SPORTS CORNER
'Chicks on Bikes': Doin' it right
Betsy Huelskamp, and Michelle Dell return
from a cross-country road trip
Photo: Christina Shook
There’s been an ongoing love affair between women and motorcycles ever since one jumped on a bike more than 100 years ago. The ladies covet the freedom of the road just like the men do, but with their own style and panache.
Author-photographer-rider Christina Shook has published a beautiful book titled Chicks on Bikes. It contains 156 pages with 140 photos and stories about more than 30 female riders from a wide range of backgrounds. Essays describing different aspects of riding kick off each section of the book, with titles like “Sisterhood,” “Style,” “Risk,” “Journey,” “Mechanica,” and “Speed.” With her accompanying photos and prose, Shook tells us their stories by focusing on their perspectives as female motorcyclists coming from different stages in their lives and careers.
“This collection of images and stories is a fascinating and intimate dive into the lifestyle of female motorcyclists,” according to Shook’s forward in Chicks on Bikes. “It’s all about the young, the old, the beautiful, and the ugly; the tough and the delicate; the wild, the sensible, brave, and gentle; the factory worker and the corporate leader – united in the spirit of motorcycling.”
Shook described how the idea behind Chicks on Bikes began and what she learned while taking the photos and meeting this disparate group of motorcycling women. “I wanted to tell the stories of women bikers and wanted to get to know them in the process. I had a feeling that it might offer a large degree of visual appeal, but after I worked on it, I realized that the women’s stories were the biggest thing. I did it originally to be fun and hoped that it would look cool, but in the end what was most important was being able to debunk the way women on bikes have been inaccurately portrayed for so many years. It ends up being a story of how motorcycling has changed their lives in so many ways.”
wrote Chicks on Bikes, focusing
on 30 female motorcyclists
On her website, Shook describes her passion for riding and why the Bay Area is such a great place to ride. “There’s a biker saying that states, ‘Ride to live, live to ride.’ I personally could say, ‘Ride to shoot, shoot to ride.’ Chicks on Bikes has given me the opportunity to ride around on my motorcycles (I have three) and meet amazing women. A lot of the book is shot here in the San Francisco Bay Area because that’s where I live. I’m absolutely in love with San Francisco, and I have no problem saying that it’s the motorcycling capitol of America, because we can ride here all year round on some of the most spectacular roads in the world. I run a portrait photography business and sometimes show up for sessions on a motorcycle to surprise my clients.”
Shook adds, “My two little girls think motorcycles are really cool, and my daughter Ella now rides on the back. She has all the proper riding gear from a full-face helmet, armored jacket and riding pants, to leather boots and gloves. She got all the gear for her 10th birthday. She loves riding!”
If you are interested in buying Chicks on Bikes, I recommend it. It’s a great read (some of the essays read like poetry) and the photos are exceptional. Visit www.chicksonbikes.us to order a book signed by the author for $24.95 (as opposed to $29.95 for an unsigned copy elsewhere).
Random Thoughts
Who’s going to be able to beat the Philadelphia Phillies with their amazing pitching staff next season? With Ray Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, I’m reminded of the 1971 Baltimore Orioles (Palmer, Cuellar, Dobson, and McNally, all 20-game winners), the 1954 Cleveland Indians (Feller, Lemon, Wynn, and Garcia), and the 1993 Atlanta Braves (Maddux, Avery, Glavine, and Smoltz). With Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, and Sanchez, can the Giants compete against the mega-talented Phils in the NL next season? Get ready for the pitching wars of 2011.
The Brett Favre streak is finally over. It’s sad when we see our heroes hanging on, getting old and going down to injury. Too many athletes are reluctant to hang it up when the time to retire is right. Good examples are Joe Namath, Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth. During this NFL season, we’ve seen several of our former stars like Favre and Donovan McNabb slowing down as they hit that wall called “age.”
Ed Attanasio is an author who loves his wife, two dogs, and just about any sport that’s
on TV – except competitive sudoku. He would have been the Segovia of Scrabble,
but he couldn’t handle Qs. E-mail: [email protected]
