Ladies Off-Road Clinic this Saturday

The fourth annual Ladies Off-Road Clinic put on by our friendly folks at SCORRA is being held this Saturday, June 2 north/west of Barrie. Jen Cole starting prepping for this years clinic late 2011 securing dates for the one day show. This will be my third year as head instructor and as always I am looking forward to teach and show the ladies how fun, and challenging (well I think they know that) it is to ride off-road.

Our clinic features hardcore instructors who know how to ride. Back again are:

Allison Grummet – no stranger to motorised bikes and probably had a bike before a tricycle. I recently saw Allison competiting at a MotoGymKhana event with the guys and she kicked butt.

Jamie Kowitz – Do not let her long blonde locks fool you. Jamie is an experienced Ontario woods, as well as Nevada and Baja rider extraordinaire – need I say more?

Tammie Wilson – Tammie is just one of those naturally gifted athletic people. Her and I go back a few years racing Hare Scrambles. It was generally a fight to the end!

Melanie Dennie – Unfortunately, Melanie will not be with us this year as she will have had ACL reconstruction surgery the day before. That is the price you pay for having some fun on the ice with studded tires. Probably did not help that is was night time when it happened. Melanie is one hardcore rider who is actively involved with all levels of our sport. Quick recovery Melanie and see you on the trails in no time.

As in the past, the clinic will run from morning right into the afternoon with a break for lunch. The best part…the guys make lunch for us. Oh and don’t forget guys…a steamy hot face cloth to clean our pretty faces before digging into our lunches would be a very nice, and most welcome, touch 🙂

So far, over 30 women of all ages have registered. There are programs for every skill level. Beginners no need to worry and advanced riders you are going to have loads of fun on the newly designed course. SCORRA was able to secure the help of a very generous land owner who is currently building a ‘track’ to our specifications. There will be a large flat area – perfect for beginners with lots of room so if you choose to lose control over your bike no worries…you won’t hit anybody or anything. Berms, ruts, a do-able table top and double jumps, logs, trails, and more all at our disposal.

What is more…at the end of the day there will be a random draw for a Mission Cycle gift certificate. I have been busy selling my ‘Ontario Women’ series posters featuring Jamie and Melanie as my too hot models. All profits from poster sales are going towards the purchase of a gift certificate. Simply, the more posters I sell the more gift certificates I can buy and the more names can be drawn out of a hat. And this is where you can help.

I decided to introduce the ‘Ontario Women’ series at this years clinic in an effort to help introduce more women into our sport. Wouldn’t it be cool to have more women riders out there? No more borrowing your BFF or your husbands gear. Time to get your own, look good and have proper fitting equipment. And, if your name gets drawn it’ll be free for you.

Spread the word. Buy a poster and support a woman(s) rider. Posters are 12 x 18 ” and printed on thick (12 pt) card stock, glossy and full colour. I purposely designed these posters to enhance the inside of your trailer, garage or house. Price = $20.00. Email me to reserve one. There are only 30 in print of each model.

Thanks for your help!

Cecile

Honey...make sure dinner's on the table when I come back from my ride.Christmas time, she'll be happier with a bike.

Off-road Women Riders are Sassy

I could bore you with the details of my recent photoshoot but I will let pictures speak for themselves this time around.

I will simply say that this past weekend I had an absolute hoot photographing my team mates and friends Melanie and Jaime. Our photos will be used to help promote our team for this years Paris to Dacre (P2D) Dual Sport Challenge by Rally Connex. To date we still do not have a team name but what we do have is spirit.

A while ago I found an abandoned warehouse and knew this would be the perfect place for the shoot. I wanted the graffii to be a focal point yet it had to be a part of us as well. Lively, fun, loud and colourful – a perfect fit to showcase our team. Melanie is feisty and sassy while Jaime is reserved but spunky.

I decided to use one flash set up on a softbox. I wanted an ‘edgy’ look. The single light casted a long, dramatic shadow which worked well as I felt it made us look stronger. The shadow also mimicked that of the written words. Too cool! Theme found and kept throughout the entire shoot.

Both Jaime and Melanie were keen on the location even when I told them we may need to hop a fence. Lucky for us, we found a hole and we walked right in motocross boots and all. It was cold, dark, damp, smelly and was littered with garbage. But what a fun place to shoot. I can not really say where it was because I am pretty sure we were trespassing. Thanks to Jaime and Melanie for being cool with this.

Our ride in P2D will hopefully be historical as we will most likely be the first all women team. Our goal is to finish and to finish strong. I believe our biggest asset is our friendship. Between the three of us we have tons of riding experience. P2D though is all about team effort and I know our friendship will go a long way to helping us achieve our goal.

Cecile – both a sinus infection and an eye infection made for a very red nose that day!