38th annual BMW International and a little electric bike called Dorothy….

Dorothy and I had one heck of a weekend! All I can say is that my little electric bike was the talk of the entire BMW event and I talked to over a hundred people! I couldn’t leave the bike alone for one minute without coming back to a crowd of 5-10 people waiting to talk to me about it. I was chased through town by two separate guys in cars, flagged down by one guy in a truck, another guy in a truck came out of nowhere to see the bike, and scared me half to death! It was wild. Let me start at the beginning….                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
I was invited to the 38th annual BMW International to show off the my Brammo Enertia and to make myself available for an interview with Cindi Servante of Motoette-in forward motion http://motoette.wordpress.com/, and to do a video QandA.  So, off Dorothy and I went, thanks to our local U-haul and a motorcycle trailer. Mine was in use so I rented one. Thank you, U-haul guys!! www.uhaul.com
Thursday, the 15th, over Mt. Hood and down through the beautiful valleys below and on our way to the high desert of Redmond, Oregon.
There were plenty of bikes already on the road and the day was perfect for the ride. 
                                   Once in town, I made my way to the hotel, the Sleep Inn Suites http://www.sleepinn.com/ . I snagged a great parking place in the parking garage right next to an electrical outlet! Sweet…But, it took me an hour to get from the bike to the hotel entrance.  About that time, Cindi Servante and Liz Peterson of  http://lilredridingliz.wordpress.com/made their way into the parking lot. Let the party begin…..

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Once we were settled in, it was time to head out for the local fairgrounds to register. The girls had pre-registered… I had not!  With that accomplished, I made my way in and found the beer garden (I thought it was a perfect first destination!!) and met the master behind the camera, Dan Albertson http://danzgarage.net/, our video guy along with the girls.    
After a day of travel and constant talking to the interested and the curious, I was ready to rest… cuz, I’m a wuss.
Friday, the 16th, I was all over the place! The morning met a group of people standing around the bike. There were eight fellows circling, pointing, and rubbing their chins. I was there forever and I answered every kind of question you can imagine. There was a great time had by all.
Then it was off to do some filming…  Dan hooked up the camera to his bike and we took off for a run. I was filmed comin and goin and runnin around some curves. I was chased down by a gentleman in a white truck. He asked about the bike, he shock his head in dis-belief!  He flagged me around his white truck so he could hear it run… or, not hear it run! We had a blast filming and in the middle of all that, I get this well dressed man exiting his truck to see the bike… here we go again! 
After the filming, I headed off to the fairgrounds to meet up with Ara and his canine companion, Spirit http://theoasisofmysoul.com/.  We had very little time to chat because of all the attention Dorothy was commanding. I had plenty of questions to answer and even let a couple of guys take a test ride. Ara got in on the action and took Dorothy for a little ride, as well. He came back wearing a big smile! I stowed Dorothy in the “Sheep barn” and hooked her up to an electrical plug-in in the facility where they sheer the sheep before they show them. That brought an even bigger crowd! I was swarmed by people who just wanted to know about that “electric bike”. The first question is always the same, “Is that the electric motorcycle that everyone is talking about?”.  I finally had to say good-bye to the crowd, handed out information cards, and went back to spend some time with Ara leaving Dorothy to wow the crowd alone..and took the key, too! LOL 
Ara and I spent a little time talking about the common denominators in our lives, sad as they are. He was truly a treasure and I was  grateful to have been in the same part of the world at the same time as he was. We will meet again, somewhere, Im sure.
Riding through the fairgrounds, the crowds would part, people would point and make comments. Some gave me the “thumbs up” sign and some just stared.  I felt like a celebrity or a prophet coming into town!! It was amazing at how many people were truly interested. 
Next, it was time to go back to the hotel. When I came in, I found out that there had been a gentleman looking for “the lady with the electric motorcycle”. He stopped Cindi Servante thinking she was me!  She politely told him that Dorothy and I were out.
That night was more of the same. I was so tired by the end of dinner that I opted not to go to the “Paul Thorn Band” concert! Now, that is tired when this girl chooses bed over good music and dancing in the grass.
The next morning Dan got the camera ready and Cindi went over her questions. The interview went really well but, I’m sure the blooper segment will be far better. Cindi looked great but, I was a total spazz! I don’t do well in the presence of greatness!! Thank you, Dan and Cindi, for being so patient with me.
Driving back over Mt. Hood, I was struck by the event and all that had transpired. I had been blessed with such great people to hang out with. I have been so fortunate this year. I have met some wonderful people and had amazing events to be a part of. I can see that my hard work for the past five years is starting to build the motorcycle business that my family will be able to enjoy together for generations to come. I can’t begin to tell everyone how much I appreciate the encouragement and support. 
Well, Dorothy had a real workout this weekend. We depleted the batteries, recharged, and ran them out again! I had a real workout this weekend, as well. But, it was a pleasure to answer every question asked. I love my little electric motorcycle! I love talking about the technology that will help us decrease our carbon footprint. And, now, Brammo is announcing their newest members of the family, The Empulse. Read all about these beautiful motorcyles here..http://www.brammo.com/empulse/ 100 mph and 100 miles on a single charge!    

 

 This was a hard post to do… my brain is still tired!!  
Lady Godiva on wheels……goin to bed to rest my brain…

The adventures of Dorothy, the first 100 miles..part one.

This story starts out with “once upon a time”….
Once upon a time there was a lady. She loved motorcycles. Her whole family rode them, street and dirt! So, she decided to start a “family” business and develope a motorcycle website. She wanted to provide information that her own family could use; maps, events, and lots of motorcycle information. She wanted to provide information about ALL types of motorcycles and so she decided to “surf the web” for all the latest news. She surfed day and night and, along with everything else, she found an article on a company called Brammo Motosport in Ashland, Oregon (http://www.brammo.com/home/). The lady was intrigued!!  As she read away she discovered that they produced an electric motorcycle called the Enertia. It was even made from recycled material.  Ewww…Ahhh. Her VERY green grand-daughter would think she was a hero. She had to see one, to hear one, or ‘NOT’ hear one, as is the case of an electric bike!
After much investigation, the decision was made to take a test ride on the bike. By that time, they were being sold at the local Best Buy store in Portland, Oregon, her hometown http://www.bestbuy.com/. What luck for the lady!! She made the trip to the store, located near the Portland airport. Just through the front door sat the beautiful Enertia electric motorcycle in all its glory. It was fabulous! The purchase was made on the spot, February 4,2010. The man in charge of the purchase, Chris Hertz, made the experience perfect.

As luck would have it, the weather turned bad. It toyed with the lady! She waited for days to go get her new motorcycle and bring her home to live. On the days when the heavens didn’t pour down on her, she would have to work and toil. On the days when she could go pick up the bike and ride her home, the rain came. After many…..and I do mean, MANY calls to Chris Hertz of Best Buy, there was a ray of sunshine on the horizon. Chris was so understanding and yet so tired of listening to the constant whining from the lady…she wanted her bike to come home so badly… that Chris needed to find a way to help the her and maintain his sanity.
One call to the Brammo company and a request for help brought the answer. David Murray, a Brammo tech for the same area where the lady lived, drove to the Best Buy store by the Portland airport, picked up the sweet little electic ride, tied it into the back of his pick-up, and drove it out to the ladies house! There, on March 2, 2010, the Enertia electric motorcycle and the lady were united. David Murray arrived at the house of the lady, lovingly unloaded the Enertia, went over all the aspects of the bikes elements, and even took the bike for a spin… just to make sure all was right. The lady was so happy!!
The end….. or is it? Not even…
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the participants in this little story… my story! Thank-you, Chris and Thank-you, David. My Enertia, Dorothy, and I are very happy together. We are commuter buddies and have been all over town together. And, that’s where the story goes next. Please hold for the sequel, “The Adventure of Dorothy, The First 100 Miles, Part 2..”.

Lady Godiva on wheels… all over town with Dorothy