VALENTINO ROSSI'S FLIRTING WITH THIRTY.

Nearly one week ago now, on the 16th of February, the most unique talent in MotoGP racing, Valentino Rossi the name every woman motorcyclist knows, loves; the person we all want so badly to spend time with either on or off a motorcycle-- celebrated his 30th birthday! By the way, we're both Aquarian's!

Have a look at all the special brithday messages he received on the British news site--even those from his mother and father! They all help us see a bit deeper into the life of this unique racing human being.

Happy Belated Valentino! May you have many happy more!

Buon Compleanno!

MANYO GIBBA CARES FOR AFRICAN VILLAGES EASILY ON HER MOTORCYCLE

This past Christmas I decided to make donations to charities for my family and friends instead of the usual form of gift giving. One of the charities was RIDERS FOR HEALTH—an organization that most motorcyclists should know about and if you don’t well, hopefully this note will provide a cue to visit and get involved! After making the donation I updated my mailing address in their system, it was still noted as The Netherlands—no wonder I hadn’t been receiving their newsletters! Well, the next newsletter to arrive held a wonderful bit about a female health worker and community nurse in the West African country of Gambia—Manyo Gibba. So I just had to share it here with you!

Manyo was taught to ride by Riders for Health—and not just to ride but to carry out basic maintenance to keep the bike running day in day out. Certainly there are few garages.

Manyo swaps her traditional dress for a helmet and protective gear and begins her 14 village rounds caring for nearly 20,000 people! She cares for pregnant women, mothers and children but also works with village health workers to monitor hygiene conditions, health education and disease prevention in the communities.

Prior to receiving her motorcycle from Riders For Health, she was accustom to walking or would sometimes hire a donkey cart taking her months before her responsible communities would see her! Now they see her at least once a week. It’s a very cool organization and just imagine the inspiration Manyo provides to other women of Gambia.

Manyo’s role is to provide regular and routine healthcare but she is also a vital lifeline in the case of an emergency. With her motorcycle she has been able to rush to assist countless women during bad labours. If not for her motorcycle, getting her to location quickly, the woman giving birth would in most cases have lost her life.

Three cheers for RFH, for Manyo and motorcycles! Visit Riders For Health and donate.

Training Wheels on Scooter Keep you Balanced.

Not ever in my nearly three decades of riding have I seen, considered or thought of training wheels for a motorcycle. But what a great idea!

Recently, when visiting the Scooty website located in India, and having a look over their product line  I discovered a scooter featured in their line with -‘training wheels'. As you can see in the pictures below, the wheels are attached onto the centre stand- a very interesting concept! I suppose these small wheels and brackets wouldn't really be that difficult to design and it all makes perfect sense. Naturally very handy and useful for the learner who has not had any experience balancing a two wheeler, namely a bicycle.

I frequently encounter this very challenge in rider training —students with no prior bicycle riding experience. Unlike when training someone to ride who has not ever driven a standard stick shift car, training a new student to ride when they've not yet learned to be stable on two wheels is much harder. They need to not only balance on two wheels but at the same time manage/cope with the additional weight of a motorbike.

I think the big question here is however —do the training wheels work? They really don't appear that strong. Nevertheless, I'm certain this manufacturer wouldn't provide them if they didn’t do the trick. And remember, this scooter is 80cc and similar to many smaller scooters, are not that weighty.

The wheels and their small attachment can be removed once the rider is safe to ride alone. Personally, I think these training wheels a great idea! And you might already know this--I'm for anything that'll help someone learn to ride and enjoy motorcycling!

SUPPORTING COMRADES IN THE DAKAR

Have you been watching the televised reviews of DAKAR? It’s the most gruelling, challenging motorcycle competition any rider could ever dream of riding—the top test of rider skills. Most wouldn’t last the first few hours. Have you seen the footage, the terrain, and the stage route details? This year the Dakar, a destination in Africa is still used as the name of the event, regardless of the race being moved to South America, finish line Buenos Aires. It was too dangerous to run the event in Africa due to political unrest which if you remember this caused the 2008 DAKAR to be cancelled! In watching the footage, South America looks even more challenging!

I am so proud to actually know and have motorsport comrades riding in this competition. These are Netherlanders-- Mirjam Pol one of the few women (officially registered as Gesina Maria Pol) riding Honda start number #48. Then there’s Gerrard Rond a former motocross champ and no stranger to Dakar where he rode his first in 1986. Gerrard and I ran the RaceGirl Motorsport off road days together hosted at his special 40 hectare (including lake) location. He’s on a KTM, start number #156. Then there’s the famed former Dutch MotoGP racer Jurgen van der Goorbergh. Jurgen has a strong motorsport background, very accomplished, on HONDA with start number # 57.

All my comrades are still in the game and at the time of this writing riding out stage #8 of the 15 stage competition. I’m so very proud and honoured to observe their fight in the DAKAR. Indeed I am jealous, as I too would love to add this competition to my list of motorsport accomplishments—who knows!

There were 235 motorcycles entered and started, not including the 44 participants not quad and not quite motorcycle sector that were bunched into the motorcycle start category—that’s 279 total. Sadly there has been one motorcyclist death, indeed there can be others before this race ends.

At the start of stage 8 today, 137 motorcycles remain—that’s less than half. THREE CHEERS to Mirjam, Gerrard and Jurgen—still in the game!

Each year, particularly for the past 8, I’ve enjoyed cheering on comrades in the Dakar (the Dutch have a strong presence in all categories) makes the DAKAR even more exciting bringing me even closer to this amazing race!
Check out the DAKAR website—exciting info available to view!

MOTORCYCLE NEW YEAR WISHES 2009

Someone once said-- the New Year is another chance to “get right” all the stuff you didn’t last year! Lucky us!
Looking forward at this new year, the fact that we're starting off economically challenged, observing more evidence of the not-so-positive reality causes me to recall a true Dutch and practiced value-- “less is more”. I think this “less is more” philosophy just might be the ticket to getting us through the concerns that surround us; prepare us for challenging times ahead. With Ducati not participating in the Canadian Thunder race series this year and cancelling out of BSB (British Superbikes)—Kawasaki announcing its discontinuance in MotoGP (can’t believe that one!) its proving to be a crazy year ahead in motorsport.

There’s such a buzz in the motorcycling industry, among others, reflecting concerns for motorcycling—some say it’s a luxury and will suffer, where others state motorcycling excels in tough times. These questions were put to me during a recent interview for a Clutch and Chrome podcast—how I personally felt it may affect the activity.

Well, we need it. Certainly we’ll elect common sense, caution and may not opt for that 2009 model upgrade or the new Akrapovic exhaust (darn!). Perhaps try to get another year out of our riding suit, even though we’d love a gear fashion upgrade. It’s my opinion we'll continue to enjoy our riding—its really our survival outlet and there’s no better way to get away from it all than when riding, absorbed, focused by the road.

Indeed a ride costs a bit of gas expense (thank goodness for the drop in gas prices!) and even if our rides might need to be shorter, our track days fewer, knowing that motorcycling is part of our life, seeing our bike standing in the garage or the driveway is a great inspiration of escape.

I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s the simple sensation--
the “less” that gives us all that “more”.

Best wishes to you and yours for a most joyful and healthy New Year!
May you continue to ride along the road of your dreams in 2009!
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And remember you’re the one steering!

HOLLY JOLLY MOTO GREETZ

Have a holly, jolly Christmas,
(Doesn’t that sound fun?)
It's the best time of the year;
(Sipping a hot chocolate with friends and talking motorbikes!)
I don't know if there'll be snow,
(Luckily we’re ready—ice skate?)
But have a cup of cheer.
(Cosmo, martini—Cin cin!)
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
(Laughing about your seasons fun ride moments)
And when you walk down the street;
(Looking chic in those motorcycle boots!)
Say Hello to friends you know;
(Right back at cha!)
And everyone you meet.
(Motorcyclists are so social!)
Oh, ho, the mistletoe;
(Romancing the tradition what fun!)
Hung where you can see;
(There’s nothing wrong with a surprise-hint hint!)
Somebody waits for you;
(Around the corner, or in your dreams.)
Kiss them once for me.
(Twice if you're French and three times if you're Dutch.)
Have a holly jolly Christmas,
(New Years Eve is days away!)
And in case you didn't hear,
(Trying on that new helmet are you?)
Oh by golly, have a holly,
(Does that sound better than gossip?)
Jolly Christmas this year! Best wishes for a happy holiday season!
Enjoy!








*Johnny Marks (November 10, 1909 - September 3, 1985) was a Jewish-American songwriter. He is remembered today for his Christmas songs which include "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (a hit for Gene Autry and others), "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (first recorded by Bing Crosby), "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (a hit for Brenda Lee), and "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (recorded by the Quinto Sisters, then Burl Ives) -*thanks Wikipedia/source

KEEP THAT YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE—RIDE A MOTORCYCLE

Brad Pitt rides a lovely red vintage Indian motorcycle in his new movie. Brad is one of the world’s sexiest men and a personal fav of mine. Adding to his appeal is the fact that he is a motorcycle rider. We’ve seen him many a time featured in news clippings at various locations around the world, riding on sorted brands of motorcycles--in Europe, Asia, and more. Brad Pitt is a lover of the powered two-wheeler.Well, his skill and passion for riding has been incorporated in certain scenes within his new movie, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” scheduled for release on Christmas day.
The movie is about a man, “Benjamin” portrayed by Brad Pitt, co-starring the wonderful Kate Blanchett. Benjamin’s life seems to work backwards and most extraordinarily opposite to what we know. He is born old and reverts back to youth through the years to I presume a baby.

Personally what’s interesting, based on the trailer alone because certainly I’ve not seen the movie; as he becomes younger, to accentuate his youthfulness in this particular phase of his life, he finds a motorcycle--the bike becomes part of his lifestyle.

The motorcycle’s use in the movie represents and accentuates its usual stereotypical role of freedom, youthfulness and spontaneity.
Interesting wouldn’t you agree?

So--the secret to keeping that youthful appearance? Keep riding!

Visit the film's website and view the movie trailer!