Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas January 2016 | Page 10

FEATURES

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I met HarleyBabe this year in
Sturgis. She is what I like to call
one of the motorcycle vagabonds
who throw caution to the wind,sell
their belongings and take to the
highway with no direction as to
where they travel. Their only rule is
to ride every day, meet new friends
and fellow riders and see the
country. HarleyBabe has done this
for the past year after only riding
a few years prior to answering the
call of her wanderlust and taking
to the road. I hope you enjoy her
story of her visit to Babes Ride Out
this past fall.
“ ” Collier
Your Riding Writer,“T

HAIL BOMBS
ACCOMPLISH
BABES RIDE OUT
It was nearly sunset as I was ushered into
the Joshua Tree Lake Campground with the six
other women I had just traveled with across the
country. We had begun this journey days ago as
strangers with only one thing in common - our
love for motorcycles. By the time we reached our
California destination from Florida, many miles
later, we were tired, wet, cold and beat up from the
road, but nothing could break our spirit because
we were finally at Babes Ride Out weekend event
in Southeast California.
What started out three years ago as a few moto
babes getting together to camp has grown into the
largest gathering of women in motorcycle history.
This year, Babes Ride Out (BRO for short) was
attended by 1200 women who traveled from all
around the world to spend the weekend camping
and riding in the breathtaking desert of southeast
10

Thunder Roads Magazine of OK/AR

Article By: HarleyBabe

California. Co-founders Ashmore Ellis and Anya
Violet have worked hard to create an atmosphere
where diverse women from all walks of life can feel
welcomed and accepted - their most important
rule being “no ‘tudes, no dudes.”
The girls attribute the ever growing popularity
of Babes Ride Out to the amazing power of social
media, particularly Instagram. “I found this event
a year ago and thought ‘man, that’s pretty cool’
because I don’t really know a lot of chicks that
ride,” shares Angela (@rrr_angg), who was one of
seven women I rode to BRO with. We connected
on Instagram then came together from all over the
United States, riding thousands of miles to take
part in this epic event. We became the Hail Bombs
after surviving a close call with a hail storm in New
Mexico that caused the roads to become iced over.
While we waited in line to register, the energy