Big girls don't cry, but tough ones do...

The common way of thinking is that women motorcyclists are tough as nails, don't let any emotions show, and are sometimes accused of not having any emotions at all. Well, I'm here to tell ya different and to hopefully set the record straight.

Speaking about the B.O.B. Sisters, I can say that while we're not 'cry-babies', we're also not at the other end of the spectrum either. We don't feed off of drama, nor do we try and create it, but we're not unfeeling robots. If there was a scale measuring such a thing with '0' as crying all the time, and '100' being Mr. Robot-O, I believe the women I knew in this group would land close to '75'.

Jules & Kim celebrating life while trying new foods.

We get hurt emotionally just like most people... I just think that maybe we roll with it better. Maybe that's why it seems as though we don't 'show it' on our face. With my B.O.B. Sisters, we have a lot of the same experiences, so chances are at least one of us has gone through it before and help the other through it.

Then there's the fact that when riding a motorcycle, the rider must constantly be playing the "What if??" game- what if that car pulls out in front of us? What if there's a deer around the next bend? So since we're looking into the future like that, we've already made some plans on what we're going to do. Once the situation has become our reality, we immediately look for the solution, continuing to move on, going forward, usually with the help of our friends, until we're through it.

However, I wonder how the early women motorcyclists handled when they got emotionally hurt.... I'm sure they encountered it- the world isn't all that different today. How did Dot Robinson and Bessie Stringfield handle the tough days?? (For those who don't know, Bessie was not only a women motorcyclist before & during WWII, she was black- having been born in Jamaica. She crossed the lower 48 states, but due to discrimination, the only place she found a place to sleep was on her bike at gas stations. Dot Robinson rode all across the US in 1939 on the lookout for fellow female riders & bike owners, eventually forming the first women's motorcycle club: The Motor Maids.)

How hard was it for Dot & Bessie back in the day when women wore skirts, were domestic goddesses of the home, rarely ventured out without their husbands or a chaperon? Today I'm very greatful to have my B.O.B. Sisters to lean on; to help prop me up when I've got tough times- they are my strength when I need a little help and vice versa. But back in the 30s & 40s, when women motorcyclists were few & far between, who did Dot & Bessie turn to for support?? Maybe they were tougher back then.... maybe on the scale they were closer to a 90 or even a 95....

But I like to think not.... I think that they're friends both male & female, fellow motorcyclists and those who didn't ride were there for Bessie & Dot during the rough roads, so to speak. Like I said, the world isn't all that different today, so perhaps they just let their bikes be their therapy - as they still are - and the pioneering women of motorcycles just road on through it....

Women riders attending a race, early 1930s

Aaahhh- the weather....

I probably jinxed us earlier in the week when the weather forecast was saying 55F with cloudy skies and only a 20% chance of rain.... As I make this blog, the rain is moving in from Lake Ontario, the wind is up and the B.O.B. Sisters have gone ahead and called it a 'no-go' for riding. However, as anyone can tell you, we're all happy that there's been no significant snow accumulations around here!!

The Dyna B.O.B. Sisters ready for the weather!

And that's not to say that the B.O.B. Sisters only ride in the warmth & the sunshine- there's been many a time we've been caught out in the rain or even, as in the case of our trip to Maine this past summer, started out in it. The trick is being ready for it & having the proper gear!! A rain suit is a must, especially on a long trip, and one made for motorcycle riders as they usually have heat shields that protect the suit from melting onto the hot exhaust of the bike. Because the rain suit is waterproof, that also means it's windproof, so not only will it keep you dry, but it will help keep you warm too. If you wear a half helmet (like most of us in our group do, since New York has a DOT helmet law), you need a neck gaiter pulled up over your nose or a bandanna to protect your face. Gloves & goggles too. Bottom line is, the more we're ready to face the elements, the safer we'll be since we're not fighting the elements while riding our Harleys!!

So even though I'll not be out & about on my Harley today, that's ok- it leaves me with time to get to know this website a little better, clean my bike a little more, hang out with my 2 teen-aged kids and maybe even get the Christmas decorations for the house going.... Besides, part of being what I consider a 'true' biker is that we go with the flow. Sure we'll make plans but we're also flexible too. We're not set out to have a specific experience, that way we're not disappointed should that not happen. For us, the joy truly comes from the journey, and - in most instances - when we reach our destination as well.

My First Blog Ever

I'm actually blogging as part of a group- the B.O.B. Sisters. We're a group of women who love to live, love & laugh - especially while riding our Harley-Davidson Motorcycles!! B.O.B. actually stands for Battery Operated Boyfriends and we are evolved from a group called the Road Sisters from Ohio.

We're a dynamic bunch, and I thought that others would like to read about our adventures, possibly even live vicariously through us. We're not the first group of women riders- that would be the Motor Maids- and I doubt we'll be the last.... there's even more than one group with our name, but their B.O.B. stands for Bitches On the Back or Bitches On Bikes. However they are different from us! WE RIDE OUR OWN!!


We do have our own Facebook page as well: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BOB-Sisters/292652594100789

So anyway, this blog is an attempt to follow our adventures, both on and off the bikes. We do live in Northern New York and in the best of weather, we usually get 7 months or so of riding time.... as I'm blogging this, we are all extremely lucky and appreciative to be riding this late in the season! Normally we've put our bikes up for hibernation until March, more often than not, April.

Since the weather forecast for Sunday is in the 50s and mostly sunny with only a 20% chance of rain, so I'm thinking that we'll be able to get on the bikes and ride. The number one rule is there is no whining and the second is there is no plan except to have fun! For right now we're just planning on meeting up and then deciding where to go and what to do.