding on a track is the controlled environment—everyone is riding in the same direction, the condition of the pavement is predictable and there are no unexpected obstacles. Heres how to get started.
The motorcycle gear you use is just as important as the motorcycle you race—it could be the difference between a bruise and a break. For racing, youll need all the usual suspects, like a helmet and a pair of good boots, but there may be a few items you havent thought of. Heres our breakdown of the most important gear youll need to get out on the track.
Shayna Texter, a 20-year-old flat track racer, made history late November when she became the first female in AMA Grand National history to win a GNC Pro Singles main event. Shayna’s win marks the first time a woman has won a main event in the more than 50-year existence of the sport, considered the oldest and most traditional form of motorcycle racing.
Nichole Cheza is one of two women racing in a sport dominated by men. Nichole, at 24 years old, is a professional flat track racer competing in the AMA Pro Racing Grand National Championship (GNC) series.
A record number of women competed at the world-renowned land-speed trials at the Bonneville Speedway the last week in August. Twenty-one women raced their motorcycles down the Bonneville Salt Flats, the wide-open salt bed near the Utah and Nevada border, to attempt to set new speed records in the classes they’d entered.
Four of the top female motorcycle racers, each making history and breaking records on their own, gathered for a panel discussion at the Long Beach, California, stop of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show in December.
New to road racing? If youve never raced on a track before—or if youre unsure of your speed—youll want to start with a class or event designed for beginners. Here are three options for riders looking to dip their toes into the world of sportbike racing.
Would you let your 16-year-old daughter race a motorcycle going faster than 100 mph? Well, Laura Klock, a 40-year-old mother of two girls raised a few eyebrows in 2007 when she allowed her daughter Erika (16 at the time) to compete for a land speed record at the Speed Trials by BUB, held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utahs northwest corner.
To some people life in the fast lane equals jet-setting jaunts, late nights, and hard-partying ways. Karen Stoffer defines “fast lane” differently. To her it runs at dizzying speeds and higher rpms than Paris Hilton could ever imagine. Try nearly 200 miles per hour. Or a blazing fast quarter-mile lasting just over six seconds.
Shes young, shes bright and shes on the fast track. The very fast track. Shes Elena Myers, the 13-year-old roadracing sensation from Discovery Bay, California, whos turning heads and burning treads at big tracks on the West Coast. Competitive and driven, she not only holds her own, she often holds a top spot at the head of the pack and a podium spot at the end of nearly every race. Yes, she likes to go fast. And yes, she likes to win.