Women’s News

Stilettos on Steel 07-04-19

Hey there Biker Family! I’m Wendy LaForce, Sun Coast District Coordinator for Stilettos on Steel Female Riders Group and Born To Ride/Women’s World Public Relations/Good Will Ambassador. Here’s My Harley Story. I’ll be celebrating my 5th year of riding coming up in September. I completed my motorcycle endorsement class at Jim’s Harley-Davidson in May of 2014 without ever riding a motorcycle before. I saved my pennies for a few months and bought a 2003 HD Hugger Anniversary Sportster. I was fortunate enough to have some amazing friends that helped me learn how to ride. Special thanks to Lynne Kottke for…
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Happy Father’s Day

While on a family trip to Austria two years ago, Fran spotted an Almhütte and commented to her father how she would adore a hut like this in her back yard. An Almhütte is an Alpine hut that is found in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. It’s commonly used for animals grazing in the wild to seek shelter from the weather. It has a peaked roof with an approximate 4-foot overhang on the sides. It’s common in Germany to see a huge boulder on the roof to hold the roof down during windy conditions. You see, Fran has a love for…
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BTR Women’s World 5-19

Katy O. Ishee Road Rash ‘N Road Tales By Myra McElhaney   Katy Ishee (pronounced “Is she” like is she coming or is she going?) is known in riding circles by her nickname “Krazy” and has lots of stories where she’s lived up to that name! (Like crazy fun and audacious.) As a young married woman, riding on her neighbor’s Vespa sparked a desire to ride. After divorcing, in 1974 Katy bought a 1967 R69S BMW which she still rides. In the early days of riding, Katy was often the only woman riding her own in the motorcycle clubs she…
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Woman’s World_March 2019

Woman’s World By Myra McElhaney   Recovering, Riding and Raising Funds In her High School yearbook, Danielle Bosser Dahm had lots of comments from friends about her dark suntan. Tanning became an addiction for her. Not only did she enjoy the compliments on her skin tone, but studies show that tanning raises endorphins. Although she tanned easily, Danielle began tanning daily at lunchtime. She felt like it was a form of therapy from her teens into her twenties. Danielle and her Airforce husband, Chris lived in California until he was given orders to go to Germany. In 2000, she was…
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Stilettos on Steel_March 2019

Greetings Lady Riders! Did you know that 27% of motorcycle riders are women? That percentage just keeps increasing! My name is Wendy LaForce. I am the Sun Coast District Coordinator for Stilettos on Steel and Public Relations/Marketing Representative/Good Will Ambassador for Born To Ride and Born To Ride Women’s World. This is an amazing opportunity for me to share my love for motorcycle riding with the female element of our biker community. I am here to help you! Life's too short to let dreams sit idle. Make every day count. Take the course. Learn how to ride. Make your dreams…
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Bike Hero Not For Sale – Night Train

January is “Human Trafficking Awareness Month.” Meet Sally. Sally is a survivor of human trafficking. Yep! As an avid biker, she is one of us. An icon representing courage in the communities and people she touches. She is also a seasoned professional model who you probably have seen in biker-related media before. Sally is a true warrior. Her story and what she went through is gut-wrenching. I am privileged to be her friend. Sally is the mother to six children and a grandmother of two. She is currently Co-Director of “Fighting Against Trafficking Organization.” Sally also strongly focuses on her…
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Women’s World REFLECTIONS & RESOLUTIONS

It is a brand new year full of exciting adventures and endless possibilities. Consider all that you had dreamt of and let go of. Consider how your life could be different had you made different choices in life. Now celebrate that you are here and alive, able to read this article because that means you can change things and live your life in extraordinary ways, starting today. It is not too late to reinvent yourself. If you are here on earth and breathing, you can start to reinvent your life beginning with your mind and attitude. If you choose to…
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“A Biker’s Love Affair: A Story of Salvation”

“A Biker’s Love Affair: A Story of Salvation” By Dolores Elam A cancer diagnosis. A fire. The death of a beloved spouse. Anyone of these would be enough to make someone question their faith, but after experiencing all three in the past two years my faith is stronger than ever. I’ve claimed my miracle and every day I see the undeniable presence of God. It started on February 5, 2015, when my husband Wayne was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed as we walked out of the hospital. The doctors told us…
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Stilettos on Steel Female Riders Group

Greetings Lady Riders! Did you know that 25% of motorcycle riders are women? Yup, that’s one out of every four. Feeling the wind in your face is so much better when you’re holding onto the handlebars. Are you ready to make the move from the back seat to the front? My name is Wendy LaForce. I am the Sun Coast District Coordinator for Stilettos on Steel Female Riders Group. I started a chapter in May 2016. We have grown to 100 members! We ride unapologetically deep! We empower one another's uniqueness, strength, and peace of mind. We accept every female…
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SAFE ZONE Speed kills… and so does slow

As a motorcycle riding instructor, I follow the curriculum and never advocate speeding. As a street renegade rider and a realist, I realize that if you don’t speed at times, a vehicle is likely to run over your butt and your bike. In my dreams, I imagine a small town (with a name like Gooberville) where a biker can ride without feeling like he’s the last target at a gun range. But I live in South Florida, number one in road rage for the third consecutive year, where I count acceleration as one of the most important actions I can…
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Womens World Pushing the Societal Envelope

As bikers we tend to push the societal envelope every now and then. It’s not that we are out there to scare anyone; this is just who we are and it’s a love that non-bikers just don’t appreciate nor understand. As the saying goes, “If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand.” I was the odd-ball in my family. This is something I’m definitely NOT ashamed of. I got my tractor-trailer license when it was unheard of for women to venture into that avenue of employment. Then – gasp – I got my motorcycle license. Again, that…
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Look Ma, No Hands! – Women’s World Featured Article

A Brief History I have a pretty healthy bucket list, and have done a lot of adventurous things in my life. I am no stranger to being wild. At 14, I shaved my head to solidify my distinction from the other social scenes in high school. I went on from there to cement a lifetime of operating outside the norm, living in squats and sleeping on filthy floors among rodents. Later in life, I crisscrossed the United States in vans and tour buses for years with 12 roving gypsy vaudevillians, performing in grand theaters and busking on the side of…
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Connecting Your Profession and Your Passion – Born To Ride Women’s World

Kelly Vandever enjoyed riding on the back of her husband’s bike, but on a beautiful July day when she wanted to ride, her husband Rich, was out of town. That’s when she decided to learn to ride her own. Her first bike was a Honda Rebel she now rides a Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster Superlow. Since Rich likes to tinker with bikes, he made sure she had a comfortable seat and an easy clutch. Her first long trip with Rich and their friends Jim and Stephanie was quite an adventure! When they started out riding from Georgia to South Dakota, his…
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Number of Women Riders is Growing

Number of Women Riders is Growing Recent Survey Shows Shift in Rider Demographics   Irvine, CA (PR Newswire) - According to a recent survey, nearly 1 in 5 motorcycle owners in America is now female, compared with 1 in 10 less than a decade ago, based on data accumulated by the Motorcycle Industry Council. In fact, the data suggest that women may soon comprise ¼ of total motorcycle ownership in the U.S., a major shift in motorcycling demographics. Among all age groups surveyed, women riders now make up fully 19% of American motorcycle owners. The survey showed the greatest growth…
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Harley-Davidson & Amazon

Harley-Davidson & Amazon Harley-Davidson announced earlier this month that the brand has begun selling select H-D riding gear and apparel via the online retail giant Amazon, widening their exposure to hundreds of millions of potential customers. The relationship is part of the company’s “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” initiative, an effort to meet customers through a more expansive, integrated retail experience. Harley-Davidson gear and apparel is now available on Amazon.com to buy online in the U.S., with 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members. “We live in an on-demand, anywhere, anytime business environment where success depends on the ability to meet consumers…
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Race Like a Girl

Jamie Astudillo in MotoAmerica Not many females currently run professionally in motorcycle road racing, but those who do, have definitely earned their place. Here in the States, in MotoAmerica, there are only three—Caroline Olsen in Supersport 600, Melissa Paris in Stock 1000, and Jamie Astudillo in Liqui Moly Junior Cup. And of these, only one has rewritten the record books—Jamie Astudillo. We pointed out in our May issue that Jamie etched her name in the MotoAmerica/AMA Road Racing archives as the first woman to ever podium in an American professional motorcycle road racing event when she took third place in…
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