Rider Profile - Bridget Reynolds
Bridget grew up around motorcycles – her dad rides a Harley. She can't remember a time when she didn't know she would own one of her own and actually got her motorcycle license many years before she got her car license. She started saving for her 1 st bike when she was 13 and at age 21, paid cash for her 1 st bike – an 883 Sportster.
She remembers taking the course at Humber and learning to ride on a Suzuki GN 125 and then going home and trying to ride the Sportster. She had no female friends that rode or male rider friends either. Her dad had moved out to B.C. so she had to learn to ride and look after her bike on her own.
After graduating from university, she moved to BC for 4 years where she got some great riding experience with her dad and his friends. Opportunity for work brought her back to Ontario ten years ago.
January found her visiting the Humber booth at the IMSS (January Motorcycle Show) and it didn't take long for her to get an invitation to learn to become a riding instructor. She demonstrated a natural ability for teaching and held the position of Sr. Instructor for the last 3 years that she taught.
6 years ago, she went to FAST Riding s chool at Shannonville and fell in love with sport bikes. She sold the Sportster, bought a 99 Ninja ZX6R which she rode for a year and then moved up to her current bike, a 2000 Suzuki TL1000R.
FAST school led to the realization that she loved being on the race track. After the expense of crashing her street bike on the track she bought a YZF 600R which she rode for track days that year. It wasn't fast enough so she sold it and bought an R1 which she raced in the 2004 Trophy Femme (Women's Cup) - Canada 's first women's racing series ever. The R1 was actually too difficult to maneuver on a tight track like Shannonville so she sold it and bought a Yamaha YZF R6 with the intention of racing last summer.
Life has a way of interfering with plans and when she found out she was pregnant, she thought she could never give up a summer of riding. She intentionally didn't want to have children for that reason, however, since the birth of her son last June, her life is so different and rewarding in ways she never thought possible. “He was so worth it.” 2 weeks after he was born, she was back on her street bike; 6 weeks after his birth, she was able to fit into her husband's leathers and was back on the track. She and her husband bundled up the baby and continued going to the track – she did 12 track days last year. It worked out really well for them as a motorcycle activity they could do as a family – they didn't want to leave their child at the sitter. One would go out on the track, while the other would tend to the baby.
A few weeks ago, she made a difficult decision. They had to get their 11 month son out of bed at 5:30AM and pack him up to go to the track; he hadn't slept well and he was not happy. They decided that perhaps this routine was going to be a little too hard on him now that he was older. Any questions regarding that decision were removed later in the day when she crashed her bike and was injured. She remembers lying on the stretcher in the ambulance being treated and her husband standing there holding their baby. “Racing is dangerous. I really want to do it but once you have children, you've got someone else to think about. My son's too young. It breaks my heart but I have to give it up for a few years”.
Her advice to women who want to get into riding in general is to do it. “It's a great sport, we're really on an equal playing field – men and women of all sizes and abilities can find a bike to suit their riding level, their size, and their interest. Things have really changed – motorcycle manufacturers are really trying to meet everyone's needs. In racing, w e're just as fast if not faster than a lot of the guys.” She finds many of the guys are very supportive – a lot of them think it's really neat that women are out there racing.
Her biggest challenge when she started riding 12 years ago was trying to find motorcycle clothing and accessories made for women. She couldn't find a T-shirt that wasn't geared towards being the “bitch”; 4 years ago when she wanted a pair of dirt bike boots, she had to buy boy's boots and had to get her racing suit custom made. These days, you can easily find those items.
Another challenge she faced was that she did not know how a bike worked mechanically so she spent a great deal of time educating herself. “Now the guys ask me to come along and help them check it out. Before I'd have to bring a male friend along to help – now I help them!”
Four years ago she started doing product reviews and writing for Powersport News and their women's magazine - Empower. ”People would recognize me from my picture and it stimulated lots of conversations. They thought it was neat that a woman was writing about her motorcycle adventures". Dave Hatch even invited her to test ride a 2003 Suzuki GSXR 1000 for his show Motorcycle Experience.
Has motherhood slowed her down? Next month , she'll be returning to a new position at Yamaha Motor Canada as their Parts and Accessories Sales Manager for Ontario . She's been working with Yamaha 3 years and “they've been amazing – very supportive of women in motorsports fields in general." Racing is getting a break and she wants to continue her street riding. Down the road, she'd like to race again. Whatever she does, she plans to keep living the dream!