It was pretty cool to be a part of the Inaugural Women’s Sportbike Ralley West over May 29-30 in beautiful Big Bear, California!

My weekend started Friday afternoon as I rode my motorcycle from Oceanside to Big Bear by way of the CA-18. It was a long and lonely ride, taking an occasional break to stretch my legs. By the time I got to the Robin Hood Inn, I couldn’t feel my shifter; my ankle was so tight.

I arrived and checked into the Robin Hood Inn, where Rachael and I arranged to share a room. I ran into a couple girls I knew, including Jessica (“Dlinquencious” by YouTube fame) and Shanae (“girlonthe600” also on YouTube) all the way from Utah.

I finally actually got to meet Christina Shook, the author of the book Chicks On Bikes, which I had received a copy of from her to do a review on (awesome book; go buy it!).

After checking in, more and more girls started arriving and checking into the hotel. Dinner and a raffle was provided at Saucey Mama’s Pizzeria paid for by Russ Brown Motorcycle Lawyers. There was a nice meet-and-greet where we were all encouraged to get up and meet the other women who had come out for this event. And that’s how I met Bonneville Land Speed racer Erin Sills!

Saturday was a day for riding! But first, let us take a selfie! The girls met Boulder Bay Park on the coast of Big Bear Lake for a group photo, where a few more girls met us for a day of riding. Including Jennifer “Cookie” Bauer, whose reunion hugs are always the greatest!

Jenn, Rachael and I decided to take some back roads through Big Bear (since Rachael had gone to school up there) and rode down the CA-38 for some beautiful sweepers and scenery. We actually caught up to a big group of girls from the Rally at a construction stop, and we all rode together down just outside of Redlands for a Mexican lunch. Cookie decided to head back to her boyfriend’s place from there, and I’m not sure where the other girls decided to ride off to, but Rachael and I decided to go for a little ride up to Oak Glen’s apple orchard to check out the petting zoo and have some chocolate. It was cheat day.

We headed up the CA-38 again and headed back to the inn to relax and rest before dinner and another raffle that evening, which would be at the inn itself. I loved that Rachael and I could just sit in our respective beds and read our books without bothering or boring each other.

After dinner, some of the girls went to another bar in town where there was a Sublime cover-band playing, but Rachael and I had decided to call it a night and went back to relax at the room.

The next morning, there was a farewell breakfast and bike-wash planned, but Rachael and I both wanted to dip out early to be able to rest and recover back home, so she and I went for a walk in the morning down to the Teddy Bear Restaurant for breakfast, where we were joined by Lisa, whom we had met earlier in the rally.

We continued our walk down to a coffee shop (which not only took forever to get our coffees, but didn’t taste good either!) before loading our bikes back up and heading down the CA-38 back down into the Moreno Valley area where we took a short break to say our farewells.

I totally recommend the Women’s Sportbike Rally to any chick on a motorcycle. Three days of riding with the coolest girls in the area (and some from out of the area!), and with the exception of the group photo and dinner on Saturday, the day is entirely whatever you make of it. The organizers of the Women’s Sportbike Rally had chosen Big Bear because of its many beautiful roads, which offer everything from easy to complicated, slow to fast routes to ride through. In fact, I know there was a group that had gone down into Idyllwild for lunch before coming back to Big Bear for rest and dinner (I don’t know how they beat us back to the inn considering Rachael and I had just gone to the bottom of the mountain, let alone up another one, but hey, whatever). I got to meet a lot of really cool girls, whom I still keep in touch with over social media.

I’m super excited and ready for the next one in the first weekend of June. 😉