The group’s motorcycles lined up outside of Trail, B.C.

Refueling at the Colville Safeway. 

Margie Siegal sits atop the Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Low outside of the Comfort Inn in Colville.

Female motorcycle journalists pass through Colville while riding Selkirk Loop

BY SOPHIA ALDOUS
S-E Staff Reporter

    There’s nothing quite like a road trip. Particularly one that’s made up of 12 national and international female mo¬torcycle journalists who are cruising the renowned Selkirk Loop.
    Organized by the Idaho Divi¬sion of Tourism, in Col¬laboration with Harley-David¬son Motor Company, the four-day, 705-mile expedition brought the intrepid motorcy¬clists to Colville last Sunday evening. Over dinner at Lovitt’s Restaurant, the ladies talked about their passion for motorcycles and the open road.
    “I’ve had so much fun,” said Diane Norton of the Idaho Di¬vision of Tourism Develop¬ment and coordinator for the trip. “It has been a blast.”
    Living as close to Colville as Ione and coming from as far away as Germany, the group was equipped with a variety of new 2010 Harley-Davidson motorcycles that they rode from northern Idaho to Brit¬ish Columbia and along the edge of eastern Washington.
    “It’s been a sensory over¬load,” said Pam Collins of New Jersey, a writer for Road Bike Magazine and Key Stone Mo¬torcycles. “It’s been great for me. Where I ride on the east coast, everything’s different. The trees, the foliage, the mountains, and the lakes---I keep thinking I have to come back here and spend more time.
    “It’s also rewarding to spend time with like-minded women, because they understand my passion and share it. Every one here gets along; it’s one of the best times I’ve had.”

Motorcycle riding among women on the rise

    That ardor for motorcycles is on the rise among women, and manufactures have no¬ticed. According to the Motor¬cycle Industry Council Owner’s Survey, the number of women in the United States purchasing motorcycles has risen 28 percent since 2008, with one out of three buyers being fe¬male.
    Women who own their own motorcycles has jumped to a 50 percent increase since 1998, along with a 34 percent increase in the number of women riders, with the majority holding techni¬cal/professional jobs or col¬lege degrees.
    “It’s an exciting time to be female and on a motorbike,” said Genevieve Schmitt, who was inducted into the Sturgis Hall of Fame in Sturgis, South Dakota, in 2001 for her jour¬nalism work of raising aware¬ness on female motorcyclists.  
    “Motorcycle manufacturers are slowly starting to take the hint and market their product towards women. There’s an untapped market there that is just waiting to be discovered,” Schmitt said.
    Margie Siegal, writer for Classic Bike, Rider Magazine, Motorcycle Collector, IronWorks Magazine (where she is the vintage editor) and Motorcycle Classics, likened the experience of motorcycle riding to the same intensity that comes from skiing, minus the cold weather and money forked over for a lift pass.
    “It forces you to forget the cares of the day and allows you to decompress,” stated Siegal.
    Michelle Baird, a contribu¬tor and copywriter at Cycle News, America’s Weekly Motor¬cycle Newspaper, echoed that assertion.
    “Something happens to you when you are riding a motor¬cycle,” Baird explained. “It’s like meditation. You’re fo¬cused on what you’re doing, but you’re also acutely aware of everything. It’s like this clear-headed calm just settles over you.”
    Most of the women in the group have been riding motor¬cycles for over 10 years. Na¬tive Washingtonian, Susan Swan Hobbs, has been riding for 45 years. A columnist and feature writer for Thunder Press, a national motorcycle publication covering Harley-Davidson and American Mo¬torcycle news, she and her husband, Matt, operate a cer¬tified sustainable-yield tree farm in Ione. For her, one of the major highlights of the trip has been bonding with other women.
    “I don’t think women realize the value of spending time with other women, especially in large groups like this,” she said. “It’s just a source of support and encouragement that is kind of hard to beat. Of course, we’re all very fortu¬nate to have supportive sig¬nificant others that encourage our love of this sport.”
    The ladies had one more day on the road before their excursion ended in Spokane, and they all had to return to their respective homes and workplaces.
    “For me, it was great to see this part of the country,” said Jennifer Gruber, Product Communications Manager from Harley-Davidson Motor Company. “The local people have been very gracious and I’ve got to travel with these awesome women. It’s been great.”