Its been a busy time since my last editorial. I just returned from San Diego for the unveiling and test ride of the 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycles for members of the motorcycle press. Look for a news update on the homepage of WomenRidersNow.com, plus a review of whats new in the coming months.
Im excited to share that my columns and articles about women and motorcycling are now appearing on SpeedTV.com with a link back to WomenRidersNow.com. SpeedTV.com is the Web site for the Speed Channel cable network. The editor of the Web site wants to attract more women to the site by featuring content about women riders. Were glad hes chosen to partner with WomenRidersNow.com in this way. To read my inaugural column click here. Features will appear on a bi-monthly basis.
I want to bring to your attention a new contributor to WomenRidersNow.com if youve not noticed her link on the home page yet. Betsy Huelskamp is writing “Backroads With Betsy,” providing inspirational and entertaining material from her unconventional point of view. If youre wondering who Betsy is and why she gets her own link on WomenRidersNow.com click on “Backroads With Betsy” to find out.
I made an interesting observation the last few days I want to share with you. I write mostly about women and motorcycling and when I encounter a new rider, its usually a woman. During a recent ride I found myself in the company of some new male riders. It was interesting for me to watch them going slow on the highway and extremely slow through turns on a rural road. Turning a bike around on a narrow road with a several-point K turn can be harrowing for new riders. I watched one guy nearly drop a bike trying to execute the K-turn fast trying to keep up with the more experienced riders.
New male riders dont get a lot of breaks like new women riders do. There are a lot more expectations put on men and machines. Its like men should already know how to ride a motorcycle because they possess that gene that says they should. I feel bad for guys in this way. They have that added pressure at perform to expert levels before theyre an expert. Thats not fair for them. Society allows women to have a learning curve and its a womans perogative to take as long as she wants to spend in that learning curve. Men arent given that advantage if you call it an advantage. I do.