Hear Me Roar: Women, Motorcycles, and the Rapture of the Road

Hear Me Roar is a fascinating chronicle of the lives of past and present female motorcycle riders. The inspiring riders date from the early 1900's to the present, street and race drivers, young and old. Any female motorcycle rider who reads this book will feel proud to be a part of this ongoing history. The practical sections in Hear Me Roar regard safety and risk management, rally information, clubs, and advice on choosing a first bike. This is a great addition for a person's personal library as well as for a club lending library. The information in the practical sections is "must reading" for new riders. "Why do I really love this book? Not only because I respect the hard work and sacrifice required to produce it, but because I want a copy for my grandchildren. I want them to know that I was a participant in the middle years of the struggle to gain acceptance for women in motorcycling. I want them to be proud to know that their grandmother cared about motorcycling and women and that she joined not a group of scuzbags, but a group of interesting, exciting, energetic, on-the-edge women who ventured into a man's world and made it a world for all. What a concept!"

This is the first book of which I am aware that identifies and follows--literally "on the road"--a group of women who have found a sport that is at once an exhilarating physical activity, a mode of transportation, and a recreation that makes its own political statement: I can do it myself! I don't need to cling to the back of a man while he guides the machine through the traffic of the world. I love the way the author, Ann Ferrar, has shown the multi-class, multi-cultural, multi-spirit of the women described here. I love her spirited prose and the photographs she (mostly) made herself. I love the fact that she--a tiny, curly-haired intellectual woman--committed herself to this idea and this project to show the rest of us what we are missing. Read this book, women, then try your wings!

When we see a woman on a motorcycle, we can't help but wonder who she is, what her life must be like, and what makes her ride. Author Ann Ferrar traveled across the country on her own motorcycle to answer those questions for us. And the answer vibrates as resolutely as an American V-Twin, crosses boundaries in dual-sport fashion, and powers motorcross style over life's bumps and potholes. Ms. Ferrar has documented the history, heritage, and heart of women motorcyclists from California to New York. Not content for this to be merely a lesson of the past, she has captured the essence of current female motorcyclists. Her final reference chapters regarding choosing motorcycles, gear, training, and camraderie, light a high-powered halogen headlight for our future women riders.