Women Who Ride the World

Meeting Lisa Thomas

I had hopes and expectations about how the post-Alaska trip months would unfold, but reality ushered the depression Medusa back into my life. The dirt bike peers out of the garage hoping that come the next Saturday, it will be loaded on the trailer in anticipation of an early Sunday morning start. It hasn't been out since August. The BMW hasn't faired much better. When the Medusa strikes, I hesitate to drive the car, let alone pilot a two-wheeled vehicle. August wasn't great, but September was awful - once again I didn't leave the house for days unless I absolutely had to for work. I'm in my tenth month of actual menopause but I've been riding a roller coaster of mental health for much longer.

I resigned from my Aikido practice in March for reasons related to life in general and concerns about my mental health in particular. After 18 years of regular training, the shock of not training undoubtedly has contributed to the downward spiral exacerbated by hot-flashes and pre-dawn panic attacks. In September my friend Rebecca dragged me to her yoga class with Ben Thomas (no relation to Lisa or her husband Simon). Yoga has re-immersed me in a physical/spiritual discipline and I'm learning to breathe properly for the first time in my life. New bottles have appeared on my kitchen counter, the result of more research on serotonin. Whether I'm experiencing a placebo effect or a true change in my brain chemistry I can't say. I'm grateful for a day when I feel good enough to ride and actually want to go out of the house.

Yesterday was such a day. I went to CalMoto to hear Lisa and Simon Thomas talk about their four-year adventure riding around the world. Lisa is riding a heavily modified BMW 650 GS, Simon is on an equally trick 1150 GS. While in Alaska I decided that I'll eventually give Peter my 1200 GS; it is simply too big for me to ride off-road under challenging conditions. I now dream about getting a 650 GS and outfitting it to be a bad ass adventure touring machine. After Lisa and Simon's intriguing presentation I wanted to ask her about her bike - we're about the same size - but the CalMoto showroom was mobbed with their admirers so I returned this morning hoping to have less competition.

Lisa's bike was in the service bay on James' lift. When I returned from Alaska, I stopped by CalMoto to kiss the hem of James' pant legs. The GS had performed flawlessly on the ~5,000 mile trip which I attribute to James' pre-ride service of my bike. Lisa's bike was opened up, awaiting parts. She walked me through the modifications she has made, showing me with great pride the cool Touratech fittings and commenting on the ideosyncracies of the 650 GS. Watching the glow of confidence emmanting from her face, I listened in complete awe of her.

Feeling a little silly to even be asking, I screwed up my courage and asked about her learning to ride off-road; she had mentioned that when they first started out on their trip, she didn't have off-road experience. Now she has ridden thousands of miles of gravel, the worst dirt you can imagine and desert sand. We had a good laugh over male vs. female approaches to riding, both having advantages and disadvantages. I get bolloxed up analyzing the dirt and go slowly which makes the ride more difficult. I know intellectually that the proper amount of speed will allow the bike to almost glide over the dirt but thus far all I have to show for my attempts to get to that gliding state is a variety of bruises from falling off the bike.

Lisa encouraged me to take some classes and spend time on some MX tracks. I would love to go back to the Metcalf and Hollister parks but right now I have to take things one day at a time. Instead of a long ride next summer, it is more likely that Peter and I will be at Jim Hyde's Rawhyde camp.

Check out Simon and Lisa's website, 2 Ride the World for photos and their journal. They are looking for someone to help distribute the photos. When Lisa and Simon give presentations they do sell t-shirts and photographs. Twenty percent of the proceeds go to charities (see their site), the rest goes towards financing their travels - they are not being sponsored in this endeavor. One of their charities is WaterAid, an organization working in 17 countries providing water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people. Any one, rider or not, who has been caught out with insufficient water and faces the dilemma of drinking from a stream that is essentially the sewer system for the upstream village can appreciate what a godsend a clean water pump is. Thirty years ago I drank from such a stream while traveling in what was then Burma and contracted paratyphoid salmonella which I nearly died from.

It was nice to meet other people who keep a dog-eared Touratech catalog next to their bed (or sleeping bag as the case may be). It is great to see a line up of adventure touring women (Sisters) on BMW's Enduro World site. Where ever we have gone in our lives, each of us remembers the first steps we had to take. Mine will include learning to breathe and finding out about rally extra wide foot pegs.