HER STORY | Frog & Nasty

Her Story. A series of blog posts telling the stories of 'women who ride' from all corners of the globe. We hope that by sharing these stories we can help encourage other women to build their confidence, learn from others and inspire others.

This month we have a story by two amazing ladies, Sara Veasey and Kylie Flynn from Perth, Western Australia. Both Sara and Kylie tell their own personal stories and then we have an interview about their new venture, The Two Wheeled Sisterhood.

We hope you enjoy her story.

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SARA VEASEY
Road Name: Frog
Age: 34

"My name is Sara Veasey, however in the motorcycle community everyone knows me as “FROG”. I am 34 years old and have been riding motorcycles since I was 16. I currently live in the Perth Hills, however I call WA home as I get really itchy feet and have not lived in the same house for more than 6 years since I was a bub. It has been said that some of my ancestors were Gypsies and my inability to sit still for any length of time is a true reflection of that.

I have been born into a love of motorcycles. My Mum purchased her first Honda back in the early 70’s and my Dad Diesel has always been an avid lover of motorcycles and therefore with cool parents like these it is no wonder where I get my true passion from. I have grown up sitting on the back of all sorts of bikes, however my favourite ride as a pillion was by far a beauty of a machine – 2000 Harley Davidson Road King Classic. Little did I know back then that she would become my very own love just last year. As soon as I was old enough, I got my scooters license and then my 250 and then my open license. It was a long process but I just loved the feel of two wheels so intensely that I hung in there until I finally was able to blatt around on my Kawasaki ZX10 Ninja.

My advice to any woman out there that is looking at starting to ride is, DO IT! There is no better feeling than riding a machine on an open road. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a 250cc and learning the ropes or on a high power motorcycle with advanced riding skills, there is an enjoyment and stress relief that cannot be matched by anything else. My only advice is make sure you suit up in correct protective gear and keep your motorcycle maintained. The motorcycle community truly has its own culture and is loaded with people who look out for each other, ride together and not forgetting that you look hot as **** doing it too!!"

 

KYLIE FLYNN
Road Name: Nasty
Age: 44

"My name is Kylie Flynn, but everyone knows me as “NASTY”. I’m 44 years old and I live in beautiful sunny Perth. I didn’t always live in Perth, I grew up on a farm, two hours north of Perth in a very small town called Dandaragan. This is where I learnt to ride and love motorcycles. My big brother and my Dad used to ride Motor cross at Bindoon and I would go along and cheer them on every weekend. They were both influential in my love of all things bikes. I’d like to say my brother taught me to ride, but in truth, I pestered him relentlessly for a go on his Honda 50cc until he reluctantly let me, but there was no instruction involved, I had to learn from watching him and figure it out for myself. I remember riding all the way to the gate and back in first gear and him ripping off my helmet and yelling at me when I returned. But, from then on, I was hooked!

Fast forward forty something years and I’m on my own Harley and loving every minute of it. I ride a 2011 Softail Heritage, and I love her as much as my children. I probably have more pics of the bike! Unfortunately, five years ago I had a bad bike accident that has completely altered my life. I have made slight modifications to my bike and even in the darkest times, my bike has kept me sane.

My advice to women starting out, or “thinking” of riding. Go for it! Don’t let anyone hold you back. There are so many of us now that will offer guidance and advice. If there is one thing that I can offer is, don’t be afraid of different situations that you come across, embrace them. If it’s raining, ride anyway. If you come across a gravel road, ride it. Every time you are challenged, you conquer a fear and you are so much stronger for it, as a rider and a woman. There is nothing more empowering than people approaching me and expressing how much they enjoy seeing a woman riding such a big bike."

 

THE TWO WHEELED SISTERHOOD

How did you two meet?

We met in back in 2010 through a social motorcycle club in Perth. We were instant friends with a shared passion for motorcycles and Jack Daniels that blossomed into best mates who now share every aspect of our lives and families together.

Why do you ride so well together?

Because we can’t drive together – we have an excessive distaste for each other’s genre of music. With both of us having a long riding history, we are pretty much at the same level of experience and we are now in sync with each other’s riding style.

Tell us about the Two Wheeled Sisterhood

The excitement of going to new places and seeing what WA has to offer is something many riders take advantage of, however we wanted to make the journey more enjoyable by giving a “trip advisor” style review so that women didn’t have to cart around so much stuff (eg, hair dryers, towels etc) and also knew if the destination was a great place to go to.

How did the Two Wheeled Sisterhood come about?

We decided to get away every three months on the bikes. We loved going to different, out of the way places and finding interesting ways to get there. On one of these rides, we decided that we would start documenting our travels. We would include details such as where we were riding to, the establishment and staff of where we stayed, what facilities were available to us as women riders and of course rate the ride itself.

What trips have you done so far?

Bridgetown
Our first trip was to Bridgetown in September last year. It was originally meant to be a larger group of women going, but for various reasons it ended up just being us. It was pouring rain, windy and bitterly cold, but we went anyway! The ride down was miserable, but as anyone who rides knows, we still prefer to be on the bikes. The cold Jack’s and the warm open fire at the other end was worth the pain. We spent two nights in Bridgetown, the second night there was a band “Jamaica Scream”, who we loved. For us, the heaven’s opened with the realisation there was hope of a common ground in music. We danced, partied and had a great time and this was when we decided to do a trip every three months- rain, hail or heatwave!

Lancelin
Three months later, it was January and bloody hot! We decided to head north of Perth to Lancelin via the inland roads to Badgingarra. We took the back roads to Moora for lunch, then headed west to Badgingarra Tavern for the night. This trip, Nasty’s 21 year old daughter came with us and the look on her face when we arrived at Badgy was priceless, she thought we had arrived at Wolf Creek! Despite the tumbleweeds rolling past, the Tavern had cold Jack’s, a Jukebox and an awesome welcoming atmosphere – you can’t ask for more than that. The next day we rode out to Lancelin and enjoyed the sweet relief of the sea-breeze and the Lancelin Ocean Classic (windsurfing competition).

Manjimup
Manjimup was only about six weeks later, and we went for a rodeo. Again the weather god’s are against us and the forecast was rain (in February!). We did a dummy run a few weeks before, as we wanted to know what the gravel road would be like for the big Harley’s. We determined it would be fine, but then the rain came! We decided to take the car and luckily we did, the gravel road in was a slush pit. Anyway, not to be deterred, Friday night at the Manjimup Hotel, was a fantastic night. The DJ was there and it seemed like the whole town came out at 10pm. The Hotel was pumping and we had the best time, and we will definitely be going back to the Manji Pub in the future.

Jurien
We only just got back from Jurien Bay, and once again, we had a ball. Once again, the weather was frigid and miserable, but we have come to expect that, and we still really enjoyed the ride. We stayed at the Jurien Hotel/Motel and they had entertainment (not us!) for the football club’s grudge match against a neighbouring town. It was a fantastic night, and a slow trip home the next morning!

Where to next?

We haven’t picked a destination yet, but no doubt it will be out east of Perth. We have heard that Quairading has a great pub, and has recently become a part of a new motorcycle friendly region initiative in the Avon Valley. No matter where we end up, we will write about it in our “Tales of the Two Wheeled Sisterhood” blog that can be found on Facebook.

www.facebook.com/twowheeledsisterhood

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Thank you to Sara & Kylie for sharing their stories and if you would like to share your story with us simply go to the Contact Page of the website and fill in the form and we will gladly be in touch.