Join Me: Instagram Live, Sat. 7/25, 6PM EST

Me and my friend, Tamela Rich in WVA, 2016

Hop online this Saturday night at 6PM EST with me and my good friend Tamela Rich. Just go to my instagram page and you should see me go live right at 6PM.

We’re going to chat about among other things, our short experiences as women riders on two wheels. I can’t wait for her to share how she developed the courage and determination to go on a cross country, solo trip just 3 months after getting her motorcycle license when she was just starting out! WHAT?

I call her my Moto Wife, because she’s the only other person I’ve traveled with on two wheels more than once other than my husband. We’ve met up in VA or WVA several times in the last 5 years and it’s always, always the best trips I’ve ever taken. Last year (pics below), we met up in Roanoke VA and eventually made our way up towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. Without her support and encouragement I would’ve quit while trying to make my way up a ~2 mile stretch of uphill, gravel and dirt. Eek.

Adventures Resources for Women Riders

Oh Hai! Are you thinking of taking yourself on your first long, solo ride? YES! YOU CAN DO IT.

Women have been traveling solo on two wheels since almost the invention of the motorcycle. Personally, I have many female riding friends who’ve ridden everywhere from Chile to Mexico to Mongolia to Vietnam and everywhere in between completely by themselves. 

If you’re a woman rider who’s new to solo adventuring or traveling on two wheels, I want to give you some inspiration and resources to help guide you along the way. Because there will *always* be someone whispering in your ear (sometimes it’s just you, but that’s a story for another time) that “it’s dangerous”, or “a big mistake” or “a terrible idea”. 

These women have ridden across almost every continent and they have exciting and sometimes scary stories to tell. But if you ask each and every one of them if they’d have it any other way, I think you’ll be interested to hear what their answers would be. 

So here’s a list of resources that will hopefully give you a combination of confidence, inspiration and motivation to travel anywhere you want to go on two wheels, all alone.

Friends/Sheroes: 

Some of these are friends that have inspired me to do my own long distance solo rides in the US. I know that if you sent any of them a message via social media that they would be happy to answer any questions you might have about their solo travels.  And some of these women are simply cool, amazing sheroes that I have found crawling thru Instagram’s hashtag feeds.

Alisa Clickenger IG @motoadventuregal

Porsche Taylor IG @porschetaylor

Cristi Farrell: IG @moterrificmedia

Brittany Morrow IG @brittanymorrow 

Rachael @fuzzygalore

Anna Greschishkina @anna_grechishkina

Sinje Gottwald @sinje.gottwald

Egle Gerulaityte  @eglegerai 

Motobird Adventure @motobirdadventures

Shruti Singh @girl.on.himalayan

Sarah Moreau @seccret_cross_country_rider

Maryam Talaee maryam.talaee.1/

Momma D @mommadandherfreedom

Web / Social Media:

• #solowomentravel Follow this hashtag (on any platform like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) or simply enter it in a google search and you’re going to find women traveling any way they can to see the world. I know that motorcycling has its own challenges, but we can always find inspiration from eachother, especially when we’re all trying to achieve the same travel goals. 

• HorizonsUnlimited.com - This is a global meetup that takes dplace all over the world, I highly, highly recommend attending one of these events in your area. This is the one place you’ll find at least 10-20 women in one place who’ve ridden quite literally, around the world solo. It’s also a highly comprehensive online resource for anyone looking for help planning their journeys around the world.

• Facebook.com/groups/WomenAdventureRiders/ - If you’re a facebook fanatic, you can find this public group (membership does require approval) with thousands of likeminded women who are out there riding solo right now

• Facebook.com/groups/MotorcycleConfidence.ByWomenForWomen/ - “We're here to support and encourage all lady riders with an open heart and adventurous spirit.”

Moto Books:

• Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling A Woman’s Guide to Being Your Best Self On and Off the Bike. By: Alisa Clickenger.

• Hit the Road; A Woman’s Guide to Solo Motorcycle Touring. By Tamela Rich.

• American Borders: Breakdowns in Small Towns all around the USA. By Carla King.

Lois on the Loose. By Lois Pryce.

Please keep in mind, these are NOT Top 10 Lists or meant to be ranked in any way, shape or form. It’s simply a list of women that I either know or have found searching online that I thought were worth sharing.

Please feel free to add your own inspirational women adventurers or travelers that you love or follow.

Ride Report, Solo Ride through West Virginia and Virginia

During the second week of May this year, my plan was to spend 8 solid days on the road, but unfortunately mother nature decided otherwise. It was the high 40s, low 50s and raining on and off. So I left on a Tuesday instead of Sunday as planned. It was still chilly and raining off and on the entire day.

Since I really had zero plans other than meeting my wonderful friend Tamela Rich in Roanoke VA on Thursday, I had plenty of time so I took the long way down and stayed off highway, went around DC and ended up my first night in Front Royal, VA.

Front Royal is basically the starting point of the Blue Ridge Parkway. As much I as I enjoy the scenery of the parkway, it’s a fairly limiting road due to the speed limits and traffic. But I did do an obligatory portion of the top of the parkway so I could snap a few pics. And do a little scenic, casual riding.

One of the many well paved roads I found in WVA.

We went riding the following morning and ended up on one of the many unpaved backroads that VA is notorious for. For the ADV folk out there, it's a dreamy place to ride. But for us, particularly me and my smooth tires, it was a nailbiter. I've been on 3 death grip dirt roads in my illustrious 15-year riding career. This one was one of the worst.

A single lane, dirty, steep, gravel-filled road with no room to turn around. Something about riding uphill on this kind of road terrifies me when I'm on a sportbike. All I could see was my rear wheel spinning so fast and hard, losing traction and then flipping over. My bike has so much torque and can send so much power to the rear wheel, even at 1,000rpm that I didn't foresee this going very well.

My friend Tamela on her dirt worthy F650GS

This is why many sporty folk fear the dirt. We can lose traction so very quickly. I know that if I were on a cute KLX250 with knobby tires that I would've tore up that hill like it was a smooth, paved track. 

Luckily I remembered what my friend Nancy from Streetmasters told me a long time ago; smooth and steady in 2nd gear. So up I went. It was only a mile or so but felt like 10. This was really the most exciting part of my trip. Otherwise, I had an uneventful trip with an awesome friend whom I missed very much. We have

Sometimes getting out of my comfort zone can be painful. But afterwards, it feels so good knowing that I did it!

Trip planning post, if you want to see what gear and luggage I used

downloads for gpx files

Cyber Monday Motorcycle Deal

Cyber Monday is almost over. I just bought this 50% off deal from Rever. If you’re looking for turn by turn directions, and a reason to get rid of your Garmin, try this app. You have to purchase the premium version to get the best features, but based on what I’ve read and other user’s feedback, it’s worth trying for $30 for a year rather than $400-$600 for a gps device.

https://a.rever.co/

Cyber Monday Code: BlackFriday2018

As much as I love using my other app (iPhone only) inRoute , I’m excited to try something different, since it was made specifically for motorcyclists!