Love of Chrome Thermal Give-Away

Leslie loves veggies and Leslie loves

motorcycles too. Leslie Loves Veggies Blog

and VaVaVroom got together to honor

Leslie's late brother, Ricky. Check out

Leslie's post and learn more about Ricky

and how you can enter to win a

Love of Chrome Thermal Long-Sleeve.

The deadline is November 11, 2009.

Thanks Leslie!

October Ride

Big thanks to Kevin and Tom (pictured here) for a great ride today. We started at Flying Saucer in Humboldt Park for breakfast. Great fresh food. Then we set out to ride to Union Pier, Michigan. From Chicago, we took 94 east past Gary, Indiana to 20 east to 12 east through New Buffalo, MI to the Red Arrow Highway. Had a very nice lunch at the Whistlestop. Again, a place with great, fresh food. We were told by the folks in Whistlestop to find the signs for the circle tours. I think they are meant for bicyclists, but we loved them too. The day was gorgeous and the trees were in full color. There are quite a few wineries in the area and we rode past many grapefields. I had never been to that area before, but I know I will be back soon!

Motor Maids

While at the AMA International Women & Motorcycling Conference this past July, I joined the Motor Maids, the first women's motorcycle riding organization in America. On Saturday, I met with fellow Motor Maid, Betty Craft Hartman. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the diner at Kegel's Harley-Davidson in Rockford. The diner is open daily for breakfast and lunch. Betty has been riding since the 1970's. When her son bought a bike, she helped him fix it up and decided that she should be able to ride it if she was fixing it. The rest is history. I am excited to be a part of such a legendary group of riding women!

ACEtoberfest October 2009

Although it was a damp, cold day, many scooter and motorcycle enthusiasts came out for the 2009 ACEtoberfest at Ace Motorcycle & Scooter in Chicago. The day included vendors, food (brats of course), beer (the good stuff), and a bike show. And I was hanging out with a winner that day. Chris from Criminal Customs took home two prizes! One for best American bike and one for the best custom. Congratulations Chris! Don't miss this event next year.

I Have a New Title - PANK

Did you know that PANK is the new PINK? Melanie Notkin of SavvyAuntie.com, coined the term in a recent post on She-conomy.com. PANK stands for "Professional Aunts No Kids" (hey, that's me!). Notkin believes that retailers often make the mistake of assuming that all female customers are moms. Women control 85% of all household purchases, whether they are single, married, with kids, or without kids. And let's face it. Women like to shop. So marketers, keep this in mind when devising your sales strategy. Sure, keep the women's section next to the kid's section. That makes sense, but don't assume in your advertising that all of the women shopping have little ones at home.

Last Chance to Buy a Ticket for the Ultimate Bike Raffle 2

I just bought my ticket for the Ultimate Bike Raffle 2 sponsored by Bob's BMW. Proceeds benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. This is a great cause and you can win some super cool prizes including a 2010 BMW S1000RR. This bike rocks. I saw a prototype at the BMW MOA rally in July. It is super-light, extremely well-balanced, and has three different ride settings. Here is a picture of me testing it out. Street models will be available next year, but BMW already has racing versions on the circuit. Take a look at the Motorcycle Consumer News review here.

In the raffle you can also win an Edelweiss Ultimate Alps Tour and gear from BMW, Olympia, Rev'It and Scorpian. Hurry! Time is running out. You don't to miss this opportunity to help the kids and a very good chance to win some kick-ass prizes.

For outright donations:

http://store.bobsbmw.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RFK

For the Ultimate Bike Raffle or UBR2:

http://store.bobsbmw.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=UBR2%2D3

For info on the 2009 Ride for Kids:

http://www.bobsbmw.com/

AMA International Women & Motorcycling Conference 2009

What we all have been waiting for - for three years! The last Women & Motorcycling Conference was held in Athen, Georgia in 2006. I attended back then and had a blast. Naturally, I was excited about the 2009 event in Keystone, Colorado in August. This time I went as a vendor for VaVaVroom, rather than a participant. Don't feel sorry for me that I had to work. I still had lots of fun. As you can see, Keystone is a beautiful place with the Snake River running through it. I have never been here in the summer, only to ski. I can't decide which time of year is more breathtaking. So many highlights from the week. I know many women were able to demo all sorts of motorcycles and scooters, shop for cool motorcycle stuff, attend information-packed seminars, and ride beautiful roads.
I am proud to announce that I am a new member of Motor Maids. Motor Maids Inc. was founded in 1940 and is the first women’s motorcycling organization in North America. Here I am with my new "sisters", Eva and Cynthia!

I also had good company around me at the conference. The vendor booths of Shelly Reiner from Girl Gear and Athena Ransom of Vagabond Choppers flanked the VaVaVroom booth. Shelly's company makes great jackets and pants for women and Athena is a custom bike builder.

Can you believe all of the cool people at this Streetmasters motorcycle workshops and Skip Harrison, author of All Who Wander Aren't Lconference? Well, there's more! Pictured to the left is Walt Fulton and Nancy Foote of ost. I am taking the Streetmasters course in November and plan to read Skip's book very soon!

I also had the pleasure to meet another author, Carla King. Carla and I have known each other through our mutual involvement in the Side Stand Up radio program, but have never met in person. What a treat! I now have an autographed copy of Carla's book, American Borders - also on the reading list.

I was visited on Saturday by Susie "Sunglasses" Sandstrom. Susie is the President of Sziols North America, which sells the best sports sunglasses on the market. There are lenses for everyone occasion. (I use them for motorcycling, softball, running, and biking.) And, they are indestructible. Great eye protection for the road and more. VaVaVroom will be carrying this top-notch brand very soon.

I have to give special thanks to my friends from Illinois, Rick and Jan Seymour. They were kind enough to visit me in my booth every day, watch it for me when I went to get lunch, gathered conference swag for me, and helped me pack up after the show.

For more post-conference coverage, go to WomenRidersNow.com. Genevieve Schmitt (pictured below) is the editor and we had a chance to catch up in Keystone.

This is just a small sampling of the many amazing people in the world of motorcycling that I was blessed to meet and get to know. Who knows when and where the next one will be, but I'll mark my calendar as soon as I hear.