Dear Friend,
Five months to go until ride time! We've been busy beavers working behind the scenes coordinating details and finalizing plans with our partners. It's so exciting to feel this event coming together and I want to thank everyone who has registered, volunteered, sponsored and has otherwise jumped in and lent a hand. Know that it's all of you folks that will make this the ride of a lifetime.
Westover Air Reserve Base Tour
We have a unique opportunity during our visit in Springfield! We are teaming up with the 439th Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve to tour the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts on Tuesday, July 5, 2016. There is no charge for the tour of base facilities, including the C5 Galaxy (the C-5 specializes in missions involving outsized and oversized cargo that no other aircraft can carry), and participants will meet with military personnel, including the Women Officers of Westover group. If weather permits, we plan a group photo on the base ellipse.
 Westover has been in operation since 1940 and served as a bomber training base and port of embarkation/debarkation during World War II. Following the war, the base was a staging point for the Berlin Airlift and from 1955 to 1974, the base was a major Strategic Air Command installation. Since then it has served as an Air Force Reserve Command base and is the nation’s largest such facility.
Pre-registration is required by a strict June 1 cutoff; slots are limited and since Westover is a secure military base, a background check is required for entrance. Entry to the base is for registered Sisters' Ride participants only. More information including security clearance forms will be sent out to registered participants next week.
 Summit Pikes Peak!
One of the highlights (quite literally) of the Sister's cross-country journey in 1916 was their ascension of Pikes Peak, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. They were the first women to reach the 14,115-foot summit on motorcycles. Our group will recognize that achievement with a special event at Pikes Peak on July 15. That day, we will stage for the climb up Pikes Peak Highway at 7:30 a.m. at Santa Land, ride through the gates at 8 a.m., and gather for a group photo on top of the mountain at 9:30 a.m. If you'd rather not ride up the mountain or have a carbureted motorcycle that may not make it all the way up the mountain, take the Broadmoor's Cog Railway to the top! For more information on Pikes Peak and the surrounding area, see www.pikes-peak.com.
Colorado Springs is also a great spot to join the ride on July 14 for its final 10 days, as a fully supported and guided tour. The tour fee includes ride guides, chase vehicle support, luggage service, all hotel bookings, two meals a day and other special amenities. Click this link for details.
 Sponsor Highlight: Mad Maps
Many thanks to MAD Maps founder Jenny Lefferts, who is organizing the ride's Grand Finale event in San Francisco. Jenny has been a motorcycle and back roads enthusiast for years, but her passion for travel began long before she was licensed to ride. Her dad's idea of a summer vacation was to load up the family in the '72 VW bus and take to the road. Jenny purchased her first motorcycle after moving to San Francisco in 1987 and was instantly hooked. She began searching the Bay Area for the best scenic roads, thus planting the seed for MAD Maps, a creator and publisher of scenic trip content for road maps, and a company all about finding the most scenic routes with the most unusual attractions, boasting a catalog of almost 1,000 trips in the U.S.
MAD Maps has a comprehensive offering of traditional print maps, along with mobile apps for iPhone and Android platforms, featuring handpicked routes scouted by locals. MAD Maps products are available online and through various sales distribution channels throughout the U.S. http://madmaps.net/
 Real Curves, Real Women, Real Gear
Got questions about what motorcycle gear you need for a long ride or what would best fit your body type? Check out the great advice at GearChic.com. Joanne Donn, women's gear enthusiast and advocate for short motorcyclists, covers the gamut on her website, and you can contact her with specific questions. http://gearchic.com/about-me/contact-me/
 Master a Motorcycle and You Can Master Anything
Liz Jansen's Women, Motorcycles and the Road to Empowerment is a compilation of 50 inspirational stories of adventure and self-discovery. Using her own story as a framework, Jansen integrates interviews with 49 other women whose stories illustrate a literal and symbolic common message of empowerment; how they have tapped into their power and how it has changed their lives. Motorcycles, she says, are vehicles of change and empowerment, exposing undiscovered strengths and opening up a whole new world of possibilities. "Master a motorcycle and you can master anything." Learn more and order the book at http://www.booklaunch.io/lizjansen/womenandmotorcycles
Find a Riding Buddy on Facebook
Want to find a riding buddy to and from the Sisters' Ride? Or a roommate for the journey? Network with other riders on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SistersMotorcycleRide/
 National Parks on our Utah Route
We'll visit two of Utah's most spectacular national parks on our trip west, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.
Zion was Utah's first national park and is known for its sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red and its narrow slot canyons. Hoodoos, odd-shaped pillars of rock left standing from the forces of erosion, are the hallmark of Bryce Canyon, which is home to the largest collection of hoodoos in the world. For more details on the parks visit their websites at http://www.nps.gov/brca for Bryce Canyon and http://www.nps.gov/zion/ for Zion.
Get a Park Pass!
Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks each charge a $25 per motorcycle entry fee. You may wish to obtain an annual park pass, which costs $80 and is valid at all federal recreation sites for 12 months from the purchase date. See http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm for more information.
In the words of Augusta, “Woman can if she will.”
~Alisa
www.SistersMotorcycleRide.com
Press Release for Sharing: Click HERE
Flier for sharing with your club or dealership: Click HERE
Facebook.com/SistersMotorcycleRide
Instagram.com/sistersmotorcycleride/
Twitter.com/sistersmotoride
#SistersMotorcycleRide
|
