Tag @motosportinc and use #BreakTheMold to show us how you, or someone you know, is unequivocally pursuing their passion to ride. We'll be highlighting your unique stories over the next couple months, giving away cool gifts along the way.
A few years after NASA RallySport announced that RallyMoto would join its four-wheeled competitors, I signed up for my first ever motorcycle race. Just think the likes of Dakar or the World Rally Championship, but on the smallest scale and on a weekend. Races consisted of a one or two-day stage rally on closed public access roads. It's probably the most fun you'll have (biased of course) on a dirt bike.
Over the years I came home with a handful of class wins, a Motorcycle Lites National Championship, and also a national podium with a third overall among all motorcycle classes. I also found a lot of fun in local harescrambles and a handful of enduros. Those were always a good time.
I had the great fortune of stumbling upon the WLF Enduro crew when they were first starting out, and am honored to be the first highlighted in their WLF Pro-Files campaign. They do so much to bring the off-road riding community together, including events that help raise awareness and money for a charitable causes. They've been amazing at supporting me since the beginning and I'm super grateful for everything they've done and helped out with.
Despite my best efforts as a kid, I didn't get into riding until much later in my life. A few years after I graduated from college, my brother had picked up a vintage XR200 and was headed to the trails down at Hatfield McCoy in West Virginia and I wanted in. As a little sister I always have to get in on the fun of what my brother does, no matter our age.
We borrowed a friends CRF230 and headed out. It had snowed the night before so the trails were semi-frozen and 100 percent soaked but it was the most fun I'd had in my life. Despite being a total first timer, I made it through the weekend way better than I had ever expected. It was all I wanted to do after that trip.
I think the path I started out on was pretty typical at first but I have always viewed life in a unique way, which ended up molding the route I took into something completely outside of what was expected. I think as women we've been relegated to an expectation of always running the green trails and rolling around the track a couple of times and calling it a day. The bar was always set so low, so to me, it was an opportunity to see just how far I could raise it.
It took me a few years and a change in scenery to break into a stride that brought me to where I am now. I raced here and there and participated in a few clubs but riding to me boils down to having fun. With that mindset, I started to settle into the more challenging side of off-road and it became something that defined my riding and style. In the past, I would look at some of the terrain and obstacles I hit at present with abject fear, and now when I look back, they were just stepping stones onto bigger and more difficult things.
I like to think I'm pretty decent at technical riding and that specific path is a never-ending learning experience. There will always be something more challenging and trying, but only when we give up is where it all stops. What was once difficult for me is now fun for play riding. But that's life, you meet every challenge with apprehension and doubt, you can choose to walk away or you can choose to problem-solve it and look back to see how you got past it and used that experience to take on things you never thought you ever would. I love how riding correlates with life like that.
Breaking the mold isn't defined by any one moment or characteristic, it's all in how you transform it to fit who you are to the core and to never let wider expectations keep you within a definition you never belonged to in the first place.
Whenever I'm having an off day, I often think back to this one moment in time while riding trails down in PA when a friend of mine kept hitting these jumps in the trail on a steep descent and I said to myself that I'd never be able to do that. Because at the time they seemed way too crazy to me.
Fast forward to present day and I'm hitting some really sketchy things that my past self (and my present day mom) wouldn't approve of. If you measure everything by the day and not collectively over time, you'll never see the full potential of your abilities and how far you've grown.
Every ride presents a new challenge and the skills and abilities you learn to overcome on a bike, opens yourself up to the same angle of problem solving for when you have to navigate certain situations off of a bike. It's really an empowering feeling.
My bucket list trip has been Iceland for quite some time, but honestly, I've come across so many more amazing places abroad that it's turning into a pretty big list. The main theme of my dream trip is any spot outside of the U.S. and Canada.
Hitting the road on two-wheels to explore Europe would be amazing, part sight-seeing and part two-wheeled adventure, the options are limitless when planning for a riding trip, extra points for riding near areas with amazing food stops.
I can never seem to get enough of Southwest Colorado. The riding is endless and I haven't even seen a quarter of whats actually out there. It can be pretty rugged and remote riding and that's what I love the most about it.
From the countless women riders out there hosting events to encourage and grow the sport with other women, to riders helping riders with medical costs and support, to the events put on by some of our favorite riding groups to benefit children's charities, our country's veterans, and beyond. It really just pulls at your heart and makes you really proud to be able to call yourself apart of something that big and that amazing.
All of it, haha. Seriously, though. There aren't too many instances when you wont see me with all my gear on. Aside from that, one piece that I make sure I have the best of the best of is my helmet. They say it all the time, whats your head worth to you? You take one good ringer and you'll see just how important a proper helmet is.
Make sure it fits correctly! Don't buy used and no hand me downs. I know they can be pretty pricey but its not worth the head trauma with a helmet that is spent from a previous crash. They're meant to give so your brain doesn't. Which means if someone ate it and then let you have it, you could be wearing a helmet that will do nothing to protect you as its capabilities to prevent serious injury are completely diminished.
Choosing quality brands with a great track record will set you along the right path to begin with and then navigating the waters to whether you're stoked on a product or not will be trial and error for the most part. Over time you'll start to single out your absolute must have favorites from the gear you want to steer clear of.
