woman motorcycle racer motto guzzi — Under the Helmet project 📷 Heather M Bowes

Meet Andrea, she is absolute evidence that life can be full of unexpected twists and turns and sometimes we just need to persevere and go with it. Here is her story.

“I started riding two wheel motorcycles when I was 9ish. My older brother had a Suzuki RM80. A couple years later I wanted my own.

My dad brought home the Youngstown, Ohio Mini-Merchant and showed me how to use it.
At age 11 I called phone numbers in the classifieds and made notes until I found myself a 1979 Suzuki RM80. I can't remember how much it cost and I think my parents matched how much I had saved and earned working on local farms. I had a blast with my neighborhood friends, we rode trails through the woods and fields. I fantasized about riding and racing my whole life.
When I was 17 my mom acquired my uncles 1972 HD Sportster after his sad untimely death. I remember asking my dad later that year if I could ride it, he told me if I could kick start it I could ride it. I put everything I had into kicking it and the third try it started up! What fun I had riding with my mom and dad back then. The last time that bike was ridden was 1994. It now sits in my garage and I have dreams and aspirations of turning it into a BEARS sidecar rig. I think a new, exciting life is what it needs, just like I did last year....

I bought my first new street bike in 2000. My Russian Ural sidecar has been a blast. I bought it just to haul my then little mini me around. She's 19 now and has even taken her boyfriend out on a date in the hack (she got her license in 2020).
In 2013 after a series of massive headaches and unexplained strange symptoms, I took myself to the ER and a brain tumor was discovered to be the cause. I was taken emergently to University Hospital inCleveland, Ohio where I had emergency surgery to remove the mass. I struggled to function normally for 6 years.

I never forgot how to ride, or the beauty of a motorcycle. It's been therapy for me. My husband and I drifted apart and I ultimately moved out in January 2020. It was a year of growth for me. I bought a really old century home and did much of the updating myself. Occasionally, some really great friends helped, and I did pay a roofer to hook me up. Winter of 2021 I decided to leave all my worries, sadness and bad days behind and not look back.

Having a love for curvy roads and speed, I've always wanted to race. Through Moto Guzzi friends of mine, I went to hangout at a dirt track for a weekend in Ocala Florida. My buddy has a Moto Guzzi flat track race team. I met great people that talked me into going to Roebling Road race track in Feb 2021 to watch sidecar racing. At the time I knew nobody there, flew to Savannah with a backpack and a sleeping bag. I took a Lyft from the airport to the track and walked around until I recognized a couple that race a vintage Moto Guzzi sidecar. I formally introduced myself and they happily asked me to pitch my tent and hang out. We had such fun!

That 1st night I met a few sidecar racers. I went to bed in my tent and it was really cold! I thought I dressed for the weather, but it was freezing, storming, and my one person tent flooded. I moved into concession stand which was dry but the concrete was hard and cold! As I was walking back to my tent the next morning, I saw this cowboy walking towards me with a welcoming smile and a happy face. It makes me smile everytime I think of that moment. He said hello and I said hello back. We chatted momentarily, then I headed back to my flooded tent. My friend Dale asked me to stop and meet another racer, Paul Koehler. The cowboy with the smile. Paul offered his motorcycle trailer and heat if I wanted a dry place to sleep that night. I did stay and we've been glued together ever since.

It turns out we have quite a bit in common and share many passions in life. Our friend Bob calls it a Cosmic meeting, I agree. Less than a week later Paul asked me to passenger in his sidecar, I said of course! He swung by Akron, Ohio from New Hampshire to pick me up for South Carolina. We raced sidecar, and afterwards he mentioned racing his KTM RC390 in NH. I said if he thinks I'm not too little.... I'd love to try and race!

I flew to NH in June and attended USCRA race school, which is fabulous! I really liked the instructors and made a couple of new friends, too. I raced Paul's KTM and it was what I've been dreaming about my entire life! I couldn't believe just a few years prior I was relearning how to walk. I felt like I had come so far after brain surgery!

In 2015 my Neurosurgeon discovered another less dangerous mass in my brain. Drastically changing my diet and exercise program, it hasn't grown in over two years. I'm trying to self heal, while still living life hard because you only die once.

Paul and I raced in Kansas with AHRMA and his sidecar rig, then again in August with USCRA. Throughout the summer we squeezed in a couple of Moto Guzzi rallys, too. I'm the Ohio Moto Guzzi rep and also have duties for my club. Because the rally I host was Labor Day Weekend, Paul and I missed the final USCRA race of the season at NHMS. We did however, make the final ARHMA race in Leeds, Alabama at Barber. That was an experience!

What fuels me? Paul and I ate fish and rice mainly during races. I also eat a lot of rice, quinoa, and miso as everyday favorites. I drink kukicha alkalining tea and eat kale and snack on nuts as part of my healing diet. I love popcorn, and chips with homemade hummus. That's what I travel with on race days.

Paul and I don’t just race, we both have dual sport bikes and on off weekends we sometimes met halfway between Ohio and NH to ride off road and explore new places. It has been a total blast!”

Under the Helmet project 📷 Heather M Bowes

Thank you Andrea for sharing about your history with motorcycles, and the twists and turns which led you to the track. I have no doubt you have inspired others. If readers would like to connect with Andrea you can find her on Instagram @flyfreeandbreathe or comment below.

enjoy the ride

Andrea Blake: no straight lines

1971 BMW2002

This is Blainor #121