Born To Ride Women’s World Magazine

Humankind is at its best when it takes a personal tragedy and turns it into a way to help others. Such people rise above the pain and sorrow of loss to create an enduring legacy. One such person is Heather Cooper, who lost her daughter Sabrina to a Fentanyl overdose last year. Rising above her grief, Heather created the Sabrina Best Foundation to provide support to women and their families in an effort to obtain quality treatment programs, recovery housing, and counseling for addiction. Born To Ride is a proud sponsor of the Sabrina Best Foundation and Rise Again’s 2nd Annual Poker Run in memory of Sabrina. We asked Heather Best to share her hopes regarding the goals of the Foundation. “Rise Again is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting women (and their families) seeking help for an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Although I was not afflicted by this devastating disease, I experienced the next worst thing. I helplessly watched my daughter, Sabrina, battle against it for ten years. My daughter lost her life to a Fentanyl overdose on February 13, 2020.” “At the time, I thought there was no pain greater than what I was feeling,” Heather...

Dr. Rebecca Kuo-Ryan is Skilled on the Track and in the Operating Room “What are you doing?” This was Rebecca question to her boyfriend Robert when he bought a motorcycle. Rebecca had never been around bikes but as an orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in spinal injury and as the daughter of an orthopedic surgeon, she’d seen several people who’d wiped out and ended up in the operating room. She noticed that Robert was a very careful rider and soon, knowing how much it meant to him, Rebecca gave it a try. Despite seeing results of accidents, she wasn’t afraid on the back of his BMW touring bike and quickly began to enjoy it. “What if he’s injured or something and I need to go for help?” As a mother of two and a doctor, Rebecca was used to being prepared to handle anything. To answer her own question, she decided to learn to ride. Just in case! After taking the rider safety class Rebecca bought a BMW S1000 RR sport bike even though Robert hates what he calls, “crotch rockets.” When Robert and Rebecca became engaged the photographer asked about their common interests. When she heard about the motorcycle...

Valerie Thompson is without a doubt the Queen of Speed. She is the world’s fastest female motorcycle streamliner racer, hitting an incredible 328.467mph on the BUB 7 Streamliner motorcycle and is an eight-time Speed Record holder. She is also an inductee in the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, a member of numerous 200 MPH Clubs and one 300 MPH Club. She is also known as Australia’s fastest female motorcycle land speed racer and was recently included in the Dealernews “Top 100 Leaders in Powersports” list. And that was all before lunch. Most of us who ride motorcycles have “gone fast” on a bike. But we’re talking topping out at like 110 or 120mph. The fastest I ever went was 160mph on a 1000R Ninja. Even at that speed, the wind becomes a solid wall of force. So I had to ask Valerie, what does it feel like to pilot a Streamliner to over 300 miles per hour? “It starts with me walking to the streamliner in my fire suit and helmet. Focusing. Getting my head around what is about to happen. My team is pushing and pulling me into a tiny cockpit that was made just to fit me. I...

Kalie Maden is a biker to the core. She’s a wrench, building cool scooters and the bike seen here is her personal ride. Born To Ride asked her how long she’s been riding motorcycles. “It all started when I was just 10 years old,” Kalie tells us. “Santa Claus brought me a Yamaha TTR-90. I was immediately in LOVE as soon as I hopped on and rode around the backyard. Needless to say, 17 years later, I am still just as in love, if not more, with motorcycles. With such as cool Christmas gift, we had to ask if Kalie’s dad rides. “My Dad rides. I actually have his old 1980 Ironhead Roadster 1000 from back in the day that he bought brand new off the showroom floor!” Kalie confides. “I’m working on rebuilding it, making it into a (somewhat) reliable bike, with some upgraded parts. My Mom has yet to ride her own, but used to ride along with my Dad all the time when they were younger. I’ve tried to convince her to hop on the back of my chopper but no luck yet. Who can blame her? Haha!” We asked how she got into wrenchin’ and customizing...

Danni Benson started out riding on the back of her boyfriend’s bike. He tended to drink a bit and she realized that riding with him wasn’t safe. She learned to ride her own and bought a 1998 GSXR 600 sport bike. Later she traded it for a Ninja 600 sports bike and dumped the boyfriend. She let a friend ride her bike and she was taking a short ride on his when the road suddenly ended, turning to gravel. With the combination of an unfamiliar bike, gravel and trying to turn quickly she crashed! It took a year to recover from her broken wrist, busted knee and scraped face. Although her home state of Indiana doesn’t require riders to wear a helmet she now does because of this accident. It wasn’t long before Danni was itching for a new bike. Since she’s been riding for over ten years now she’s begun to enjoy longer rides and the open road more than the speed of a sport bike. Without telling any of her friends she began shopping for a cruiser type bike. When she came riding up on her new black Harley-Davidson Softail Slim with her dreadlocks blowing in the wind...

Elsa Rosenberg Elsa has been a part of the Bay Area sportbike scene since 2001. Originally from India, as a young girl Elsa rode just about anything she could get her hands on – as long as her family didn’t find out! “I started out riding bicycles, mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles. My family didn’t approve of riding motorcycles due to them worrying about me getting hurt.” Leaving India for something new to do, Elsa landed in Los Angeles. “I wanted a fresh start from India. I wanted to get out and come to the United States. I decided to get more schooling and went to UCLA and recieved my degree.” Elsa is currently working in the information security compliance arena. Elsa is responsible for the security programs of companies, which includes management, compliance, governance of information security policies, gathering supporting documentation, drafting responses, and submitting compliance documentation. She issues certifications for hospitals. Today, Elsa rides an SV650. “I had a 250RR bike prior to the 650 and loved that bike. But I love my current bike because it’s completely analog and not digital!” Elsa is a friend of Antonio Hernandez as well! Elsa met Antonio of Florida Ride or Die...

Born To Ride Women’s World has always been dedicated to women that have a unique and wonderful story to tell in regards to their life on two (or three) wheels! The month of May has always been “set aside” in the motorcycling world to promote women riders. To me, every day is about women riders! This year, I celebrate 40 years in the wind. I started when it wasn’t cool let alone “normal.” But I persevered and accomplished many good things in promoting women in the exciting world of motorcycling. Born To Ride is dedicating this column to three women riders. Each has a one-of-a-kind story to tell in relation to her life in the wind. I’m thrilled to have been able to speak with these women and listen to their stories. Now, you can too! Sit back, and enjoy three stories starting off with Liz Lewis! Liz Lewis Liz recently moved to Florida from Las Vegas. Her “day job” was an EMT. But what you may not know is that Liz was a fighter with the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling...

Born To Ride Women’s World has always been dedicated to women that have a unique and wonderful story to tell in regards to their life on two (or three) wheels! This year, I celebrate 40 years in the wind. I started when it wasn’t cool let alone “normal.” But I persevered and accomplished many good things in promoting women in the exciting world of motorcycling. Born To Ride is dedicating this column to three Ride or Die Women Riders. Each has a one-of-a-kind story to tell in relation to her life in the wind. I’m thrilled to have been able to speak with these women and listen to their stories. Now, you can too! Sit back, and enjoy three stories of inspiring women who just might inspire you to Ride if you don’t already. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there reading this. - Susan Hurst Heaven is a positive force to be reckoned with. A Floridian by birth, Heaven’s positive outlook on life, riding, and doing for others is a breath of fresh air during these challenging times we are all living in now. How did she get involved in the wondrous world of motorcycling? “As a...

As a traveling vendor, I have had many opportunities to meet some great people who are honest, run a solid business, and treat their customers with respect and kindness. I was fortunate to meet that type of hard-working person when we were set up at the same event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a few years ago. Lucky for us, Malinda, her family, and her business, Open Road Girl, have moved from Minnesota to beautiful Florida! She has done an outstanding job of branding her business, having a large number of followers and constantly growing her unique and fun clothing line! Sit back, relax, and enjoy this fun “Women’s World” interview with Malinda Johnson! I’m so glad that you finally made the move to Florida! What made you decide to head south? “The winters in Minnesota are long and brutal. I would come to Florida every year for vacation and I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I live and work where I come to for vacation?’ I didn’t want to wait until the end of my life and move to Florida. My kids are grown up and I have four grandchildren now. It really got to the point of deciding if I...

By Myra McElhaney As you may remember from a previous column, I’m still a new rider and I live and ride in the city. I know! Most people learn on the open road, way before taking their bike into a city with heavy traffic. Living in the city when I got my license and bought my bike made the reverse more logical. Especially when I could practice during the few times when the streets were almost empty, like early Saturday and Sunday mornings before the malls open and the church services start. I’ve practiced enough riding in my familiar surroundings that I’ve even gotten comfortable in heavy, stop ‘n go traffic. The city is a great place to practice stops and turns. Maybe I became a little too comfortable riding solo in my own neighborhood. I longed to get out of my comfort zone and venture onto the open road. This spring a guy I’d met on one of my few group rides reached out and invited me to ride with him. I was eager to go and glad he was patient enough to take on a beginning rider. One of his first suggestions was that I purchase a Bluetooth...

There are so many of us that have lost people close to us. From a spouse, partner, best friend, and family, it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I had the pleasure of speaking with Myra McElhaney who many of you have read her articles in Born To Ride magazine. Well, we are turning the tables and interviewing her about her successful book, “Losing the Love of your Life.” Why did she decide to write this book? “It’s been 10 years since I lost my husband. At this stage in life, I’m meeting more and more women who have lost their spouse. In fact, in the past four months, two of my very close friends just lost their husbands. It seems never-ending.” For many years, Myra had been a corporate trainer, public speaker, and writer. “The articles that I wrote were specific to the groups I worked for. I also participated in compilation books where groups of people write specific chapters for the book. I had participated in these compilation books but had not written a “real” book of my own. After my husband died in 2009, I had been thinking about writing a book about women in business. Once...

Harley-Davidson of Atlanta is Celebrating 55 Years August 24, 2019