Ladies up Front is a column by and for
the women who ride in Colorado both
on back and up front. You will find topics of interest to lady riders with stories
detailing the journeys of other lady riders
in Colorado and beyond, Questions from
readers will be addressed and contributors from our community will share their
experiences. Questions, comments and
contributors are welcome and encouraged to participate. [email protected]
believe that every woman who
rides, be it on the front or on the
back, has a story to tell that is worth
hearing. Women and their riding
experiences, stories and knowledge
often have insight and perspectives that
can help us all as we journey forward
both on the back and on the front.
Here you will see those experiences
and hear of the strength and joy we
have found on a motorcycle.
I have always loved riding on
motorcycles and my journey from the
back to the front is probably similar to
many of you out there. It started for me
with my uncles and their dirt bikes when
I was a young teenage girl. They both
wanted to teach us kids how to ride,
unfortunately, my mother wouldn’t have
it. Instead of learning to ride those dirt
bikes, I got to stare at the parked bikes
in the garage and wonder what it would
feel like to zoom around the mountains
on one with me at the helm.
Later, when I was 19-20 I had a
boyfriend with a Yamaha 650 Special, I
rode on back and we went everywhere
on that bike. Once I felt the wind on my
face and experienced the exhilaration
and the freedom of riding, I was hooked.
I have always loved riding; the feeling is
like no other, being up close and personal
with the scenery with wind rushing by and
the road buzzing beneath me. Riding,
whether on the back or front, helps me
shake-off the troubles and cares of the
world and just live. The freedom from
worries and cares is incredible and is one
of the primary reasons I ride.
I
16 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
I continued on the back for quite a few
years until I met a lady rider at a rest stop
five years ago. I had been thinking about
moving up front for a couple of years
but hadn’t really decided to do it. The
woman I met had moved from the back
to the front and told me she never looked
back. She encouraged me to try and to
take the MSF training course. She said
it was reasonable in price and worth
the time, effort and cost. She shared
with me some of her experience, what
she said helped me decide to sign up
for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation
Basic RiderCourse class and get my
endorsement to ride up front.
When I signed up for the class I was a
bit nervous and I was not sure if I would
actually like being on the front. During
that class I fell in love with riding up front.
About a year and a half after I got
my endorsement I bought my first
October 2014
motorcycle. I was so excited—a bike
of my own. We needed a road trip
from Denver to Fort Collins to pick it up
and I was just giddy; I couldn’t wait to
ride it! Since it was nearly two years
since I had taken the Motorcycle Safety
Foundation (MSF) Basic RiderCourse, I
decided that I needed to take it again as
a refresher. That was a good idea, the
refresher helped build my confidence
and dusted the cobwebs off of the
things I learned during the first class but
had never really gotten to use.
I absolutely recommend the Motorcycle
Safety Foundation (MSF) RiderCourse
for anyone new to riding up front and
anyone returning to riding after some time
away from it. The MSF offers an array of
rider training from the Basic Rider Course
to advanced riding for street bikes, dirt
bikes and even a military riding course.
The riding course taught me how to ride
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