A Bitter Sweet Announcement!

A Bitter Sweet Announcement

For the past four years, at New Jersey Motorsport Park, I have attended the biggest motorcycle event on the East Coast as a Vendor. It’s my absolute favorite weekend of year!! Nothing can compare to the roar of the race bikes, the incredible amount of Race Teams and Trailers, and the huge volume of race fans that share an overwhelming amount of excitement for the love of motorcycles!!! I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world other than setting up my RIDE LIKE A GIRL RACING apparel booth with my greatest, and only employee, my sister, Lindsay Rafferty. We spend most of our time laughing at and with each other, before we remember that the crowds are coming and we haven’t finished setting up yet. Lindsay does an amazing job at keeping the booth and myself organized. I usually find myself asking HER what to do next!!! She also knows how to hold down the fort while I spend a majority of my time meeting and greeting my customers, something I am very passionate about when I’m at these events!! I am so thankful for Lindsay’s help, her enthusiasm, and her willingness to tough it out and dance in the rain with me while we watched other vendors pack up for the day… it’s all for the love of racing!!!

But I have another passion as well!! Motorcycle Safety!! Anyone who knows me, can tell you that I am constantly spreading the good word about how important it is to take street riding serious!! That includes rider awareness and ATGAT (all the gear all the time!). When I first told my husband that I wanted to ride a motorcycle, he said “Awesome, but you are taking a Basic RiderCourse first”. I didn’t realize it at that time, but it was the greatest life-saving advice he has ever given me!! So, 7 years ago, I signed up for Trama’s Auto School in New York and was on my way to a life-long passion for two wheels! Since then, if I had a dollar for every time I tried to persuade a new or experienced rider to take this class, then I’d be a millionaire! Then one day, I had that light bulb moment and realized that maybe I could be teaching the Basic RiderCourse (BRC). I decided to go back to where it all began and gave Eric Trama a call. He welcomed me to start shadowing the BRC!! The very first time that I helped the students ride across the range for their first time, I cried… hahaha!!! I was just so happy for them. I’m not sure who was more excited, me or them! It was so rewarding to know that they had just accomplished something so amazing!! From that point on, I knew that becoming a BRC was exactly what I wanted to do!!

 And now for the Bitter Sweet Announcement:

In order for me to become a RiderCoach, I need to attend the RiderCoach Preparation Course! Unfortunately, my course is falling on the same weekend as MotoAmerica at NJMP this year. It was an extremely tough decision for me to make… be a vendor or become a RiderCoach??? It takes a lot of time and planning to be a vendor at any event. I was about an hour away from ordering all of my merchandise for MotoAmerica when I received a phone call from Eric. With my fingers crossed and praying that the two would not fall on the same weekend, Eric gave me the dates… my heart stopped when he said my RiderCoach Prep class was taking place the weekend of September 12^th-13^th. I was excited that it was finally happening but devastated that I would not be attending the biggest motorcycle race in the North East for the first time in 4 years. With lots of tears falling, I still believed that everything happens for a reason!! Becoming a RiderCoach is something that I am passionate about and have wanted to do for a long time. I know if I miss this opportunity now, it may not present itself for a while. I have decided that I am going to move forward and take my course to finally become an official Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic RiderCoach!!! I am truly excited for this new adventure and can’t wait to teach people how to ride!!!

 In honor of MotoAmerica at New Jersey Motorsport Park in September, all U.S. orders placed with RIDE LIKE A GIRL RACING will receive FREE SHIPPING!!! Get your gear now so you can help me represent female riders of all ages!! And if you want me to teach you to ride, visit Trama’s Auto School and reserve your spot today!!!

Get your RIDE LIKE A GIRL RACING Apparel for MotoAmerica: www.ridelikeagirlracing.com

Sign up to learn how to ride: www.tramas.com