2013: The Year In Review

A lot of things in my personal life changed about a year ago- 2013 has been an interesting and challenging road that has lead to exciting new things. The MotoLady website has grown more than I could ever have expected, and I want to say thank you for that.

Between my first trip to the East Coast and having the MotoCorsa Manigale photographs I took go ape sh*t silly on national cable and across the web, it’s been a rad year.

Here are some of the most interesting and notable posts of the last 365.

10 Reasons You Should Date A Motorcyclist (article link)
Without a doubt the most popular post ever on the MotoLady website with 60k hits in a day (thanks Reddit).

Silodrome + MotoLady Icon 1000 Akorp Review
Published on both Silodrome (full article link) and the MotoLady website (full gallery link) and photographed by renowned Gregor Halenda, this was sort of a dream come true for me.

Crazy FB Milestones!
My first trip down to San Diego back in September I was at 13k- now I’m at 88k. It’s been absolutely crazy to watch, so thank you thank you thank you to everyone who’s participated in the MotoLady FB page!

The Ragbag Rodeo Event
June of this summer, with the help of the Flying Fifteen MC in Portland, we put on an awesome afternoon (and night) of two wheeled fun (pictures). Motorcycle tug of war (pictured above), minibike racing, pig roast, awesome raffle and more… a fun time was had by all. It was one of my favorite events of the year.

Maryland MotoLady Meetup (article)
Back in March, Sasha Valentine of Cafe Racer XXX brought me out to Maryland and threw a meetup at an awesome men’s retro clothing shop called 16 Tons. With the help of Kevin Dunworth of Loaded Gun Customs (left, photo above) and Jeff Yarrington of Saint Motor Company (right, photo above) many motorcyclists showed up from up to three hours away to hang out despite chilly weather. My first time on the East Coast, and finally getting to meet Jeff was more than awesome since he helped make many parts of the Monster Project possible (paint, front end swap).

Photographing the Saint Motor Company “Tesla” Triumph
During the Maryland trip, I was fortunate enough to photograph the striking oil-in-frame Triumph named “Tesla” built by Saint Motor Company. The photographs were featured on Pipeburn (article) and it was my first time making a long portrait style video (see it on youtube).

The One Show 2013
Each year the One Motorcycle Show gets better and better- being from Portland I take great joy in the massive amount of folks that show up to appreciate the art and bikes. This year Chrome Industries asked me to lead a ride from their shop in downtown Portland to the opening night in SE. Good turnout, some hooliganism across the bridge, and riding a friend’s Ducati 750SS… it was a successful start to an even more successful event. Over the course of the weekend there were over 10,000 attendees including many from across the nation and even internationally. It was amazing to meet notable industry professionals and forge relationships for the future. My photographs and words were published in RAD Motorcycle Magazine (France), and Sportbikes Inc Magazine. Read the full article here.

MANigale Madness!
While the MANigale and seDUCATIve photoshoots I did for MotoCorsa actually happened toward the end of 2012, the internet insanity didn’t hit until a few months ago. They were featured on CNN, NBC, Yahoo, Huffington Post US & UK, on Good Morning America and a ton of other broadcasts. Thanks to everyone who spotted them and sent me screenshots- it was fascinating to watch! Read the behind the scenes article and video here.

Hold Fast Motors Podcast Interview (listen)
Andrew from HFM asked me to do an interview- I was flattered, to say the least. We talked about all sorts of things from how I got into motorcycling, how it got me through my [failed] marriage, and how I feel about gear nazis and negativity in the motorcycling industry. It was fun! Thanks again to everyone who listened.

Ontario Press Trip: Ride the Edge Adventure (posts)
This trip was a dream come true- I flew up to Toronto to meet up with the Explorer’s Edge folks and ride with three other motojournalists through Northern Ontario motorcycle roads. The coolest part to me, was my article published on Motorcycle.com along with this rad video.

MotoLady Monster Project Comes Together
The last two and a half years have been wrought with trial and tribulation for the Monster Project- but because of you amazing people, I’ve been able to make leaps and bounds of progress. It’s currently sitting on the bench at Cerberus Motorcycles while I finish the headlight and tail light mounting brackets. But in the last year it’s gone from a pile of parts to a beautiful motorcycle, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Thanks to everyone for your support, thanks to those of you who helped out the indiegogo funding campaign, and everyone for pushing me to post that instead of put down the wrench for a while.

The Great Move to SoCal
At the end of this year, I decided to do something I’ve been wanting to for a long while… I moved to Southern California (San Diego to be exact). It’s been full of dreamy sunshine almost every day, lots of mountain rides and making great new friends.

Moving South positioned me for a few things- providing cool motorcycle content to you folks year round via constant riding weather awesomeness, and also put me within driving distance of LA where many amazing builders and businesses exist. I’m more than excited for the next year, and leave you with an exciting preview of the new MotoLady website which will be released very soon.