RIP and a Helmet Rant

So sad I had to dig up this photo. I had a all too short moment to meet and photograph SJ Harris at the Beautiful Bikers ride this fall. It’s easy to see though that she was a gorgeous, fun and sassy – as she’s pretending to drop her bike here.
She was the first black woman professional road racer, a professional stunt rider, beloved by the bike community and inspiration for women riders of all races.
She was killed on the set of Deadpool during a stunt on Monday. No helmet. My respects to her and her loved ones.

Thank you Hollywood for showing women bikers and women of color being awesome on the big screen. Now we ask that you take responsibility and stop showing riders without helmets.  Helmets save lives and people all need to see and accept it’s simply a MUST wear item and not a fashion choice.

LA Motorcycle Film Fest photos

by bikers, about bikers, for bikers… The 3rd Los Angeles Motorcycle Film Fest was a hit. They also raised money for the outstanding organization Riders For Health

I missed a lot of films as I wondered around shooting. But I’ll cast my vote for “Left Side Story” as my favorite. Its about 48 y.o. racer Alan Kempste who looses his whole left side arm and leg in a crash with a drunk driver. He goes on to rebuild a bike and race again. Its awesome spirit and amazing to see him taking the turns with no leg or arm.
And always a highlight to me seeing those East Side Moto Babes out on the town. Check them out in their bitchin’ jean jumpsuits riding electric bikes.
AND NOW on with the photos… (click a photo and you can scroll through the gallery)…

 

I want to be a part of it, NY NY – FREE TIX & after party

We’ve got a posse of west coast moto girls coming to NYC next week with me. We’ll spend our days at the International Motorcycle Shows. But our nights, hahaha, are ours!

IMS will be at here at the Javits Center. I hope the sky will be purple.

Here’s when I’ll be speaking at The Hub: “Who Are Women Riders Today.  A Visual Presentation.”

Friday 1/22 7pm

Saturday 1/23 12:30pm

I’ve got 4 free tickets to give away to the IMS so if you want them show me the LOVE.  To win a free set of 2 tickets (worth $50) do one of these things:

1. comment on this blog and tell why women bikers rock.  Or….
2. twitter this: I want FREE TIX to NY International Moto Show @cshookup

And I’ll buy the winner a beer at our after party. Whoohoo!  Chicks On Bikes book is having a get together after party.  We’re cordially inviting all women bikers who we know and love or would love to know. Guys are welcome on extremely good behavior.

Chicks On Bikes – IMS After Party 6PM Sunday 1/23

@ The Hudson Yard Cafe – a short walk across the street.

There will some very honored guests coming out.  I tell you just one, the funniest moto blogger of them all FuzzyGalore.com – really witty and whacky stuff. And to make Fuzzy just too perfect, she’s a girl. I’m pretty excited about meeting her. I’m giggling thinking about it.

Heck, I’ll tell you one more revered guest of the night: my other favorite NY blogger of prolific and clever words on motorcycling and beyond –  www.steadyonthehumble.com

Let me tell you where I really really wanted but cannot have the after party: American Trash. Its a biker bar open to all – sporty or cruisery, clubs or solo. The owner is an avid Ducati guy who’s owned the place for 22 years and dishes up superb clam chowder.  Alas, it on the upper East Side. Which is fine if you aren’t bringing all your friends along from Javits Center halfway cross town. So it is not there.

 

My pick for NY biker bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIG photos of chicks on bikes at IMS, Elena Myers, Sue and Joan run the show…

BIG. BIGGER. BEST.  I love seeing my photos so big gracing the Women Ride center at the International Motorcycle show. But best is that the people who run the show put the thought and effort into really improving women’s presence and honored us by having real women shown.

BIG photos of my real women bikers set the tone at the women's center.

Do I look pleased?

The women center looked great and Joanne Dunn and Sue Slate deserve huge credit, slaps on the back and rounds of drinks bought for them.

See Joanne right there setting up the ever aggravating AV.

If you want unbiased and thoughtfully critiqued review of motorcycle products from a savvy womans point of view – go to Joanne’s website www.gearchic.com

Sue Slate speaks engagingly on any motorcycle topic at all.

Sue is a terrific speaker. She’s like a favorite auntie who comes to dinner and can mesmerize the whole family dishing up wise advice peppered with tales of the road. Her relentless enthisiasm to encourage and share information is as well as sheer energy of doing this ALL DAY every weekend in every city is formidable.

Here she is showing me how a 5’2″ woman rides a KTM 900. She is a entire foot shorter than me and I find that bike to fit be perfectly. The trick? Custom made SUPER TALL SOLES on her riding boots so her feet can reach the ground. Maybe 3 extra inches there.

Sue Slate shows her custom made TALL boot for short rider.

Here is one of my heros – Elena Myers. Only 17 and the racing queen. I saw her win last summer at Infineon Raceway as the first woman to win a pro AMA race. She’s a tad bit shy and seems quite modest signing photos while awash in admiration of a crowd of fans.

Elena Meyers at IMS

That admiring fan on the right is Lil’ Red Riding Liz and you can check out her blog too.

Fast, young and beautiful Elena Myers

If you’re going to one of the next upcoming International Motorcycle shows, use this online code to get a discount on your ticket: COB   (as in Chicks On Bikes, ya know).

Chicks On Bikes comes to Los Angeles – Angels Rev Their Engines

August is the month I gave up on LA many years ago and I sometimes look back at the life I didn’t lead. Within 24 hours of deciding, I’d boxed my few belonging to post and pointed my Yamaha XS11 north to San Francisco where I remain to this day. But that’s another story.

This August, I’m heading down for a few fab dates with Chicks On Bikes. A big thank you shout out to Dainese of Orange County for bringing me down.

Dainese Store –  Ladies Night

Thursday August 19th,  6 pm

1645 Superior Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3612 (949) 645-9500

But wait… there’s more…The East Side Moto Babes! (ESBM) Like an awesome indie film, gritty, glamorous and fierce – they laid hollywood rubber in getting me a couple more spots.

I’d already bonded with the Cretin’s in Seattle last month (pictures at the end of this entry) so I’m psyched that the ESBM is their sister club and hosting me for a late Chicks On Bikes night at the LA Cretins Club House. With a skyline view of the city, I’ll be shooting on the scene.   If you’re a chick on a bike, come on down and maybe you’ll be in the next book.

ProItalia in Glendale is having their big Cafe Desmo Italian Bike Show.  And surely they need some Chicks On Bikes too.  The ESBM are coming out for the kick off Cocktail Party at the shop.

Cretins Clubhouse

Thursday August 19th, 10pm

1460 Naud St. Los Angeles, 90012
Look for ramp, Party located on 2nd floor roof parking structure.
Located Near Chinatown

ProItalia

Cocktail party Cafe Desmoto kick off

Friday August 20th 7pm (I’ll being doing my slideshow about 7:30)

3319 N Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA 91208 | 818 249-5707

(next blog will be Cretin pix, really)

Book me for a Chicks On Bikes tour show

What better public image for motorcycling than a mom and her kids thumping up the coast talking about women motorcyclists? Its a good thing, maybe a bit mad, but surely its good. Chicks on Bikes is coming to a town near you (if you live in the Pacific northwest).

As I make my way up the grand coast from San Francisco to Vancouver, I’ll be hualing audio visual equipment, cameras, my two girls ages 3 & 9, and if can’t get a grasp on my common sense I’ll bring camping gear too.  Now the pacific northwest is a hard territory to dazzle, maybe they don’t take to dazzle at all. But I’ll be putting on the best dang video projection show with all my hero’s in Chicks On Bikes.  I’ll be telling their stories along with my own personal stories of how I found these women and what went down over the course of making the photos. I’ll be including some of those heartbreaking images left behind on the editing table and everyone’s favorite game “where are they now?”

And what’s best: ITS FREE!  Yep, I’ll come dazzle you with my show and afterward sign your Chicks On Bikes book myself with a sparkly silver sharpie.

I’m keen to book events all along the way and I’m taking bookings right now. I’m particularly looking for some venues in Seattle and Vancouver. You are my ideal contact if you:

a. love women and at least suspect that women are indeed smarter than men.

b. Think motorcycles are the perfect vehicle

c. are fascinated with the frozen moments and million words embodied in great photography.

d. own a motorcycle related shop

e. belong to a motorcycle club. I love clubs, great excuse to gather your buds.

My dates are June 26 – July 11th and here is my flyer. Email me through http://www.ChicksOnBikes.us or comment here to contact me.

Motorcycle Riding For A Good Cause – Diamond Posse

Giving back to your community is a basic element to a life well lived. If I were to smash myself to bits in a motorcycle accident tomorrow and lay there dying a slow death and taking account of my life, I’d really like to have some good deeds to cough up.

The motorcycle community seems to be doing this all the time. Is it because life and death seem a bit more in perspective for bikers?

I want to put a plug out for the Diamond Posse. I’ve met a couple of them and they are some big hearted ladies. As they say, they have been “forged under pressure” thus creating diamonds.

As past members of the military or lives of personal challenges, these 5 women will set out to ride this May from San Antonio, Texas to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to celebrate Women’s Riders Month stopping at veterans’s centers along the way. They are fund raising for the Fallen Hero’s Fund to build a privately funded physical rehabilitation center.

Here’s what they need:

Sponsorship
Donations for books.. Heart of a Military Woman Book Donation: Books will be given out to veterans at VA Stops . Proceeds benefit the Fallen Heroes Fund .
Sponsor the Riders
Donate to the Fallen Heroes Fund

Contact Eldonna aka Pink Biker Chick for more info.

Here’s who the are:

Riders of the Diamond Posse

Riders of the Diamond Posse

Free Fun on a cold wet week? Wrenched Word and Chick Pix book tour.

Should I apologize about my bad blogging habits, namely the lack of? To anyone who cares, then yes I do. I have so many fun and interesting things to write about.

Here goes my first blog entry of 2010, may many more fab entries follow. Alas it’s shameless promotion that brings me to shout out today.

What free fun can you have on a cold wet Northern California week?

1.21.2010 “Wrenched Words and Chick Pics” Northern California Book Tour, January 2010

What do you do in January when it’s wet and chilly? Or when you’re just too much of a sissy to get out there and ride? Not me, no never me, I’d never show up in my comfy warm dry cage Camry… its just that I’ve got these books I have to bring.

How about heading out for a night of motorcycle related literature and photography?  Christina Shook and Ed Milich will be touring motorcycle destinations in San Francisco and northern California beginning January 26 2010 to promote their recently released motorcycle books: Milich’s Wrenched: Man and Machine and Shook’s Chicks on Bikes.

Ed doesn’t like to call it poetry, so as not to put off the tough illiterate biker folks. Besides it doesn’t actually rhyme. Ed is an awesome racer who can totally smoke you on the track or on a microphone. His words are raw, funny, dirty, anguished and eminantly readable. See his creds below.

And me, if you don’t know me, here’s what the flyer says:

Christina Shook is a San Francisco based professional photographer. Chicks on Bikes compiles her photographs of and writings on female motorcyclists drawn largely from the San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse population of female riders. The book depicts female racers, commuters, cruisers, and mechanics in their natural environments from San Fransicso’s streets to dirt bike trails, to the racetrack. The hard bound Chicks On Bikes is 154 pages and is $24.99 from www.chicksonbikes.us

Ed Milich is a Los Angeles based writer and contributor to Motorcyclist Magazine, Café Racer Magazine Sports Car Market Magazine, a national roadracing champion (WSMC, AHRMA), proprietor of motorcycle websites Guzzitech.com, Ducpower.com, and Motobastard.com and a professional Mechanical Engineer. Wrenched, Man and Machine, the first book from the Los Angeles based Milich, documents his motorcycle racing, wrenching and riding experiences in largely unrhymed free verse. In March of 2009, Milich debuted Wrenched at the Daytona International Speedway Bike Week Vintage Races where he punctuated the book release by winning four out of four races. Wrenched, Man and Machine is 142 pages and is $15 postpaid at www.wrenchedbook.com

January 2010 Northern California Book Tour stops:

Tues Jan 26 – Subterranean Motorcycles, San Francisco, CA 6:00 PM www.subcycles.com

Wed Jan 27 – Zen House, Point Arena, CA 6:00 PM www.thezenhouse.net

Fri Jan 29 – Santa Rosa BMW Triumph, Santa Rosa, CA 6:15 PM www.santarosabmw.com

Sat Jan 30 – Kilowatt, San Francisco, CA  8:00 PM www.barbell.com/kilowatt

Sunday Jan 31 – Round Up Saloon, 3553 Mt Diablo Blvd  Lafayette CA   3pm

Sun Jan 31 – Godspeed, Oakland, CA 5:00 PM www.godspeedoakland.com

Mon Feb 1- American Sportbike Night, San Leandro 6:00PM www.americansportbikenight.net Ed Milich only

Book Tour Flyer

Heartfelt gratitude for organizing this all to Leslie Kay, editor of Urban Moto. Go see their excellent new website. And Jen Bromme, my germanic soul sister and owner of  Diewerkstatt bike shop in SF – great mechanics for street or race bikes.

International Motorcycle Show

Its that time of year to revise your motorcycle dream list. All the bikes from all the makers will be under one roof in San Mateo next weekend – Nov. 20 to 22.for the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show.

Here’s a discount code special from me to you: go to www.motorcycleshows.com and use the code COB for $3 off entry.

I’ll be speaking on Who Women Riders are Today. Of course there’ll be my pictures for the slide show and I’ve been gathering my facts to open eyes, pop  eyes and show ’em that we’re real, we’re here, and we’re kicking butts.

I’ll be on in the Hub 11:30 – 12:00 on Sat. and 1 – 1:30 on Sunday.

Sue Slate and Gin Shea, founders of the Women’s Motorcycling Foundations and Dirty Dozen fame will be running the Women’s Center. Find the great new gear that is finally seems to be available to fit women.