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Tuesday
Jul312012

What Kind Of Woman Rides a Harley?

Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete.

It's just what I do when I open up my inbox. I delete and delete and delete.

"Post about this!" "Write about that!" "Interview this person!" There are a lot of people willing to tell me what I should write about in this space. They aren't worth your or my time.

But one day I deleted one of those, "Write about this!" emails and it gave me pause.

"Why did I just delete that without even reading it?" I thought to myself.

"Because I'm not that kind of person," I thought.

What kind of person? A Harley-Davidson kind of person. That's what kind.

I don't really know why the deleted email kept popping into my head. I just knew that it was bothering me that I had dismissed it without pause because I'm not that kind of person. I felt like I owed myself an explanation for drawing that conclusion, so I dug the email back out of the depths of the deleted and read it all the way through.

BlogHer and Harley-Davidson were offering to send me to Milwaukee to learn all about Harleys, and there was an opportunity to learn to ride.

"I'm not that kind of person!" I declared to myself.

And the internal debate began. I flashed back to the dog days of summer in North Dakota and to how my aunt and uncle used to ride a Harley. Before you go and think they were pretty badass, they also competed as square dancers. You were far more likely to find them wearing plaid shirts than you were leather, and there wasn't a single tattoo on either one of them. I think "badass" when I think about Harley-Davidson, and they were hardly badass.

So why was I assuming I was not the right flavor of cool to go learn how to ride a Harley?

I made up my mind right then and there I wasn't allowed to say I wasn't that kind of person until I had legitimately given it a chance. So off I went. I went to Milwaukee and learned all about Harley-Davidson.

While I was there, I toured the Harley-Davidson Museum, I visited their corporate offices, and I learned how to ride a Harley. It was SO much fun.

But the thing that stuck with me is I learned exactly what kind of woman rides a Harley.

Mothers ride Harleys. Mothers who are sweet and adorable and absolutely fantastic at their jobs.

(By the way, those two are Rider's Edge instructors. They get paid to teach people how to ride Harleys, and they do it well. Very well.)

The woman on the right? She's a former professional basketball player and soon to be derby girl. She is the kind of person who rides a Harley.

You know who else rides a Harley? Young professionals who most definitely are going amazing places. That's Dana on the left. She's going to rule the world one of these days.

The woman in the middle rides a Harley as well. But Amanda is more than a Harley Woman, she's a cancer survivor.

Mothers, daughters, derby girls, driving instructors, marketing professionals, cancer survivors . . . they all ride Harleys.

Screw the stereotypes. You know who rides a Harley? AWESOME PEOPLE.

You can learn more about the experience of learning to ride a Harley Davidson by watching the My Time to Ride series. I've watched every single episode because it's absolutely fantastic watching women break free of stereotypes and discover they ARE that kind of person.

If you were to buy a Harley, what color would you want? Answer below in the comments for a chance to win a Harley-Davidson Women's Pink Label Embellished Nylon Jacket. Oh, and I'd pick flat black. Or shiny black. Or maybe red. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD PICK THERE ARE TOO MANY CHOICES GAAAAH.

Ahem.

Anyway. The rules.

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the
following unique term in your tweet message: ""#SweepstakesEntry""; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from July 31, 2012 to August 27, 2012

Be sure to visit the Harley-Davidson No Cages brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Reader Comments (49)

Shiny black w lots of chrome :) that sounds like a pretty awesome trip!

July 31, 2012 | Unregistered Commentermindybakes

i definitely would want a black harley. i used to have a black yamaha. i also owned a 1918 harley -- it was in my family a long time. it was olive green (original paint). i truly hope you enjoyed learning to ride. there's nothing like it to keep you in the moment.

July 31, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterrose

I would want an orange and black one. My high school and college colors were orange and black.

July 31, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMary

My BIL had a really pretty yellow one. Can I get one in pink? Because that would be fun. But probably black.

What a fun thing!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMichelle Smiles

My best friend rides. She's a pretty kickass little girl who just lost her job and could use a new jacket. :C)

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterLady J.

I would want a shiny black with some burnt orange!! I went to Harley Davidson's 100th celebration in Milwaukee and an awesome time that was!!!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMary Beth

If I could pick any color? A deep purple. Not Barney purple, but a dark black/purple with a little bit of shimmer with lots of chrome!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterStacey

Most definitely black and orange. Most definitely. Even though it would clash with my new pink jacket that I won . . . .

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterShawna

A Black and Gold Harley....Steeler Colors

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMary Lynn

my wife would love this. :)

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMike T

tweeted: https://twitter.com/thesweepswinner/status/230696882136035329

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMike T

Flat Black. A night rider if you were really curious. Ah, it makes me miss my motorcycle.

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterNycldenise

Flat black is the color I would pick. My husband rides a Harley and I ride on the back with him, we love it!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterLaina Wolf

Yellow, I just saw them in their website and they are awesome!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMexmom

I'd have a yellow Heritage Softail Classic. The hubs and I hope to both get bikes when he retires, but we might not be able to wait that long. I'm glad you went on the trip!

August 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterAmy

The flat black ones are really so cool. Don't tell anyone I said that though. ;)

August 2, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMelinda

Although the black ones are cool, I think I'd go with dark blue. And lots of chrome.:)

August 2, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterShelly

Either shiny black or deep red.

My best friend rides. She's a school teacher and she's definitely a girly girl. Her students think she's really cool. Not only does she teach them about business but she teaches them not to judge a book by its cover. :)

August 3, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMelissa

Shiny royal blue with shiny black and chrome accents......oh yeah, baby!

August 4, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMimi

I would want a Red one!

August 4, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBetty

My first thought was blue, definitely blue. But then I realized for a motorcycle jacket it has to be black.

August 6, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterLinda

Cherry red, please. I've never been on a bike - I need to change that!

August 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterRo bin

my bike would be red... to match my toes! (would love a superlow, but knowing me i'll need a trike of some sort.)
did i win the jacket yet? how about now? now?

August 10, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterhello haha narf

https://twitter.com/AmyW319/status/233999254497161217

August 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterAmy

Neon green with tribal ghost flames. Lots of chrome, but with gloss black parts as well to give it a two tone look that I love so much

August 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMerl

Always, always loved a sportster in white with a modest amount of chrome.

I've heard they're easy to ride ;-)

August 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterJayna @ Yankee Drawl

Red. Definiitely red.

August 12, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMary

I would definitely pick royal blue. My husband has a sportster in the classic black and orange.

August 12, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMarcy

My daughter rides a Harley and she is an awesome woman -- a young successful professional, and, most importantly, a kind, compassionate, never-say-anything-bad-about-anyone person who is always helping out others! Thanks to Harley Davidson, she's met many a fine person to ride with and bond with to become fast friends! Cheers to Harley!

August 12, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterGerry Lynne

Jewel toned forest green.

August 12, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterEx-Pat Pittsburgh Girl

blue, please!

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered Commentermark the painter

red, for my red dragon

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered Commentershort

white, orange, black

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterflowers

custom pink

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKRyan

Flat black

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPittFan

Easy. Red. WANT!

August 13, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterDeb Rox

husband wants black

August 14, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterkimmie sue

Is robin's egg blue an option? With as much chrome as they can fit on it and still be able to be upright.

August 19, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterEleanor's Trousers

Bright blue. Royal. :-)

August 19, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterClairensteinbear

big and black

August 20, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterkimsmith

I'm thinking black.

August 23, 2012 | Unregistered Commentermaria cantu

BLACK with all the chrome in the world!

August 26, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPeggy

a world were u live lift to the fullest

August 26, 2012 | Unregistered Commentererica best

https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/239792019856318467

August 26, 2012 | Unregistered Commentererica best

What is it about flat black? Just makes things that much moe tough looking I guess. My first choice would be black but if push come to shove as long as I get a Harley I won't care if it's 10 different colors as long as I get to ride and it's on my own. This is my dream and I'm to achieve it.

Thank you so much for the giveaway! I wish I could have been there with you all, had to have been a great experience.

August 27, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterManda

I'm torn between being a traditional black with chrome or going the girly route and doing a pink paint job with all the shiny chrome. Pink would definitely stand out....

August 27, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterSharon

Vivid Black and I hope to have one of my own soon!

August 27, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKathy

i love purple! Thanks for a super giveaway!

August 27, 2012 | Unregistered Commenteranash

Tweeted:
https://twitter.com/anashct3/status/240269992233406466
Thanks for the chance to win!
email: anashct1 [at] yahoo [dot] com

August 27, 2012 | Unregistered Commenteranash
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