Rider Profile - Mandie Crawford
Mandie Crawford, is the founder of Roaringwomen.com and is a speaker, author, trainer and entrepreneur who dedicates her time to the motivation and promotion of businesses, entrepreneurs, and the self employed. An award winning ex-police officer, mother of four and expert on networking are just a few of the hats she wears.
The best learning Mandie Crawford ever had while riding occurred this summer. “I was riding the (Yamaha) Venture for the 3rd time and I wondered if I could do it. And then I realized that the only one who wondered if I could do it was me”.
Mandie started riding at 18 years old “because it was cheaper than buying a car” She lived in Vancouver and a motorcycle was what she could afford. She sold it after the summer when she decided to have a family. Seven years ago she was working as a police officer and wanted to get into the bike unit. In order to do that, she had to take a training course as she had let her license lapse. Coincidentally, her husband had always wanted to ride and decided that now was the time. She surprised him by taking the course – the next step was purchasing a motorcycle.
A few years ago, Mandie and her husband sold everything, including their bike, and moved to Calgary. When they got there, they loved to go out and drive in their car. “It just wasn’t the same – all these mountains and you’re stuck in this car. I thought I would die without feeling the wind in my hair and I was never going to ride again.” They went to the bike show in February and became the proud owners of a new Venture.
Their previous bike had been a Virago 1100 and the Venture weighs 960 lb. – the thought of riding it terrified her. For the first while, she rode as a passenger. “I think that helped me get used to the weight of it” Then one day, her husband pulled off into an industrial area and said “here you go”. Never being one to turn down a challenge, she took the controls and off she went. She had to renew her license and successfully completed the test on that Venture.
“There are a lot of things about riding a motorcycling that we can transfer to life– we really don’t push ourselves far enough when it comes to risk. Women need to do more physical things that challenge them so they are more confident in other areas of their life. People look at me as a risk taker but I’m a big chicken – I make myself get over it.”
Mandie likes riding fast – like going along the highway and into the mountains. This year they rode down to Seattle and went through Montana and Glacier National Park. “What a place!!!”
Her favourite bike is the Venture – right now. “It’s great for long distances. I love the way it rides – it’s not like a car – but it’s definitely not a rough ride – ever!”
One of her favourite bike stories was embarrassing at the time – and quite humourous. She had ridden her motorcycle to the police station to work and the motorcycle parking was in the same underground area as the Sally port (prisoner drop off).. Unbeknownst to her, they had just cleaned the cement and as she turned the bike to park it, it started to go over to her right. Her hand twisted the throttle, it made a big noise and fell over. She got it up, parked and composed herself and went into the building to work, hoping that no one had seen or heard her. In all the excitement, she had forgotten that the area is under constant surveillance so of course the whole event was captured on video and all the other officers were gathered around watching it. Funny and true!
Mandie Crawford