A heartfelt thank you to the hundreds (552 to be exact) of you who took the Helmet Hair™ Magazine.com Reader Survey back in October. The results have finally been tabulated and revealed for your dissecting pleasure.
While many of your responses were not so different from those we garnered back in 2005—when we conducted our first survey—there were new surprises and revelations that may hold the key to increasing our numbers and exposure, which is really the bottom line.
Scooterists get serious about speed
Everyone knows scooters don’t go nearly as fast as motorcycles, and they knew they couldn't compete against these records.
The Southern California Timing Association, which hosts events at Bonneville and other venues, precludes two-wheelers with less than 15" wheels from participating. With no recognized sanctioning organization willing to accept motor-scooters into the fold, they decided to create their own organization, appoint their selves as the sanctioning organization of motor-scooter land-speed records, and get about the business of hosting the First Annual Motor-scooter Land-Speed Record Trials.
“Scooters and the people who ride them don't always get a lot of respect from the motorcycling community, but you'd better believe they're taking themselves more and more seriously. When in 2007 a group interested in setting up land speed record classes for scooters was rebuffed by the folks who run motorcycle speed-racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats each year, known as "Speed Week," they decided to do it themselves." ~Ken Bingenheimer
The event took place on the Historic Route 66 in Devore, California and was a complete success! The 13 featured classes ranged from 50cc to 650cc as well as 3 sidecar classes. Four engine classes were permitted: 2- and 4-stroke aspirated and 2- and 4-stroke turbo. In their release about the event, the MSILSF says, "We kept our first annual event extremely simple. We’re essentially running a 'run what you brung’ speed trial for scooters only. Scooters have two small wheels! We’re self-proclaiming this to be the First Annual Motor Scooter World Land Speed Trials, so if you set the highest speed in a particular class you will hold the 'Motor Scooter World Land Speed Record' for that class."
Nevertheless, organizers are still working with the powers-that-be for Speed Week and still have hopes of becoming part of that event. "We are now working with Dennis Manning of BUB Racing to integrate motor-scooters into the AMA/BUB 2011 Bonneville program," says the organization. But for now, the Second Annual Motor Scooter World Land Speed Trials is in the works riding on the triumphant success and participation from the first event.
For more info and events go to www.motorscooterlandspeedfederation.org
Photo credit: Allen Spears Photo © 2010
Stefy Bau, 2 time former American and Women Motocross World Champion, along with Julie Keates present to you 211 MX School; empowering women in sports!
Their international motocross camps target every rider that wants to became a better athlete, with an emphasis on women racers. Classes are held world wide at different locations and they are offered in a variety of styles such as group camps, semi-private and private lessons. In all the camps, they give special attention and tips on how to lower our carbon emission while training so to make the motocross community more green friendly. At 211 MX school they believe that we all have to do our part on helping the planet!
The Camps are always full of fun and learning experiences, making each class a lifetime of memories while creating everlasting friendship. We work with professional athletes but every professional rider was once an amateur so we enjoy taking on ambitious people.
The next 2-day camp is on November 20-21st with a space limit of 10 riders (women only) at Oak Hill MX in Texas. The students will learn the correct body position, how to save energy when riding, the correct preparation for training and racing, and some tips on the necessary safety equipments. As well as, one on one training with Stefy to acquire skill, technique, mental training, knowledge in the health of an extreme sport athlete, etc. There are a few goodies involved at the end of this camp for the participating riders.
And as special guest participant, Noora Naraghi, Iran's first woman motorcross champion, who has come to the US to train with Stefy to hone her skills in the art of motocross so she may go back and teach MX to other women in Iran. This is very empowering for women in Iran as well as around the world. CNN felt the same and covered the story.
For more information and/or to book this camp, or for general inquiries, please go to www.211mxschool.com or email: [email protected]
Once upon a time, on an acre of land in Madrid, New Mexico was a miniature city called Tiny Town constructed and inhabited by scavenger artist, Tammy Jean Lange, aka, Tatt2 Tammy. It had been a unique roadside wonder complete with saloon, church, courthouse and jail. All built by her own two hands from broken glass, rusted metals, old toys and amongst other things… bones. Tatt2 Tammy sees a certain beautiful macabre in the unwanted items that others would normally put into a landfill. And, the lovely bones which she carefully rescues from highways and byways are reserved for special creations such as the Tiny Town residents and “Gnarleys”, motorcycle sculptures. The “Gnarleys” range from life-size to table-top, the perfect use for those critters who met their unfortunate demise on the open road. To transform the bones from road kill to sculpture, Tatt2 Tammy buries, exhumes and meticulously cleans them to a brilliant pallor. "I resurrect the dead animals and I give them a new life," she states in a High Country News article. "It’s art that dies to live." Her work caught many an art scout’s eye landing an exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and numerous features in travel magazines nationwide. Nowadays, Tiny Town only exists in pictures and stories, but her artwork still remains in shops and homes around New Mexico. Rumor has it that Tatt2 Tammy is still working on reviving her collection while doing landscape work and tattooing.
To view more images of Tatt2 Tammy and Tiny Town go to: http://www.flickr.com/groups/tinytown/pool/
Photo credits: Lawrence Harris, narrowlarry.com
Germany's Steffi Laier the only woman full factory rider in the Red Bull KTM team on Sunday completed the sweep of world championship titles for the Austrian offroad market leader when she sealed her second consecutive WMX world title at Fermo, Italy.
Steffi settled the title question already on Saturday after the first moto, which she won by more than 11 seconds. This gave her 299 championship points and a 46-point advantage over second placed Livia Lancelot, also riding KTM. Her title gave KTM a clean sweep of the World Championship titles for riders and manufacturers.
Way to go Steffi Laier! Our helmets off to you!
For more info on Steffi's incredible accomplishments in the MX circuit go to http://www.steffilaier.de/news/
HH's very first Featured Artist, Lory Lockwood, hits the big screen via her artistry. Sylvester Stallone hired Lory to paint three guitars for his new movie, "The Expendables". In the film, Mickey Rourke's character can be seen painting on one of them in a tattoo parlor - while Lockwood is closely backstage on standby as his personal art consultant during the take.
Ride on, Lory! We are so happy for your accomplishment and can't wait to hear all the juicy details!
Read Helmet Hair's April-June 2010 article with Lory Lockwood here.
Last summer…via Adventure for the Cure
Progressive Insurance sponsored Dirty Dozen Riders’ efforts to raise $46,000 for Breast & Ovarian Cancer Research. Fast Forward to today...
It is poignantly, painfully and vividly clear that the lives we save may very well be our own and of those we hold dear, like Gin Shear diagnosed November 5, 2009 and Cindy Fata diagnosed July 7, 2010.
CAN/AM Journey of Hope 2010
8900 Miles… 14162 Kilometers… Join the quest as a Spirit Rider on “CINDY’S RIDE” presented by Progressive Insurance #1 in Motorcycle Insurance.
You may have a Cindy by another name in your life, a high energy individual, gregarious, assertive, creative, giving, fun and incredibly ALIVE!
Our Cindy is an avid motorcyclist, a member of Women in the Wind Motorcycle Club; Long Island Chapter. She’s a balloon artist, school psychologist, MSF Rider Coach, daughter, sister, and friend.
Cindy is in love with John, life and the world. She meets life head on and when confronted with a challenge she affirms, “Time to put on my BIG GIRL PANTIES and deal with it.”
Yes! Ten to one, you know someone with “Cindy” spirit. You know; the kind of person who gets a diagnosis of breast cancer one day but still shows up for her club’s national motorcycle rally the next. The kind of woman who goes about the business of taking charge of her diagnosis, scheduling her MRI, getting a second consultation, picking a surgeon all the while preparing and hosting a daughter’s baby shower and spending nine days in 95-110 degree heat becoming certified as a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Coach.
We need our “Cindys.” We need our “Cindys” healthy and happy. They kick-butt, inspire us to action, make us laugh and are there when we need them. So, we need to KICK BUTT, INSPIRE, MAKE OUR CINDYS LAUGH AND BE THERE FOR THEM!
Knowledge has only the potential for power. It’s when we ACT that the power is realized; progress is made and we move forward as individuals and as a species.
How to Become a Spirit Rider on Cindy’s Ride
1. Contribute Today: Go to www.dslrf.org (Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation) and click the donate tab on the homepage. Fill out the donation form and specify CAN/AM Journey of Hope – Cindy’s Ride - Spirit Riders as the designation for your donor contribution through the “Donor Designations” pull down menu.
2. Follow WMF, Inc. co-founder Sue Slate on the Women’s Motorcyclist Foundation’s blog as she travels 8800 Mi /13035 K on a three segment ride starting from Huntsville, Ontario, Canada to Anchorage, Alaska. In Alaska will ride 750 dual sport miles and then head to Southern, CA. www.womensmotorcyclistfoundation.org/blog
3. Consider joining WMF, Inc. next spring for Dirt Bike Training for the Cures and/or becoming an Adventure for the Cures Rider next year in Alaska, more details coming this fall.
4. You can also become a member of the LOVE/AVON ARMY OF WOMEN! With the goal of recruiting one million women of all ages and ethnicities, with or without breast cancer, you can be part of the revolutionary movement to end breast cancer once and for all. Signing up is easy, and you will start getting information about various research studies from across the country In need of women. With one million women strong, we can prevent breast cancer! Go to www.dslrf.org
Those waging battle against breast cancer are depending on us to win the war.
A must see: The TODAY Show’s Jenna Wolfe explores why so many women, even mothers and grandmothers, are gravitating toward owning a motorcycle.
Check out the video now!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38306782#38306782
Helmet Hair would like to congratulate Jessica Prokup and Cam Arnold from MIC, and also Jan Plessner of Kawasaki on their great input in this morning Show. Great mix of women and nice product placement for Kawasaki and Dainese. Ride on, Ladies!
The Cause. The Rally.
•Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today (after lung cancer) and is the most common cancer among women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers.
•According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer annually worldwide about 465,000 will die from the disease.
•An estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the US during 2008; about 1,990 new cases are expected in men.
•An estimated 40,930 breast cancer deaths (40,480 women, 450 men) are expected in 2008.
The statistics are staggering but its impossible to ignore the fact that every single one of us has been touched by someone affected by breast cancer. It doesn’t discriminate and it doesn’t play favorites. We know there are organizations and fundraisers to help but we know that until the cure is found and until women stop dying from breast cancer…wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and best friends will be lost and we can’t live with that responsibility. That is why we donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.
Breast cancer is often first suspected when a lump or change is noted in the breast or when an abnormal area is found on a mammogram. Most of the time, these findings do not turn out to be cancer. However, the only way to know for sure is through follow-up tests. Learning about these tests and how to interpret their results can help you understand your diagnosis and make treatment choices that are best for you.
That is why on July 26th – July 28th SportBikeChix. will conquer the legendary Dragon at Deal’s Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains. A beautiful mountain road with 318 curves in 11 miles. We form friendships, raise awareness and money for research….and of course ride our sportbikes!
For more info and to register go to: http://sportbikechix.com/rally/
The statistics listed above have been taken from the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) and Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure (ww5.komen.org) web sites.
Jodee's Journey Fund
Jodee's journey began as a young girl when she was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes also known as Type 1 Diabetes. Jody is now 34 years old and has managed to live with her disease very well. She lives a full and happy life as an energetic self-employed entreprenuer in the Pet Sitter Industry and is a proud member of the PSA.
But on May 11, her 34th birthday, tragedy struck. Jodee had a mild-moderate stroke in the left temporal lobe of her brain. She's recovering now, but the immediate result was that she lost mobility and feeling in her right arm below the elbow, which seems to be slowly coming back.
The cause seems to be three blood clots that have been discovered in her brain, one at the base that has restricted blood flow from her carotid artery by 60%-80% and two more near the center of her brain. She's in imminent danger, and needs surgery to remove the clots and put a stent in her brain to release the blockage. This vascular complication, as well as, other health issues stem from having Type 1 Diabetes. Jodee is uninsured because she is a Type 1 Diabetic, which insurance companies consider a "pre-existing condition" that renders her uninsurable. Alltogether with her loss of income, her lack of insurance and her continuing struggle to obtain insurance at any level has left her in dire need of financial help. This help is crucial to cover her insulin/medications, surgeries and overall living expenses while she recooperates. Jodee is slipping through the cracks of our health care system, and since it cannot help her in her time of need, her friends and family have a precious opportunity to show her how important she is. It's time to donate. Challenge yourself to give the most you can. Re-invent Jodee's future and shine in this very serious time of need.
HH's co-editor, Cara Mae's Note: Right now 23.6 million children and adults in the USA have Juvenile-Type 1 Diabetes. This disease increases one's risk for many serious health problems which include stroke, heart disease and heart attacks. Fact is, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die of a stroke or heart disease. And not only is Jodee dealing with this disease daily, but I do too as the mother of a Type 1 son. Our world was turned upside down on December 8, 2008 when Ben was diagnosed at the age of 10 with this scary disease. And to hear what she is going through is extremely heartbreaking to us. From my family and the Helmet Hair community, we send our positive thoughts and support.
