On the Home Stretch!
Thanks to all of you who donated to my dual-sport charity ride Im doing this summer. I reached my goal of $2,000. I sincerely appreciate those who took the time to send me $20, $25, $50 or even a $100. If youve not received a personal thank you from me yet, hold tight. Its coming. I want you to know how much it means to me that you are supporting me in this ride. I plan to do several write-ups on WRN afterwards, and maybe during if I can access a computer, and of course, Twitter and Facebook about it.
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Saying Prayers for Tyler Risk
I dont like to report about motorcycle accidents on this site, but Im making an exception because I know she could use our prayers. Tyler Risk, owner of North Star MotoTours, got into a motorcycle accident on Friday while riding in Idaho. A tractor trailer ran over her pelvis and shes in serious condition. Good news is there are no head or chest injuries, but what injuries she does have are very serious. Tylers a fighter but she has a long road to recovering. She needs our prayers and well wishes. Click here to visit a site set up for well wishes and a blog with updates on her condition. And click here to read Tylers story in WRNs Readers Stories section.
Posted 6/18/09
Womens Spread in AMA Magazine
In an earlier blog post (scroll down) I mentioned I was part of a women and motorcycling article that the American Motorcyclist Association was doing for its member magazine American Motorcyclist. Well, the magazine is out and if youre not a member you dont get the magazine so you wont be able to see the great article. However, the AMA is making the article available online which profiles of the seven female leaders in motorcycling and Im proud to say Im part of the article and you can see it here!
Click here to see the magazine in online format. The womens feature starts on page 38; Im on page 40. There is some incredible photography whats become a new hallmark for this magazine. The magazine hired top notch photographers to shoot our pictures so there is a bonus section of this article online with the photos that werent used in the print magazine with extended versions of our interviews. You can view that by clicking here.
Random Thoughts
Thanks to everyone to stepped up and contributed to my dual sport charity ride. Im really on the home stretch now. About $100 more to go as of this writing. If youve been holding out contributing, now is the time to do it.
Ive been following motorcycle world traveler and WRN contributor Carla King on her trip to the Alps and Africa these past few weeks through her Twitter feeds. Shes been amazing at keeping everyone informed of where she is and what shes doing. Im still buying into this whole social media thing #8211;- shouldnt she be out enjoying the trip instead of spending the time Twittering about it? #8211; but I do get that if you have a brand or product, getting close to the person behind it, in this case Carla with her Web site and book #8211;- you become a bigger fan as you feel like you get to know the person better.
So thats why for some time now, Ive been Twittering and doing Facebook. I need to figure out how to get the respective logos on WRN to promote it, but in the meantime, you can sign on to follow me at Twitter.com/WomenRidersNow, and Facebook.com/genevieveschmitt. You need to have accounts on both of them, but its free to sign up. I do post updates regularly sometimes about items posted on WRN; other times about other things.
Here#8217;s the link to Carlas dispatches from her trip with incredible photos: http://www.carlaking.com/morocco/dispatches/. Carla is a master at filing dispatches from her motorcycle road trips. She was one of the first people on the Web in the early days set up to send dispatches via her laptop to let her fan base know where in the world she is riding her motorcycle this time. Now, Im assuming shes sending the updates via her cell phone.
Just read in Dealernews magazine that Mike Corbin is selling Corbin Seats, the company he owns, after 42 years of ownership. He says hes ready to retire.
Farewell Woody Woodward
If youve been around the women and motorcycling scene for some time you may have stumbled upon Woody Woodward, a flamboyant world traveling motorcyclist who had a major zest for life. Sadly, Woody succumbed to ovarian cancer on June 13 at the age of a 62. The Boston Globe reported: Woodward became an iconic figure in Bostons gay community through her years of work for organizations focusing on HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and other causes. In recognition of her outreach, Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared June 7, 2008, Woody Woodward Day during the citys pride week last year.
Woody died hours before she had planned to ride in this years Gay Pride parade in Boston. She was also scheduled to be one of the “dirty dozen” riders the 12 women, including myself, who are riding in a dual sport charity ride in August. Godspeed Woody.
Divas For A Cure
Southside Kustoms in Buffalo, New York, is building a limited edition “Real Divas Ride” Softail Bobber with a portion of the sale going to Divas For A Cure, a breast cancer charity. Only 20 of these pink and black motorcycles will be built. For more information, visit: http://www.south-side-kustoms.com/DivasForACure.html.
Wine and Motorcycles
I dont advocate the use of the two together, but I do love red wine #8211; especially after a long day in the saddle. Now we can enjoy vino with special motorcycle-themed wine. CorsaVino is bottling new, Italian motorcycle-themed wine selections.
CorsaVino is founded by Arun Sharma, a lifelong motorcyclist and general manager of MotoCorsa in Portland, Oregon, one of Ducatis premiere dealerships. Aharma is a well known figure in the Italian bike scene. His love of Italian motorcycles and the Ducati community inspired him to invest in another treasure enjoyed by so many in the motorcycle community, fine wine. Hes partnered with vintner Rich Cushman on this acclaimed CorsaVino wine.
The range includes a Columbia Valley Cabernet, Viognier and Syrah, all of which have been produced in extremely limited quantities. The wines are priced at $25-30, and available for shipment across the USA. For more info, visit Visit CorsaVino.com. I cant wait to try a bottle.
Posted 6/8/09
Where In The World is Diva Amy?
This year Im riding to Sturgis with my new riding buddy, Diva Amy of Team Diva. If you’re a regular reader of WRN, you’ve seen pictures of her blinged out Road Glide she calls the Diva Glide on WRN before. Well, Amy lives an incredibly interesting life riding her Diva Glide all over the country. Amy’s latest jaunt took her to Big Bear Lake, California, site of Big Bear Chopper’s annual Ride-In, a rally at their mountain headquarters. Amy got some photos with some faces in the crowd including bike builder Sugar Bear, and illusionist Criss Angel. Click on the images to make them larger.
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Amy was there supporting her friend, artist Jeannie Houston Antes, who had a booth selling mosaic stainglass masterpieces. The part of her trip that got me envious though was that Amy got to meet illusionist Criss Angel of the A&E show Mindfreak. I think Criss is incredibly talented and a babe to boot. Criss made an appearance at the event to pick up a motorcycle that Big Bear Choppers built for him and to film part of his next show there. Check out the shots Amy got with him. We found out he never smiles in any of his photos; must be a Hollywood guy thing.
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Way to Go Jesse James Vanson Leathers is excited that Jesse chose them to make him a custom drag racing suit for the first episode that had Jesse racing a top fuel nitro bike down a drag strip. The custom fitted drag suit has West Coast Choppers logos emblazoned on it. Jesse successfully piloted the top fuel nitro bike after two false starts. He’s shown here with Chicago Joe, the foremost expert in nitro fuel bikes. Smokin’ Deal Offered On A New Ducati Posted 6/3/09 This was taken in front of my home in a large field that my husband and I own. I feel extremely blessed that I get to gaze at those Montana mountains every day. We had to be careful rolling the bike out in the soft rain soaked dirt. It had rained prior to the shoot. We thought the shoot was almost was a bust, but then the skies parted and Doug shot some amazing photos with the setting sun light. For the record, I am wearing Alpinestars brown leather Paddock jacket. It is an amazingly beautiful, soft supple leather jacket in a shade of brown that makes me just want to eat it. I plan to wear it all summer long while riding. To see my previous blog posts, click on “From the Archives” at the top and bottom of this page.
I’m proud to call Jesse James a friend. I’ve known him from before he was famous. Betsy and I used to hang and ride with him back in the mid 90s when he was toiling away trying to make a name for himself. He and I recently connected on Facebook and it’s good hear he, too, has fond memories of our time together. His new show, “Jesse James is a Dead Man,” debuted last week on Spike TV and while it’s hard for me to watch him go through these death defying stunts (I can’t imagine what his wife Sandra Bullock must be feeling!), I’m excited to see him get another chance at a show on TV. 
Ducati North America is launching its “Full Factory Support” service campaign where the first year of service is included free of charge with the purchase of a new Ducati. The program enables a Ducati owner to simply ride and enjoy their new bike. The offer includes the first year of regularly scheduled maintenance updates on 2008 and 2009 Ducati models like this 2008 GT1000 shown at right. All a customer needs to do for qualification is purchase a new Ducati from a participating dealer between June 4 and August 31 2009, fill out the program enrollment form and start riding. Hard to beat a deal like that. Visit DucatiUSA.com or your local participating dealer for more information on this new program.
Me in American Motorcyclist Magazine
The AMA’s magazine, American Motorcyclist is doing an article on me and several other female leaders in motorcycling and recently sent out photographer Doug Loneman to do a photo shoot at my house with my motorcycle. Here is a sneak peak at some of the photos posted on the photographer’s blog: http://loneman.bigfolioblog.com.
Thank you for posting the information about and the link for Tyler Risk. I don't know her but I've been monitoring her site. She seems to be doing incredibly well and her strength and positive attitude is such an inspiration. Prayer definitely works!