On behalf of Black Girls Ride Magazine, thanks to all of the registered guests that came out to support the 4th Annual Beautiful Bikers Conference, presented by Indian Motorcycle, Victory Motorcycles, and Polaris Slingshot! This year’s event was held November 18 - 21, 2016, at the fabulous Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Long Beach, CA. For the first time, we expanded our itinerary to three days, jam-packed with information and celebration of women who love the ride. Special thanks to our additional sponsors: Law Tigers, Gravitate Jeans, Hudson Motorcycles, L8D Ryder Gear, Irv Seaver Motorcycles, Chic & Curvy Boutique, Motochic Gear, Evil Empire Designs, and Westside Motorcycle Academy. Take a ride with us...
The weekend started on Friday, November 18, with the Ground Pounders Block Party, hosted by Sarah “SeCCRet” Moreau, Hugh “Highway Smiley” Smith, Shareef “Reef” AsSadiq, and Porsche “PT” Taylor. These seasoned cross country riders have racked up thousands of miles on ground. We were honored to have them share their riding history and words of encouragement to new and intermediate riders, who might be considering their next cross country trip. Guests mingled, shopped our vendors tables and enjoyed shrimp, crab, and steak lite bites, with DJ Smoke spinning live. We also introduced the Polaris “Choose Your Ride” Sweepstakes, and showed guests how to enter to win their own Indian Chieftain, Victory Magnum, or Polaris Slingshot SLR using their smartphones!
This year, we expanded our event to include educational Rider Breakout Sessions, featuring some of the most dynamic women in motorsports! The Rider Breakout Sessions covered “Beginning Bikers”, “Getting on Track - Riding For Sport”, “Long Distance Riding”, “Accessorizing For Your Ride”, and “Adventure Riding/Riding Abroad”.
The “Beginning Bikers” Session was led by 16 year old riding sensation, Delshateki “Dirtybird” Izquierdo. She spoke about her first cross country riding journey. Her mother, Ruby “Thunderkat” Izquierdo, spoke about allowing her to choose her own path, and supporting her on her journey. The Beginning Riders Session also featured Erika Willhite and Amanda Cunningham, owners of Westside Motorcycle Academy. As one of the few female-owned training schools in the nation, WMA has trained over 20,000 novice and re-entry riders in the physical and mental skills to become safe and responsible riders.
Our “Getting on Track - Riding For Sport” Session featured the first African American professional female road racer, Joi “SJ” Harris, who talked about her journey into racing and the importance of track days. She was joined by the legendary, Erin Sills, who holds the Guiness World Record as the fastest person on a production sport bike, her BMW S1000RR. Erin spoke about getting started in the sport, and her record breaking runs on the Salt Flats.
Our “Long Distance Riding” Panel was led by Sarah “SeCCRet” Moreau, who shared the story of her rides, including this summer’s 6 week, record-breaking coast to coast ride. International adventure rider, Sandy Kron Borden shared her journey riding across country over 10 years and 15 countries with her family. She inspired riders to travel outside the country for new experiences. Shana Ann Slettedahl of Polaris gave examples of accessorising your ride for long distance trips.
The “Adventuring Riding /Riding Abroad” Panel was led by Alisa Clickenger, of Women’s Motorcycle Tours and producer of the Sisters Centennial Motorcycle Ride, and epic cross country ride from Brooklyn, NY to San Francisco, CA. She shared with us her plans to host the first women’s ride to Cuba!
Later that night, we hosted the “Ride The Runway” Riding Gear Fashion Show, and the Beautiful Bikers Awards, in celebration of women who love the ride. Guest enjoyed a delicious dinner and fresh fruit sangria, as we continued our legacy in honoring the women who inspire us on ground.
Beautiful Bikers Awards Honorees include: Katrina “Dutchez” Roscher - Lifetime Achievement Award, India “Blu Rose” Moss - Ground Pounder Award, 2 DEEP WMC - Beautiful Bikers Club Award, Cali Angels LAMC - Sisters In Service Award, SJ Harris - Sport Rider of the Year Award, Erin Sills - Renaissance Rider of the Year Award.
We ended the weekend with our annual Beautiful Bikers Ride and Photo Shoot. This year, we road to the historic Korean Friendship Bell Park, in San Pedro, CA. Special thanks to the men of Gentlemen MC Los Angeles, who served as our road captains, and worked hard to keep us safe in the rain!
We chose the Korean Friendship Bell as our ride destination because we believe that some of the best bonds are built on ground. We were honored to have these ladies traveled from far and near to celebrate with us! Even riding in the rain, these ladies shine bright! The ladies enjoyed lunch and we had the awesome, Christina Shook, behind the lens for our photo shoot. The weather provided an incredible back drop, and we completed the Beautiful Bikers Mannequin Challenge, which went viral in just 2 days!
Special thanks to our staff: Sarah Moreau, Toni White, Christina Farr, Lonnie Brown, Sean Ray, Robert Sheers, Ken Stanberry, DJ Smoke, DJ Jiji Sweet, and Porsche Taylor. The year’s conference was an awesome weekend of fellowship, education, and riding! Next year will be even bigger and better! Please be sure to save the date for the 5th Annual Beautiful Bikers Conference, November 17 - 19, 2017, in Long Beach, CA!
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