“Sending it” isn’t just a cry you exclaim to friends as they clear a tabletop. It’s a way of living your life to the point of boundary breaking. It’s pushing yourself to reach your full potential. And this International Women’s Month, we’re continuing the rally behind all women on two-wheels that are rightfully sending it, and changing the game for the rippers of tomorrow. From enduro cycling to cross-country enthusiasts, meet five women from the Bell community that are truly “Sending It”…
Isabeau Courdurier
Can you tell us about the first time you caught the two-wheeled bug? Where were you, and what pushed you to keep progressing?
I always loved riding my bike but I would say I got the bug on my very first race when I was six years old. I can still remember it like it was yesterday ! I loved to push myself and see how much I could progress if I put enough work in. I have raced XCountry for eleven years and then switched to enduro that took my love for riding a bike to another new level.
Cycling has long-since been a very male-centered sport. Were there ever any challenges you encountered throughout your experience in competing, and how did you go about navigating through them?
When I started racing enduro female racers had far less consideration from brands and the media. But the Enduro World Series pushed to give us a stage and ensure that the media would speak equally about the men's and women's race. This had contributed to increase the women's scene visibility and thus more brands started supporting us. I think that we have come a big way and that it will keep on going with the new generation of racers. Social media also plays a big role showing little girls what is possible and that they can follow their own paths.
Did you have a mentor when first starting out? And if so, who were they and what was one thing that will stay with your forever?
I had the chance to meet people along my career that helped me make it to a higher step. There are too many to quote only one but the greater lesson I keep with me through all these mentors is that kindness and confidence can give the little extra boost one else needs.
In our minds, “Sending It” is objective to everyone’s personal riding experience, style, and skill level. When you tell someone to “Send It”, what are YOU truly saying to that person?
It comes down to believing in you for me. I will never encourage someone to do something if I don't believe they can. So I will tell them to send it when they are lacking the last sparkle of commitment to succeed.
As more women get into the sport, what advice would you give ladies looking to follow in your footsteps, and what advice do you wish you knew when first starting out?
I would say that having fun is key! And that it takes a lot of work and patience to reach your dreams but there is nothing like a strong will. I think the main thing I wished I knew right from the beginning is that it is possible. I strongly believed I had no chance to be a pro rider and that I would make it this far so I would tell 6 years old Isa to keep on pushing those pedals you're doing great.
Staci Wilt of Ride to Food
Can you tell us about the first time you caught the two-wheeled bug? Where were you, and what pushed you to keep progressing?
It all started when I was a kid with a Disney Channel movie called Motocrossed, hah! I thought it was so rad that this girl took her brother’s place to races dirt bikes. Unfortunately for me, my parents weren’t into the idea of me riding dirt bikes. I didn’t end up riding a motorcycle for the first time for 10 more years.
Flash forward to being 19 years old: I ended up working for a Harley-Davidson dealership while I was in college and the bike bug completely reignited. In 2011 I bought my first motorcycle (a Sportster) prior to taking my MSF Course. There was no backing out at that point. Time to send it and learn to ride!
I quickly fell in love with long-distance riding and began taking road trips within my first few months of learning to ride. I took my first out of state motorcycle trip in 2013 and the rest is history - I caught the motorcycle travel bug. Seeing the world on two wheels is the best thing I’ve ever discovered.
I think progression stems from passion. The better I become at riding, the more I can see and experience from a motorcycle. Traveling alone also means that I need to be pretty self sufficient. So, progression in any form is a plus.
What inspired you to start Ride To Food?
When the idea for Ride to Food came to fruition in 2016, social media was at a very different level than we know it today. Travel blogs existed. But nothing felt like it related to motorcycle travel. And for the handful of publications that did exist about the subject, I felt like it didn’t relate to my age group. Or it was very male-focused.
I wanted to be able to share travel tips, tricks, and educational content that helped others get out there and travel on their motorcycles. It’s so fulfilling and inspiring when people send me messages about trips they took because of the blogs or YouTube videos I’ve made. Being able to help other people experience the world on two wheels is a pretty rad feeling.
How has your riding progressed over the years, and do you have any goals you’re hoping to achieve in the next 5 years?
My riding styles and interests have changed exponentially. From riding choppers all over the country to riding big ol’ touring bikes, I’ve done nearly 300,000 miles of solo travel on all kinds of motorcycles.
In the past few years I’ve started to live that dirt bike dream I had as a kid that was never fulfilled which is the most exciting thing I’ve done yet! Getting into the world of adventure riding aboard heavyweight ADV’s like the Harley-Davidson PanAmerica 1250 special has been life changing. I definitely want to get more into off road riding moving forward.
As far as Ride to Food goes, I’d love to start incorporating more women into what I’m trying to build. I have this platform and as one person, I can only share so much information. I’d love to be able to bring others on board and grow the brand beyond just my point of view. I also want to work on and publish a coffee table book that focuses on motorcycle travel.
What was the most exciting experience for you personally that could have ONLY been encountered on a motorcycle?
In recent memory, definitely taking a heavyweight adventure bike off road for the first time. I was alone, anxious and uncertain if I was truly ready to be doing this whole ADV riding thing. I encountered sand and terrain that I honestly wasn’t ready to ride. But I sent it and made it out unscathed, hah! It fully ignited my love for off road riding and I’ve been chasing that adrenaline “high” ever since.
In our minds, “Sending It” is objective to everyone’s personal riding experience, style, and skill level. When you tell someone to “Send It”, what are YOU truly saying to that person?
Chase your dreams! You only live once, so do what you want to do with your life. Push yourself and constantly challenge yourself. You really experience life when you wiggle out of your comfort zone.
What advice would you give another woman interested in getting into riding?
SEND IT! Do it! (That’s typically my response, honestly. hah!) Practice makes perfect. Take advanced training courses when you’re ready for the next level of skill progression.
Lily Brindacier
Can you tell us about the first time you caught the two-wheeled bug? Where were you, and what pushed you to keep progressing?
It wasn't that long ago, I think the first time I caught the two-wheeled bug was in Tignes, a French bike park where we used to go on holidays with my family! I was riding with my dad and my brother, on an old bike. My brother Ethan was already riding at the local club Tribal Sport in my hometown when two years later, I decided to join him. That’s when the addiction began. It combined everything I needed to fell in love with the sport: riding with friends, having fun and pushing my limits. Well surrounded, I got better quickly and was able to get into competitions from the first year!
Cycling has long-since been a very male-centered sport. Were there ever any challenges you encountered throughout your experience in competing, and how did you go about navigating through them?
Yes indeed, cycling was and still continues to be a sport where the majority of riders are men. Being not very numerous, girls push and encourage each other, and that’s what I love about this sport! When I started enduro, there were already a lot of girls competing at a high level. The enduro world continues to evolve and be more equal. So, I don’t think I encountered challenges about that.
Did you have a mentor when first starting out? And if so, who were they and what was one thing that will stay with your forever?
From my first year at the local club, Tribal Sport, Joël Bonifay our coach was there to help me a lot too. I was lucky enough to also count on the support of our local shop, Authentic Bicycles and Romain Lilliaz, its owner. Thanks to them I could make it to my first world cup! Since joining the Lapierre Zipp Collective, I spent a lot of time on the bike with Isabeau and Cédric, those two are now helping me to push myself even more and go faster. I have the chance to be well surrounded by champions in the team, so I have a lot of mentors. In all of that, the fact that they believe in me will always stay with me forever.
In our minds, “Sending It” is objective to everyone’s personal riding experience, style, and skill level. When you tell someone to “Send It”, what are YOU truly saying to that person?
Saying "Send It" for me, is a shortcut for saying to a person to have fun on his bike, and in a competition mode, to push hard on the pedals.
As more women get into the sport, what advice would you give ladies looking to follow in your footsteps, and what advice do you wish you knew when first starting out?
It’s really cool to see even more girls on bikes year after year. I can see it on races! The advice that I can give to them is to check their tire pressure, I wish I knew that the good pressure is a very big game changer. In general, I had and always have some troubles with the mechanic, and I know now that it's really important to have a bike that works and to know how it works.
Brittany Marcotte
Can you tell us about the first time you caught the two-wheeled bug? Where were you, and what pushed you to keep progressing?
For our 11th birthday, my twin sister and I got dirt bikes and rode for the first time at Lake Elsinore Motocross Track. The addiction was real, and we rode every weekend which eventually led to racing the amateur circuit when we turned thirteen.
Motocross is heavily male dominated –How have you navigated in a space where not many women are racing, and how are you helping more women to get into the sport?
I enjoy encouraging ladies to push through that threshold of insecurity to do something different and extreme. My friends and I have created a small Instagram page and website called, MotoFitClub. It’s another outlet for ladies to connect and get riding tips or coaching from fellow female riders!
You are also a professional stunt rider – can you share a little bit about how you got into that?
I got to race in the X-Games back in 2013. Through that event I met some cool people who are in the stunt industry. My first stunt job was in 2014 on a live action stunt show that toured the world for five years. In 2020, I started driving for Monster Jam, and even won Rookie of the Year. Then in 2021, I committed to pursuing movie and T.V. stunts full time.
What was the most exciting experience for you personally that could have ONLY been encountered on a motorcycle?
Recently, I got to double Michelle Rodriguez in the latest Fast & Furious movie. We were shooting the motorcycle scenes in Rome, Italy. I rode above the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, the streets just outside Vatican City, and near the Colosseum. Places no one is allowed to ride on and here I am, leaving my tire marks on the cobblestone with entire sections blocked off just for us. This will probably be at the top of my list for a while!
In our minds, “Sending It” is objective to everyone’s personal riding experience, style, and skill level. When you tell someone to “Send It”, what are YOU truly saying to that person?
It’s the proper sendoff statement with a fist bump before someone does something scary. If I’m saying it to someone, I truly believe in them that they can do whatever it may be. I say it often to amp myself up too.
What is some advice you’d give a girl looking to race moto, and what is some advice you wish you had gotten when you first started out?
I’m constantly compared to the guys, but once I fully embraced it, this actually helped elevate my riding. My Dad and Grandfather often instilled this in me when we would be at the track; to ride strong, ride hard and most importantly be proud to be a girl.
Throw on your favorite Bell Helmet and don’t be afraid to send it on and off the track!
Adri Law
Can you tell us about the first time you caught the two-wheeled bug? Where were you, and what pushed you to keep progressing?
I saw my longtime friend and neighbor at the time, Brittany Wood riding her motorcycle on Instagram and was like I WANT TO LEARN! I had no previous connections to bikes, so it was completely foreign to me, but she was so welcoming and gave me the best advice, which was to take a Motorcycle safety course. I now always recommend that to anyone who wants to ride!
After I took the course, Brit would pick me up on her little 250 and we would ride 2 up to one of the big empty parking lots at Dodger Stadium, and she would let me practice riding around on her bike. Soon enough, I got my first bike which was a 1970 Honda CB350, and I would just practice riding it around my neighborhood. There were lots of times I stalled out, dropped the bike, got flustered and thought 'maybe this isn't for me,' but I'm glad I kept pushing myself, something inside of me wasn't ready to give up; as cliche as this sounds, motorcycles changed my life.
You’ve started one of the coolest chopper and car shows in SoCal that many from across the US venture out to. What was your inspiration behind it, and how have you tried to evolve it year-over-year?
Paradise Road is a really special show, I am a Co-Founder along with Lana from Women's Moto Exhibit. I'm very involved with many aspects of the show, but my favorite part is providing the art direction and curating all the visual aspects of the show, including the merch and the vendors etc. We really wanted to create a show that was aimed at people our age and that celebrated cars and bikes equally in a unique setting, surrounded by tons of cool old stuff, and I'd like to think we achieved just that! The show is also taking place in Nashville too, and I'll be putting on year 3 in July at The Dive Motel!
I started Reunion kind of by chance. The museum director at The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, who happens to be a woman around my age, asked if I wanted to do a one off show there, and I didn't really know how to put the event together without giving it a proper name, logo, and branding. So that's how Reunion was born and I will be putting on the 4th year of that show on Saturday May 18th 2024!
What draws you to cars?
I've had a thing for old cars for quite some time. I remember in 6th grade we would drive by this white '66 Mustang every morning on the way to school and that was my dream car for years and years.
What’s next for you when it comes to throwing more events?
I will continue to grow the events I have now, focusing a lot more attention on my baby Reunion, and I will continue throwing fun one off events/car/bike shows with friends throughout the year!
What was the most exciting experience for you personally that could have ONLY been encountered on a motorcycle?
Gosh, I've been on so many cool trips that could only really be experienced on a bike...I think going to Portugal to ride motos with Norman Reedus and film an Episode of his show ride would be at the top of my list!
In our minds, “Sending It” is objective to everyone’s personal riding experience, style, and skill level. When you tell someone to “Send It”, what are YOU truly saying to that person?
To me, “Sending It” would really be just GOING FOR IT, push yourself the furthest you can, and then a little more…you'll probably surprise yourself....this pertains to riding and in life in general.
What advice would you give another woman interested in getting into riding or starting their own car or bike show?
My riding advice would be to take the Motorcycle Safety course first thing, and as far as events go, you don't have to have it all figured out to be able to do it. I had zero event planning experience, and I honestly just learned everything as I went along and figured it out as it was happening, the hardest and most important thing is to literally JUST START!
