Bessie and Me: Shifting Gears

March 27, 2013 “Safe” is the New “Sexy” My Heritage Softail; the original Bessie.  Thanks to my friend Mike Wendt for providing the encouragement and title for my blog today! I took my ‘new’ boots for a road test today on Bessie2; I have to admit, looks aside, they ROCK as riding boots!  Since I started riding my own in January of ’08, I’ve shied away from legitimate riding boots because they look like Herman Munster boots....ugly. Good, safe riding boots need to have tire-like tread on rubber soles, solid constructed genuine leather, and strong ankle support. This is what a SAFE riding boot looks like, not a SEXY riding boot. I’ve researched hundreds of websites selling ‘women’s riding boots,’ and not one of them has a SEXY and SAFE riding boot; it’s either Herman Munster ugly or Elvira kinky. For the past four years I’ve worn my favorite pair of Dingo cowboy boots, and whatever ‘fashionably sexy’ boot I could manage......the problem with ‘fashio...

Lessons I’ve Learned From Kissing the Pavement May 9, 2012 My Beloved Bessie No matter the obstacle, no matter the tragedy (real or perceived) that might befall me in life, I always look for the ‘lesson.’ And there is ALWAYS a lesson; I learned very early on that if I fail to seek the lesson, if I fail to understand the lesson, and if I delay my learning of the lesson...I am doomed to repeat the mistake until the lesson is learned. So let’s get right to the point...what is the lesson after a bad motorcycle accident (is there ever a good motorcycle accident?)?  One might think the lesson is ‘never get on a motorcycle again,’ but not for this girl. I will ride again; it is one of the few things in life that feed my soul. The awareness of what ‘feeds my soul,’ came a little late in life for me; although I would wager to say that most people go through life never discovering that Nirvana, that bliss of knowing what feeds your soul. To be one with a machine, to feel th...

March 16th, 2013 Delivery Date: March 15th, 2013 Odometer Reading: 9565 Miles I wrapped my legs around all 96 cubic inches of my ‘new’ Road ‘ Queen, ’ ignored the huge knot of apprehension that was lying in the pit of my stomach, fired her up and rolled out of my driveway this morning. The only way to conquer fear is to ride right over it. Other than a couple of brief test runs as I shopped for Bessie2, I haven’t been on a bike of my own for ten months; my arms were shaking, I was hyper-vigilant, and had a f*cking helmet weighing me down! Something I promised my daughter; no more Trauma Mama. I cruised the short ride over to my mechanics' shop and when I pulled into the parking lot I realized I had virtually held my breath the entire time!  I climbed off the bike, shaking and nearly in tears, which totally confused a couple of hard core bikers who came out to greet me.  Jerry and Bobby checked Bessie2 out from fender to fender, proclaiming her ‘a damn fi...

I bought my first Harley Davidson in January of 2008; I only had an inkling of what I was doing, and a fair amount of research in hand as I trekked from one dealership to another  in and around Central Florida.  I bought my second one last weekend; and I was dismayed to discover that salesMEN have learned nothing about selling to WOMEN riders in the last five years.  From October of ’07 to January of ’08, I would walk into a Harley dealership - tentatively I suppose since I really didn’t know much about what I wanted - and wander up and down the aisles of shiny bikes......while the salesMEN just stood around shootin the breeze, or worse, just ‘watching’ me look at the bikes. The one salesMAN who did approach me, chatted with me a few minutes - obviously ascertained that I was a ‘virgin’ rider - and promptly told me I needed to buy a Sportster.  “A lot of women ride Sportsters,’ he boasted knowingly. “Not any of the women I know,’ I offered una...