Worlds colllide: More women taking to road on motorcycles
By Victor R. Martinez / El Paso Times
Posted: 07/04/2009 11:08:20 PM MDT
The Road Queens Motorcycle Club members include, from left, Cindy Barba, Gracie Martinez, Irma Sierra, Cynthia Camacho and Virginia Gallegos. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)
EL PASO -- Cynthia Camacho is passionate about three things -- finding her buyers the right property, helping her sellers get the most out of their home sale and enjoying her 2008 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider.
For this real estate broker and Harley enthusiast, fulfillment comes from giving her all to make others' dreams come true. And, of course, there's nothing like the feeling of climbing atop a rumbling Harley-Davidson and temporarily leaving her responsibilities behind.
And when these worlds collide, it's almost as sweet as the sound of a deep, thumping Harley engine.
"I had an experience where I was in my minivan, and this man wanted me to go look at his house so we could sell it," said Camacho, founder of Camacho Real Estate and Mortgage Company.
"I noticed his Harley in the garage, and I recognized the stock because my husband has the same one, a Softail Deuce. He was very impressed that I knew what model of bike it was, and right there and then he signed with me."
Camacho isn't shy about showing a home on her Harley-Davidson Dyna.
"Sometimes I have the clients follow me on my Harley," she said, laughing. "I don't mind showing my homes on my bike; it's who I am. This little old lady I showed a home to asked me to come by and show her my new bike."
In the ultimate female road-trip movie, "Thelma & Louise," Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis hit the open road in a convertible.
That's soooooo 1990s.
Today, those ladies would be riding Harleys.
According
Advertisement
to the Motorcycle Industry Council, more than 5.75 million women have made the move from the passenger's seat to behind the handlebars.
"Women riders are increasing because they don't want to be passengers or controlled again," Tim Buche, president of three major U.S. organizations related to motorcycling and performance vehicles, said in a report published by CENS.com.
Buche, who represents the Motorcycle Industry Council, Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, and Motorcycle Safety Foundation, said that in 1998, the percentage of women riders in the U.S. was only 8.2 percent, but it rose to 9.6 percent in 2003 and 12.3 percent in 2008. Even more significant, of about 2.5 million people who rode motorcycles in the United States in 2008, 23 percent -- or 5.75 million -- were women.
The list of reasons why women decide to ride motorcycles -- particularly Harley-Davidson ones -- is as long as the open road. Some common reasons are the adventure, the camaraderie and the freedom.
"I've been riding for about four years," said Camacho, whose first bike was a 2001 Harley Sportster.
"I reached a certain age in my life where I wanted a bike. My dad has two Harleys -- a Fatboy and a Trike -- and when we were kids, he would take us for rides around the block."
Camacho is a member of the Road Queens Motorcycle Club, a women's riding club in El Paso.
"We just celebrated our sixth anniversary," said Gracie Martinez, the club's president. "Our mission is to help women and children with cancer. This year, we helped a 9-year-old little girl from Socorro. We had over 400 riders show up for it."
Martinez, whose first bike was a Harley Sportster, has been riding for nine years.
"When you are out there, you don't have to answer your phone; you don't need to listen to anything," she said. "It's just you out there riding in the wind."
Martinez, who has owned four motorcycles, rides a Harley Road King. She said it is important for anybody, not just women, to take a safety course before buying a motorcycle.
"I got my license in 2000 after taking the safety course," she said. "When women want to join our club, that is one of the things I tell them. Take the safety course, and they start to hang around with us for a little while just to see what we are about and make sure it's something they want to do, because it is not only a commitment to us, but to the entire biker community."
Cindy Barba said she enjoys the independence that riding a motorcycle gives her.
"Some women like to sew or paint, but I am not an artsy-fartsy kind of gal. I'm a lady, but just a little bit rough on the exteriors," she said. "My dad rides a Harley as well, so he says I'm a chip off the old block."
Barba rides a 1999 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500.
"My ex-husband used to ride, and I would ride (in the back) with him," Barba said. "I used to see women ride, and I thought, 'I could do that.' Right after I had my daughter, I went in and took the course, and two weeks later I was hooked. I haven't been on anybody else's bike except for mine since then."
Another aspect of women on bikes is the looks they get from other motorists.
"I always get double takes from other drivers, but I get a lot of thumbs-up, especially from other women," Barba said. "There are even men who yell out, 'You go, girl' and that makes me feel good because it's something you don't see every day."
Barba looks forward to the weekends when she can ride with the Road Queens Motorcycle Club.
"We are a small group and we help support each other," she said. "I am a single mother, so this is my time, this is my hobby, this is my alone time. All these girls are doing the same thing. This is their time on the bike and we all share the same interest, just being out there on our own with the wind in our face."
No comments:
Post a Comment