A taste of victory
We had a chinwag with them about how they’re making really good shit happen for motobabes in Vancouver, Canada.
Images kindly supplied by Shannon Elmitt.
Shelby races flat track on a vintage framer and a DTX bike. When she’s not racing, she’s usually dirt biking with the girls, or racing vintage cars with her dad. In fact, it’s her dad Shelby credits for what she terms her ‘motorcycle addiction’.
“He taught me how to ride a 1970’s Honda Z50 when I was e ight years old and I crashed it almost immediately, but I was hooked. A couple years later he bought my first dirtbike, a PW80, and when I turned 16, he let me ride his 1969 Honda S90 to school. He crossed off the insurance to say it was only 49cc, so it wasn’t legal at all. I still have that bike with me today!”
Andy moved to Vancouver from Toronto, Ontario for her career about five years ago. She met Shelby through an ex and they hit it off pretty quickly.
“Shelby taught me to ride her XT in my back alley and from then on I’ve been pretty hooked. She helped me find a bike, get my license and work on my bike. She’s been my biggest support and cheerleader, and one of my biggest inspirations.
“I love how much she loves what she does and isn’t concerned about what anyone thinks. She races with the big boys, wrenches, drives a big truck and is always the first to cheer on other females and help them whenever she can. There’s nothing better than a cool chick who is female positive.”
Andy
Shelby
Sharing the love
It’s that desire to support women riders that Shelby and Andy have channelled into Little Victories.
“We started by teaching women to ride and have expanded into running maintenance workshops, hosting social nights, and dirt biking. Our biggest project will be our Dirt Bike Weekend we’re planning in Spring hopefully with beginner and intermediate dirt bike workshops, camping and trail riding,” says Andy.
“Everything we do is free so that women can have a safe and accessible space to learn, ask questions, meet other female riders and have fun in what is generally a male dominated culture.”
Shelby says she wants to ‘pass on’ the support she herself received from other women. “I would never have started racing without the support from other women at the Vancouver Flat Track Club. They’ve been my biggest inspiration. Their kindness and generosity has inspired me more than they could ever know. It’s such a huge part of my life now and I know it’s something I will do forever. I can’t thank them enough for that.”
Getting the ball rolling
Andy explains that after Shelby showed her the ropes, she had a lot of other female friends asking for the same sort of help.
“So we decided to offer ourselves up to help and that turned into free maintenance nights in our friend’s dealership garage, and then extended to dirt bike lessons. “I think men have always had it easier with these kinds of hobbies, like skateboarding and snowboarding for example, becuase they hang in groups so have other friends to learn from. Women feel more secluded and it can be super intimidating to learn alone.” Shelby agrees. “I just didn’t want to see the girls get turned off right away by feeling intimidated. We wanted a safe space for ‘dumb’ questions or that ‘I don’t even know what I don’t know’ attitude to be totally accepted.”
“I just didn’t want to see the girls get turned off right away by feeling intimidated. We wanted a safe space for ‘dumb’ questions or that ‘I don’t even know what I don’t know’ attitude to be totally accepted.”
Little Victories started in a friend’s dealership garage.
“A lot of women ride but garages and maintenance is sort of next level for a lot of us,” explains Andy.
“I had never worked on anything mechanical before so it was like learning a new language. We talked about hosting garage nights – to go over basic maintenance – with our friend Zach from International Motorsports, and he offered up their space. They’re also a bit of a social night for women to meet and talk bikes.
“We advertise through social media and it’s a free come-one-come-all type of thing so it’s accessible to everyone. We’ve been really lucky to have such amazing people donate their time and knowledge like Nick Caldwell of Husqvarna and Richelle Trelenburg of True Grit Motorcycle Mechanics.
Naming rites
Coming up with the name ‘Little Victories’ was pretty easy.
“I was thinking back to working in the garage with Shelby and I remembered how excited we’d get every time we got even the tiniest job right, and how they may have been simple in some people’s eyes but they were definitely victories to me. I guess it’s just, for a lack of better term, a celebration of us doing what we do,” says Andy.
“Yeah, and Andy was a massive little victory for me. I’ve had so many girls over the years ask me to teach them to ride and it’s rare they ever follow through. Andy was so genuinely enthusiastic when I taught her, and there were some many little things we would accomplish together. When she threw that name out there I immediately loved it. Everything this far has been made up of little failures and lots of little victories,” says Shelby.
What’s happening in your neck of the woods?
Want to kick off an all-women’s motorbike community in your area/town/backyard/old man’s shed? Shelby and Andy say go for it – and offer up some handy tips and observations…
Andy: “If you don’t have a community of women yet start one! It’s such an amazing thing to have a group of women to ride with, talk about bikes, and learn from one another. Men are great, but sharing it with a group of female friends is different and a lot of fun!”
“Men have definitely helped my increase my moto knowledge but I’ve found they’re more inclined to help when you’re not a total beginner. What the women we’ve taught have expressed, and what I felt when I started, was that it was super beneficial to learn in a safe environment where they didn’t feel judged or self conscious, they could ask their ‘silly questions.’
“I think women also feel safer riding our smaller bikes because sometimes men can push a little too hard or give them a bike that’s too big to work with. There’s a real sense of girlpower when we’re teaching and it feels empowering for the girls learning, and Shelby and I are always so proud!”
“So far we’ve just been really lucky to have people who are stoked to help. The best thing to do is reach out to people and explain what you’re doing and why, You’ll be surprised at how many people are supportive and willing to lend a hand. Also we’re still very small and haven’t run anything on a large scale so it’s still relatively easy to do in our free time.
Shelby: “I feel like now more than ever we all need as many female allies as we can get. Just start asking around, put the word out there, and you will be met with overwhelming enthusiasm from most, I guarantee it. We spent a lot of time just talking to girls before officially starting anything. Everyone had such awesome ideas and that’s really how it all came together.”
“I think so many people liked the idea and were happy to help without question. We always try to offer a mutual benefit to anyone who donates anything. For example, if you bring your bike and some oil to a maintenance night, we will teach you how to do an oil change.
"I wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to get that axle nut off without being able to text my girlfriend who said, “Try standing on it!”
“Unfortunately, a lot of motorcycle stuff can come a lot more easily to men. It’s like my breaker bar example. I wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to get that axle nut off without being able to text my girlfriend who said, “Try standing on it!”. We need our own network of resources for this kind of stuff! Plus, it’s just way more silly and fun when it’s just a crew of girls.
Shelby and Andy’s Top 5 Tips For Beginners
Don’t be afraid to buy small. A small bike can be the easiest way to get comfortable and it doesn’t have to hold you back either. If you only need an around towner, don’t be afraid of something under 200cc. If you need to go short distances on the highway, something under 400cc will do the trick and still being forgiving while learning steep hill starts and other tricky manoeuvres. You can always sell it and buy something bigger down the road.
Google everything. The internet is your best friend. Whether it’s youtubing how to get your bike on a centre stand when you’re a short female or how to do an oil change, the resources are endless. You can do it!
Lessons. So worth it, especially if it includes doing your licensing test through the school. Riding motorcycles is super fun but not always the safest, so if you can afford it, take the lessons to help you be the safest you can be while on two wheels.
Buy and wear proper gear. Accidents happen, and when they do, you will want to be wearing the right gear. Get a good pair of boots, a full face helmet, and never ride in shorts.
Pre-Purchase Inspection. If you don’t know tons about motorcycle mechanics and are looking for an affordable bike to purchase, to be safe you can pay a local shop or a mobile mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection on your potential new bike. This can save you major headaches in the long run.