Canadian Biker Magazine

March, 1998

by John Campbell

Flashback – three years ago: Writer, Jewel Black buys her first motorcycle, crashes 20 minutes later, breaks her ankle, needs lots of stitches, gives herself “quite a scare,” decides she wants to keep on riding and takes a safety course where she meets photographer and filmmaker, Lesley Gering. They become soul mates, combine their talents and ride off to uncover the significance of the female self through the extended metaphor of the motorcycle.
Zoom in to today: The existential journey has morphed, and their energies now have a deliberate focus: the two West Coast-based artists are in the process of writing –
Women and the Art of Motorcycles - a book based upon their experiences on the road.

From the twists and turns of British Columbia’s mountainous backcountry to the shake,
rattle, and roll of Daytona, Lesley and Jewel are on a mission – to find kindred female
spirits who have “gone beyond their own limitations…”
“Our bodies are meant to be on bikes because women rely on balance and finesse,”
says Lesley who owns a ’82 Magna 750 and began riding at age 11. Since then she has
jumped out to the saddle only long enough to a earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from
Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design and UBC, and win awards in the international festival
circuits for her film and video work. Some of her work has been featured on Bravo and the
Knowledge Network. In Vancouver, she has been involved with the production of two TV Series, The Highlander and The Outer Limits.

Women and the Art of Motorcycles is meant as an inspection of the new spaces women occupy and “the unique accomplishments women achieve every day.” The coffee table style book will rely heavily on the dramatic impact of black and white photography, and in-depth interviews with the female riders they meet on their journeys.

“There are so many amazing stories out there. There are women who have been riding for 20 or 30 years,” says Jewel.

Their photo wish list for the book is broad and includes: women deeply committed to alternative lifestyles, loner women, pack women, dominant women, functional women, pretty women, Zen women and badlands women. But it’s not meant as a voyeuristic look at women who have entered into the world of motorcycling; it won’t be Babes On Wheels. Rather, it will be a way for Lesley and Jewel to relay their passion for motorcycling and it’s their attempt to connect with to the women who share their sensibilities concerning motorcycles, the open road and life’s possibilities.

“We use our motorcycles as a symbol for the great strides women have made in their quest for freedom,“ writes Jewel, who rides and ’81 CB 650, named ‘Mad Max.’ Jewel is a novelist, poet and journalist who graduated from the London School of Journalism and has since devoted much of her time to traveling the world.

Freedom is a word often used by both these artists. Freedom to ride, freedom to choose, freedom to be independent. And motorcycles – symbols most commonly associated with male mythology – are intricately woven into their discussions of free will and spirituality.

They say motorcycles are gender neutral, and that greater numbers of women are out there on the road, expressing themselves in ways their mothers and grandmothers never believed possible. But, if it was ever true that motorcycles were a male domain, how are the guys reacting to the women on two wheels? “Really well, “ says Lesley. “There’s a real camaraderie. We all share a riding spirit.”

Lesley is non-specific concerning “favorite” road experiences, and leaves a listener with the
impression that all rides are her favorite and all roads are the ones she prefers being on.
“Riding is such a meditative state, “ she says.But, she does express a fondness for a ride she helped organize with a group of women. It was a run to the BC Interior town of Lillooet, via the Duffy Lake Road – a winding, mountainous stretch with spectacular scenery and dangerous switchbacks.

“It was so spiritual. All of us were moved, “ she recalls. Women and the Art of Motorcycles has a sister project. The artists are also working on a calendar that will be thematically similar to their book. However, the proceeds from the calendar project are intended to support breast cancer research.