Author(s): Alicia Mariah Elfving

Motorsports

Alicia Mariah Elfving, founder of TheMotoLady.com and the Women's Motorcycle Show, dishes profiles of more than 70 women past and present who ride and wrench as well as anyone, and in the process have proven every bit as indispensable to maintaining and growing a positive motorcycling culture. Written and curated by Alicia Mariah Elfving, founder of TheMotoLady.com and the Women's Motorcycle Show, and arguably the most notable advocate for women in the motorcycling hobby, The MotoLadys Book of Women Who Ride subverts all the tired women-and-motorcycle tropes, offering the true stories of the women past and present who ride and wrench as well as anyone, proving every bit as indispensable to maintaining and growing a positive motorcycling culture.

Historically, depictions of women in motorcycle culture tend to objectify-from the outlaw motorcycle club "biker babe" to cheesecake photography to posturing celebrities with motorcycles as props. The truth is much different. From the early days of motorcycle culture more than 100 years ago, women have played a central role in making the motorcycle a legitimate form of transportation, recreation, and motorsport. Elfving presents more than 70 figures in the motorcycle world, from the Americas to Europe and even the Middle East and South Asia-stunt riders, racers, builders, customizers, organizers, and more. Elfving links today's women motorcyclists with those of the past and illustrates the freedom represented by two wheels, and how motorcycles allow women to transcend cultural expectations confidently. You'll meet riders such as:

• Sofi Tsingos, who raises money for charities by building and auctioning motorcycles.
• Safety ambassador Brittney Morrow, who found her calling after surviving a high-speed crash with no gear.
• The Van Buren sisters, who in 1916 were among the first motorcyclists to ride coast to coast and the first women to ride to the summit of Pikes Peak.
• African American Bessie Stringfield, who made eight solo cross-country trips during the 1930s and 1940s.

Overwhelmingly positive, Elfving instills confidence and can-do rather than providing an echo chamber of common complaints among women in motorcycling. In addition, The MotoLadys Book of Women Who Ride is illustrated throughout with contemporary and historical photos of the author's subjects, comprising a beautiful as well as inspiring package.