With John Ryan in Greenwich Village

What an exhausting and exciting show New York was to be a part of! I had heard that New York would be busy, but I had absolutely no idea that it would be so crowded that you couldn’t walk up work your way up an aisle without having to shove your way through. It had been about 20 years since my last trip there and the energy of the city keeps you going even though your body is screaming at you to stop. I met so many new people there and caught up with people I hadn’t seen for a while, this community (once joined) is so like family, I just love that.  Meeting East Coast gals are awesome, no nonsense and very nice (unlike what you’ve heard), we spoke about MotoVixens and growing it nationwide as an online resource for all women riders.  Not just with articles/blogs, but with a forum to communicate and to also have a classified section to allow riders to sell their motorcycles, gears and parts as well.  If you haven’t checked it out, the forum and the classified sections were put into place just before the New York IMS Show.

With Trevor from CA Superbike School on last day of show

The individuals I met were so diverse, authors, consultants, artists, photojournalists, instructors, doctors, lawyers and an opera singer (yeah, that one surprised me too, she was a young blonde, totally threw me for a loop) and too many more to even name.  What was so amazing is we share this common passion for our sport, we all love riding and that one common interest bonds us and makes us family in many aspects (how many drivers do you know would stop and help a fellow driver on the side of the road?).  Knowing what we know about IMS shows, when potential customers see ladies working booths they think you are there to just sell and don’t ride (many don’t).  It is so funny to watch how people treat you upon meeting you and assuming you don’t ride to talking to you and finding out you do, their expression and enthusiasm changes as they tell you about their bike(s).  We know talking to someone who doesn’t ride is a bit like banging your head against a wall, you must be a rider to understand why we love the sport so much.

I worked with Rick Mayer of Rick Mayer Cycle and for you unfamiliar with him you should really check his website out www.RickMayerCycle.com, he makes custom seats for every bike.  In fact I am considering riding down there to have one of my seats customized this spring/summer, just need to find something big enough to carry all my stuff I need (a girl still needs to look good off the bike).  I had the privilege to meet John Ryan, a long distance rider who loves to break records, he went from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Key West, Florida (5,645 miles) in 86 hours and 31 minutes, beating the record by 9.5 hours.  He is part of the Iron Butt Association, an organization which breeds members with incredible discipline, mental and physical endurance and challenges you to test your limits.  I also met Melissa Pierson, the author of the book The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing: Long-Distance Motorcycling’s Endless Road, which is about John and this incredible journey.  What is remarkable is that John is a type 1 diabetic and has to check his blood sugars regularly, imagine doing that and riding these types of distances.  What it comes down to is determination and passion…I suppose that is why I love being a part of this slightly dysfunctional family, we may be quirky, but we all love the same thing.

It is winter, but I hope to see some of you out there, I’ve been doing it even in the freezing fog (not a shining moment as I questioned my sanity).  So stay warm Vixens and just ride!