The Queen of Queens (NY) / We Talk with Wicked Weds founder, Kristin!

Hey, this episode is going to be really special. We have a very talented writer,
mother, and person, Kristen Dindial from Queens,
New York. And Kristen, I know it's a Friday. It's the middle of the day. It's May 1st.
So I want to, A, thank you for coming on the show today. Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be
here. You are most welcome. And we were talking earlier, and Kristen, there's three reasons why
you're here today, if not more. But the main three are, you organize... events in new york city
usually weekly or a few times a month called wicked wednesdays and you know the last episode we
just did was all about um was taking listeners emails questions you know about what kind of tires
what kind of jackets and one of the emails that we got was this from this woman in georgia who's
like she sees all the pictures we post from all the meetups and she was so admirable or admiring of
the fun times that we have here. And she asked a few questions. So we're going to touch on that.
Number two, you ride probably one of the fastest motorcycles, you know,
ever number BMW S 1000 RR. We'll talk about that. And number three,
last but not least, you have one of the coolest motorcycle helmets I've ever seen in my life.
But before we go. into that let's just talk a little bit about you know you live in queens new york
it's not rural you know ohio or texas and you know there are potholes the size of studio apartments
all over our city and it's a crowded you know it's a fun city and there's a lot of good people but
tell me tell us you know why you chose to ride a motorcycle how you kind of got into it so i'd say
that um I didn't specifically choose it because I'm in the city. I think back in 2018,
I saw someone riding and I thought, maybe I'd like to try to do that.
I want to try something outside my comfort zone. So towards late summer of 2018,
I signed up for the MSF course and I couldn't do it. It was just like too overwhelming.
I think the sun was too hot. And I could, I didn't know where to put the key. I didn't know like
how to change gears. I knew no one with a motorcycle that gave me any sort of background and I
couldn't do it. Wow. So I signed myself out of the course. Wow. I was just, I couldn't do it. So
over the winter I sat down and I thought about it and I'm like, I really want to prove to myself
that I could do it. So then the next spring, I think it was like April,
I signed up for another course. Um, and I decided before I took the course,
I'm going to take some private lessons and like kind of learn on my own pace and get comfortable.
So I'm not as overwhelmed just taking this two day weekend course. So I did that for a month.
I took the MSF course and I passed and I felt really great to do that.
Like as a woman, as like, you know, some males, you know, they. They can't even ride a motorcycle.
And, hey, I just did that, and I passed the course. It felt really great. It was amazing.
That's great. Go ahead. Sorry. No, no. So the next week I bought my first bike,
a Ninja 400. Wow. And so could you even drive a stick before taking the motorcycle safety course?
Oh, no. I still can't. Wait. Well, you have to be able to because your motorcycle is a manual
transmission, right? You're right. Exactly. But no, I still don't know how to drive a stick shift
car. And, you know, Chris and I were talking earlier and we have a couple of other things in
common. Both our parents were born outside the United States. Mine, as a lot of people have heard,
my mother was born in Genoa, Italy. And, Kristen, where are your parents from? Yeah, my parents are
from Guyana in South America. So we're kind of like a Caribbean-ish flavor.
Uh, we're the only English speaking country in South America. Son of a gun. And what kind of,
so if I were to go, I assume like, you know, New York city, we have all types of restaurants here.
Is there like one Guyanese restaurant either in Queens or Manhattan that's pretty famous for having
the most authentic Guyanese food? Yes. So I'd say, uh, there are a few locations of it.
It's called Kaichor restaurant. Okay. It's named after the Kaichor falls in Guyana,
which is the highest single drop waterfall in. the world oh wow and what kind of how does does
guyanese food different from venezuelan food or other south american countries i i think it pulls
from all different different ethnicities like it's part chinese part indian part like from
different caribbean islands so it's like a real you get real flavor from everywhere in guyanese
food Got it. Very good. All right. So they got a quick plug. They'll be getting a lot of – so now
let's go back. Okay, so you didn't have any frenzy that rode, which I thought is great. Did you buy
your first motorcycle new or used? New. In cash, I know I got ripped off because I didn't know
anyone, and I know the salesman took advantage of that. Oh, God. And I was like,
I don't know how to meet people. But when I was scrolling through Instagram, I –
saw like an ad for Tonnet. It's like the motorcycle app. It's kind of like the Instagram for
motorcyclists. So I signed up for that and I met pretty much all of my friends now that I have that
ride. So it filters people through like who are closer in your area and then you...
figure out a meetup spot with them maybe like the nearest gas station one that works for you sure
definitely not you know meeting up people for the first time at your home but um yeah so we met up
and you know we were riding that entire summer of 2019 that i got my first bike now did you do all
right so the group rides were cool did you do any solo rides out to jones beach or hunter mountain
or bear mountain or the jersey shore or do you prefer mostly were most of your rides with with
others So I did a few solo rides, but most of my rides were group rides.
And we would go to Jones Beach. We would go to Bear Mountain. We did one ride to Niagara Falls,
which was, oh, God, my back was in pain for a few days.
To the Canadian side or the American side? The American side. So the ride was during COVID, so you
couldn't cross the border. But we still made it there. safely riding through the rain and cold.
And it was great. While you're in it, it's terrible. But then afterwards, you have like a few good
stories to tell about. You are so right. So I've been to Niagara Falls a few times on my bike. The
most recent one was last summer in August. And I went to the Canadian side. Um,
first of all, the view is much better. The falls are much better there. And this other thing is, is
our currency is worth so much more in Canada. So for $200 American, I got,
you know, the beautiful sky view fall, you know, room. And, and then I went to like their
equivalent of two wheel Tuesday in Canada, which is that like a Tim Hortons coffee shop. And,
you know, I'm telling, I'm showing all these guys, these pictures of like the two wheel Tuesdays
and the wicked Wednesdays, you know, it was really great. So next time you go. you have to go to
the Canadian side, but I know that route. I mean, I know that route. It was great. Yeah. Yeah.
That's very nice. I've been a few times like to the Canadian side and I prefer it there and I wish
I could have gone, but you know, at that point the borders were closed because COVID. Got it.
Okay, so you went from a Kawasaki 400, you said, to, so was the BMW your second motorcycle?
Yeah, so about two years in, in 2021, I got a 2018 BMW S1000RR,
and I just, I loved it, but I think I wanted a newer one.
So the year after, I upgraded to the 2022 S1000RR.
By far my most favorite. I love the bike so,
so much. Describe riding that motorcycle in three words to somebody that's never ridden that bike.
A beautiful sense of freedom. Maybe that's four. That's okay. That's one of the fastest street
legal motorcycles on the planet. You know that, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. And you were fine with that?
You don't look like a wheelie type of person. You never did wheelies on that thing, did you? Oh,
no, no, no. So my parents, as you may know, like some were of Indian descent. So like my parents
are on the stricter side. If they ever found out I was doing some sort of like stunts on this
motorcycle, they would probably like tell me I need to stay home now and take away my motorcycle.
Even though I'm over 30. You know, they still are very protective of me. When I got my motorcycle
license, my mom was like, okay, I'm going to have dad move the cars in the driveway so you can ride
around in the driveway. I was like, mom, no, no, no. This is not like that.
But, no, they love it, and they met my friends that made them feel more comfortable about me riding
a motorcycle. So, yeah, everyone's on board now. Have you ever been down?
No. Okay. I haven't been down. I did fall over one time at a gas station,
but that was just funny and I couldn't touch the floor because the floor was uneven. So that was
like, oh, I tilted over and that was a thing to laugh at. But that's the only time that like I've
kind of been down to the side, I'd say. Okay. All right. And any close calls that come to mind?
I think yes. Only one time I was riding on the Southern State with one of my friends who's also a
female rider. And we were just, you know, Southern State has pretty like tight lanes.
And I was going through one of the turns or curves and I kind of went between two cars,
which I shouldn't have, but I guess we were just in the moment having fun. And my foot went in
between the tire. of the car and took off took off my shifter so i lost that then and you know it
was a quick replacement of my shifter but it kind of you know scared me to say like slow down and
watch what you're doing before you have you push yourself too far and have too much fun how'd you
get home without a shifter um so i just in second gear like the old way or something like that
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty much. On a 400, which was hard. Son of a gun.
You know, I don't know if you know this guy, Brent.
Roman, he was on the LIE, which is just as crowded, if not more so,
and he was sandwiched by two panel vans. He was going in between traffic.
He was lane splitting. It wasn't going that fast, but one panel van went to make a lane change,
and he actually got sandwiched, but he didn't go down because he hit them at the same time,
and then when one of the vans realized what happened, the van moved away, and he was still riding,
and he said his heart rate was going. up about 200 beats a second he can't believe he was still
riding upright after that happened but that's wow what are the odds of that happening thank god
yeah yeah and he i forgot what he was he was he was very very lucky he's so lucky after after that
had happened i still you know went to my destination a nautical mile um i don't know if you've ever
been there it's great i grew up right near there freeport sure Oh, nice, nice. Yeah, and I had a
good time with my friends. Did you play miniature golf there? No, no. We did enjoy some nice
beverages on the water, though. Be careful with the beverages and the riding, especially without a
shifter. You are correct, but I don't drink and ride or drink and drive. Good for you.
Yeah, yeah. I play it safe. Let's talk a little bit about the gear. We'll talk about your helmet in
a few minutes, but as a woman, some of the complaints I get from people emailing me is that...
if, you know, some manufacturers think that they can just, you know, make a men's jacket and have
it in pink, you know, either leather or Cordura or whatever, and they get it and they call it a
women's. Like, do you find it's tough to find, you know, gear specifically fitted for a women's
physique and body? So I find that the majority of the women's motorcycle gear,
they don't have as much selection as men do. The ones that they have,
you know, it's easy to work with, but you can't have a curvy figure, you know?
You have to have, like, exactly what a size six would look like in a book,
you know? Yeah.
So, yeah, for me, I'm on the career side and I had a hard time finding stuff that'll fit.
So it took me a few tries with Revzilla going into the store cycle gear. But,
you know, I found I really like a Knox jacket that I had, which was perfect for summer and had the
appropriate gear. I also went to Heroic Racing, which like made custom gear for me,
too.
That was really great. But there are a lot of good vendors out there that'll do custom gear for
you. So you feel safe and it'll fit correctly. Got it. And so,
all right, now we'll talk about one of my favorite topics when talking to you.
You know, Kristen has a helmet. Do you have a name for that helmet? I'll just name it.
It's called Spike, okay? Because it's got like about 150 of 250 spiked modules.
coming out of the helmet um a how did did you make that yourself do they sell a helmet like that
it's like you know and talk about visibility people definitely see it right so it's good in that
sense i guess but tell me and we're going to put you know on the show notes we'll have a few photos
from either from your instagram or whatever of you and your helmet and your motorcycle but tell us
a little bit about that helmet what made you choose to wear that type of helmet So when I first got
my bike, my Ninja 400, I looked up the most safe helmet that they had.
So I ended up going with the Shoei. It was an RF 1200 at that time. And I loved it.
It was safe. It was easy. It was comfortable. So over the winter,
this was the winter of 2019 into 2020. I was like, OK, what do I do?
I love motorcycles. What do I do when I can't ride right now? So I decided to design my helmet.
I went and I got like a bunch of rhinestones and crystals. And I just bedazzled the whole thing,
put spiked crystals, which honestly came from one of the stores that sell like the chandelier
crystals. And I just used that. Yeah, the Garmin District has everything. You should send a photo
of your helmet into Shoei and say, hey, does this void my warranty? Probably.
probably does um but yeah so i spent that winter and i bedazzled my helmet and took it to daytona
bike week in 2020 and everyone loved it there uh the helmet's like slightly heavier than what it
should be okay but i could manage it um and it was just like everyone knew me by my helmet i think
at that point and i like being unique and i like to do things on my own and you know being able to
say that I've done this it took me about two weeks every single night working with the tweezers
going at the helmet with some glue but uh in the end like the finished product looked great For
those of you listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, just go to Arrive Alive Podcast where we also
stream the show and you'll see the photos. Okay, that's a great story. And maybe you can sell some
of those on Etsy. Let me ask you this. So you're in your 30s. Now,
we didn't mention this earlier, but you have two children, right? You have a toddler and an infant.
And how old is the toddler now? Four? No, no, no. He's two. Oh, wow.
My son is two, and my daughter is going to be eight months this week. Son of a gun. Did you ride
when you were pregnant? No, no. I found out I was pregnant with my two-year-old,
and I was like, let me try to go on one last ride. I was only like a month and a half,
so I just had found out that I was pregnant. And I was just too scared. I turned back around and
I'm like, but I I'm not risking my child for just to like enjoy a motorcycle.
And I'm sure there's other pregnant women who ride or, you know, and that's fine.
But I want to play it safe. And, you know, my my kids are amazing.
But no, since having them, I haven't rode my motorcycle maybe once.
And that was it.
Do you think you'll get on again? I think so. Okay. I really love it.
And I met my husband through motorcycles too. Right. He tried to steal your motorcycle and then you
jumped on him and then he asked you out on a date. Is that what happened?
Hey, mofo. The funny part about it is that we met at the motorcycle track in Florida at Jennings.
at a certified knee dragger event yeah and we met uh 2021 at that same event in march and then we
met again in 2022 at that same event and then the spring of 23 well i'd say the winter january
february of 23 uh then we like got in contact through instagram and then realized we were both at
the same event wow and It just so happened. So then he was at Cycle Gear and we met because I was,
you know, trying to work on Wicked Wednesday and doing my meetings to prepare for the season.
And he was at Cycle Gear. And so since then we've been together and now we're married with two
kids. What does he ride? So he had a ZX-6. And he's had a ton of Harleys,
and he's been riding way longer than me. And he's much more experienced. He's a really experienced
track rider, too.
But he's had a ton of different bikes. So you rode together a bunch of times before you got
pregnant, I would assume. Yeah, yeah, we did. We did. Yeah, and it was just so funny that we both,
like, he just happened to live in New York, too. And we both were at the same event in Florida for
two years in a row. That is fantastic. That is fantastic. All right. That's cool. Do you like
magic?
Of course. I was the 10-year-old with the magician book. Oh, were you really?
So can you name a famous magician that you really admire?
Houdini. Okay. Well, let's pretend that Houdini is alive.
Right now, even though he's passed. And he was here with us. And I don't know if Houdini had a
magic wand, but let's just pretend he's got a magic wand. And he could wave a magic wand and he
could make one aspect of your motorcycle riding skills five times better than they are now.
What aspect of your riding skills would he wave the magic wand and improve, would you say?
I
think being able to...
Just have a little more confidence to push myself. I've been riding in my own comfort zone and I
don't like peer pressure, but I do want to keep getting better. So I would like the motivation to
just keep pushing a little bit more in order to excel and get better at it.
Okay. Okay. So maybe that would be. pushing yourself uh is there like so i mean i don't know if
does that mean braking does it mean top speed does it mean cornering does it mean riding in
inclement weather like you know just to maybe dive into that just a bit more i think um
I think all of those come into play. Okay. Being able to take corners a little bit faster,
being able to be more confident in riding in the rain or know more about my bike.
I think that at the point where I decided to start a family,
that was when I was getting the most confident in riding. And maybe now I'm just a little bit less
confident because I haven't done it in a while. Um, it'll be all aspects of writing where I feel
like I want to get better at and just, you know, have a little more confidence in.
That makes sense. You know, for me, you know, one of the reasons why I started this show, I mean,
the reason why I started the show was because I was hit by a guy who, um, who, um,
ran a red light and I was actually on my way to church that, that Sunday. And, um, and it was no
fault of my own. Uh, you know, I had the right of way. But, you know, I'm Italian and I have a hot
temper sometimes. And, you know, I was very much prone to road rage back in those days and still
am. But I would say my road rage has improved probably by 80 percent. And one of the things I think
I still need help with. And I had this fellow. He was actually one of the founders of Scorpion
Helmets. And he told me because we were talking about this and he said, Len, you know,
part of road rage for some people is that and especially for me. I was angry at people because I
didn't want them to make the same mistake to another motorcyclist. And he said, you know what?
Don't try to save the world, save yourself. And the more road rage you have, you are at a
disadvantage because your focus and your concentration is not what it should be. And in today's
world, people have knives and guns and you never know what they're going to do. So I try to kind
of, and, and, and whenever I start writing, like as I'm putting on my helmet and my boots and my
gloves and my jacket, um, I'm kind of imagining somebody's going to cut me off,
do wrong by me. So I kind of have that a little bit of a tension out and expecting it.
Cause part of it, of the road rage comes from being it being unexpected, you know? So that's what I
still need to work on. And the other thing is we're talking about, and I know you've had, and we'll
talk about this in a minute too. It's kind of a good segue. My parents live near where. you've had
one of your Wicked Wednesdays, close to Massapeak with two towns over in a town called Merrick. And
whenever I take my motorcycle out there, I don't go just right home to the city. I go to the Long
Island Railroad parking lot, which is usually on a weekend. There's nobody around. And I'll
practice my figure eights. I'll practice my emergency braking. And I'll even take my iPhone and
I'll put it... you know, either on a garbage can or like I'll put it somewhere where it can see me
and I'll film myself so I can watch it later, you know, which kind of,
you know, talks about, you know, practicing all parts of our skills and I think that's good.
Let's talk about your skills as an organizer. Growing up, were you the girl that kind of rounded up
your friends and said, hey, let's go to this store and buy candy or buy dresses? Were you that type
of person, kind of the leader of your friends, would you say? Maybe not the leader of my friends,
but definitely in my household as being the oldest child. I'm the oldest of four. And it's
definitely I had to lead and make decisions and plan things for my siblings. Okay.
So that definitely factored into planning Wicked Wednesdays. Okay. And for those people that are in
Iowa or Seattle, Washington or Mexico City,
explain to them what Wicked Wednesdays is. So Wicked Wednesday is a weekly motorcycle gathering
similar to Two Wheel Tuesday.
We pick a new location in the New York or New Jersey area,
maybe the tri-state area at some point, to bring motorcycle riders together.
They have a place to meet, to chat,
you know, to have a bite to eat and meet up to maybe have a ride. And so I do that every Wednesday
evening from 7 to 10 p.m. after work and pick a motorcycle-friendly place where they feel safe
enough to come there and nobody will bother them.
And yeah, just to help bring the community together. I do it in different locations because maybe
some people in Long Island don't want to drive or ride all the way out to Queens or the city.
So I do it in different locations to help people still get together or have a destination to ride
to. Got it. Okay. And that, you know, and we, we told you that, uh, you know, I do get emails from
people. So I'm going to read a couple of the questions that I got from this one woman in Georgia.
Uh, so how do you choose a venue? Like she says, do you have to like arrange it with the place and
make sure it's okay or just go to the parking lot with, you know, 80 motorcycles? How does that
work? So we get a lot of suggestions in through email and through Instagram about places that are
interested in doing a motorcycle night. When I first started, I reached out to a few places that
seemed motorcycle friendly that I've been to before, and they were okay with hosting. And then
other places, motorcycle riders actually own them. So they wanted to do a motorcycle event there.
I definitely pick places in commercial areas, not residential, so that we don't bother anyone
sleeping or just near their home. And I make sure that it's okay with the local PD.
Oh, interesting. So do you call them? Do you stop by? Do you send them an email? How does that
work? So either I'll contact them directly or if the business owner already has ties with local PD,
which majority of motorcycle owners do, they'll usually get in contact with them,
let them know what we're doing and give them a heads up that this is going to be happening so
they're not just surprised when 200 motorcycles show up on a Wednesday night.
So I'd say that's a big part of it. It's making sure there's ample parking for all of those bikes
and making sure there's food or drinks for them. Because after a ride, I don't know, however long
they rode for an hour to get there, you're hungry and you want something to eat.
So I make sure that there's food and beverages there for them. And then I also give out,
you know, free. It's free stuff at every event. So free t-shirts, hats,
keychains. Some of the restaurants that we hosted at will give out gift cards. Some motorcycle
stores will give out gear and helmets.
Really? Wow. We don't even do that with a two-wheel Tuesday. That's great. Actually,
I started with, you know. Remember when you came to my office and you delivered that Wicked
Wednesday shirt to me? I don't know where the hell that was. That was during COVID, right? Because
I was at the WeWork that time. Right. And everybody thought you were a trespasser and they called
the police and it was a crazy thing. I'm just kidding.
So speaking of, so now,
you know, I don't, so I organized some rides. Our friend Shmuel organizes the Two Wheel Tuesdays,
but I help him. promote it and i'm the oldest but you know just had a younger sister and and she's
one of the best women in the world um but i know what it's like trying to organize and and and get
people to do stuff um what would you say are the three let's start with the three not so fun things
about being an organizer of these types of events you know and i'll tell you for me to give you a
chance to think it's the constant weekly dms of hey where is it this tuesday number one or number
two i'll make a post in the facebook group that clearly says date time venue you know and
everything and there'll be at least four comments right to the post that say what day is it where
is and i'm like do you people have eyes read the freaking post right you know so that's the but
then but that's that's the bad thing right you know the challenging things but the fun thing is is
that you know um i get wrecked like i was i was coming out of uh a store like last summer and it
was in manhattan and this guy I see this guy. He's at a stoplight. He's on a bike, and he's riding
towards me, and he stops. I'm like, holy shit, is this guy going to mug me? And he's like, hey,
Len, how's it going? I'm like, who the heck are you? He's like, oh, it's me from Two Wheel Tuesday.
And I'm like, all right, that's cool. He's got his full-face helmet on like I'm supposed to know
him. But it's funny. The thing is, do you remember the days of AOL Instant Messenger?
Are you old enough to remember that? Oh yeah. My, my email is still AOL. Okay. There you go.
So it's like, I still have a subset of friends that I know them better by their AOL instant
messenger names than by their real name.
So you do know people through their Instagram names too, versus their real name. There you go.
There you go. So, uh, yeah. And I don't use, I need to use Instagram a little bit more. But, yeah,
so that's kind of, and so now, like, people say, you know, I don't know your name, but, oh, aren't
you got the guy on the Yamaha? He's like, yeah, that's me, you know. But, yeah, so what would you
say are the most annoying things about... doing this i mean how much time does it take because uh
if somebody if let's say there's a woman in uh georgia or a guy in tennessee that wants to do it
and they have a full-time job you know you gotta you know how much time do you think it takes you
know and you probably have it down because you've done it for a while but how much time does it
take to organize one of these every week so initially it was you know i was at it for after work so
like two hours every night a week um just like finding new locations figuring out sponsors to give
away gear and creating flyers. I needed to figure out how to use Adobe or PowerPoint or any other
creative software, figuring out a logo and designing that myself, colors and printing T-shirts and
getting sweaters embroidered and hats. All of that took so much time to figure out what to do and
how to do it for the first time. So I'd say like really dedicated for a year.
But over the winter is when I do all of my planning for the next season. And that's the time where,
you know, you're not on a bike, but you should utilize it to help you out in managing your time
during the summer. Um, I'd say now it takes me much less time because I've got it down pack.
I have, uh, you know, all my locations sign an agreement. Oh, so do you have like an LLC or
anything? Uh, yes, I do. Okay. Uh, so everything goes through like,
uh, our lawyers and we have, um, you know, contracts that everyone should sign vendors and
sponsors, uh, all locations.
down pack for the first two years. And then now it's just kind of like easy to manage.
But there is some time and dedication you need for the first few months in order to figure out what
works for you. I know there were a lot of locations that I had in the first year that weren't maybe
in a great spot and the business owners didn't really like it or they couldn't.
And majority of them couldn't serve so many people at the same time. Gotcha. So then that's when I
had to manage like how many, how much staff would be there at a restaurant or how many food trucks
I'd have at a certain location. The food trucks are great these days. Yeah, for sure. Oh, it's
amazing. And they just, you know, roll on up and they're able to serve right away.
So, yeah, I kind of had to do all of that. figuring out in the first two years and that now it's
it's pretty easy to manage i'd say right now i spend one to two hours a week okay so you have each
venue planned for the summer would you say or most of them i have about 60 of the venues planned
for the summer because i account for rain for some of the weeks the past two two wednesdays have
been rain yeah and i don't like to to like plan an event and I know that there's rain.
I wouldn't want to ride in the rain. I don't want anyone else riding in the rain. I don't want
anyone to get injured trying to come to Wicked Wednesday. It's just kind of bad for everyone and
bad PR too. And especially if these venues are counting on all this business and it rains,
that way you can have a rain date to go back to that same venue. Correct. Yeah, that type of thing.
Okay, that makes sense.
Let's say, okay, good. There's a lot of great things about males.
Okay. There's a lot of not so great things about males. Why do you think that 99.999% of all
motorcyclists who over... their motorcycles at meetups,
whether it's two wheel Tuesdays, a track day, a whatever are guys. What is it about guys that we
think that either doing a burnout or making it so that everybody within 35 miles of us.
here's our motorcycle. And I've seen you ride. You don't do that. And I've seen other women with
sport bikes. They don't do that. Do we have like another appendage, like an idiot appendage that
causes us to do that? Those are the people you have to watch out for that'll get your motorcycle
events like shut down really early on. But I think they have.
uh big ego and they want to show off the parts that they've spent thousands of dollars on but don't
realize how it affects the other hundred people around them i think they they want to just have an
opportunity to show off show themselves and their bike and the parts that they've put into it and
the time. And that's very nice, but there's a time and place for everything. There's a time and
place. Yeah. Do it in bear mountain, do it in the, in the down by Jones beach on ocean parkway
where there's nobody around, you know, but that's a little pet, you know, we, and we even at two
wheel Tuesday, um, you know, we even say that and people will do that with the stereos, but you
know, if that's the worst thing that happens, but it does infringe on other people's. And, you
know, uh, I was, uh, there's like over 170 religions. if not more on the,
in the world, most of them disagree on a lot. The one thing that they all agree on and it is do
unto others as you would have others do unto you. And I think, you know, those people would not
like that sound in their ear, but they do it. But you know what? Nothing's perfect.
And you got about another five, five more minutes to spend with us. You think. Yeah, yeah, sure. I
think in that aspect, I think respect goes a long way and you give respect to get respect. And if
that person was trying to do a motorcycle event and someone did that to them or at their event,
they wouldn't like it and they'd know to stop in the future. But maybe some people don't take into
account how much effort the organizers put in. to making a great event for everyone,
and one person kind of messes it up for them. That's a good point. Have you ever had to go up to
somebody and say, hey, you know what, if you come next week, do not do that or you're not welcome?
Have you ever had to have that type of conversation with somebody? Not that type, but as soon as I
do hear someone over-revving, I don't want them to ruin it for everyone else. So I monitor
everyone coming in and out, and I go up to them and I say, hey. You know, can you tone it down a
little bit? You know, we want to respect the businesses around here. We want to respect the people,
the residents, and we want to make sure this event can, you know. stay on till 10 p.m.
like we planned so um everyone's usually respectful i know we get like a few of the slingshots that
like to play their loud music and which is totally fine i love it too um and it's louder than the
speakers i bring to wicked wednesday oh they have a great sound system uh yeah the problem is all
those guys are blasting taylor swift and it's annoying They're all Swifties.
They're all these Harley guys. These one percenters blasted Taylor Swift. I'm totally kidding.
So if you're one of those guys, I didn't say that. Oh, boy.
All right. This has been good. Everyone's been great, though. Oh, that's good. All right.
And then we're going to have a link to your Instagram. So do you post it on Instagram and also the
Facebook page, the dates and the times and all that stuff? Yeah, so I post the Wicked Wednesday
flyer or the updates on our website, the Instagram and the Facebook.
And they're all called the same thing, wickedwednesdaysnyc.com or it's just wickedwednesdaysnyc if
you'd like to follow on Instagram or Facebook. Okay, we'll definitely put that on the show notes.
And I just want to talk about a couple of quick things too.
so when you had your bike and i know so you what was the first what was the first smartphone you
ever had like you're in your 30s so was what did you have like something before an iphone or was
like the iphone 4 you like your first phone would you say oh my razor the flip phone oh back in
those days right old school yeah yeah in high school i think i had a razor and that was so cool
everyone had you know sidekicks or next o but i i just had the razor i like that one so there we go
um you know i've had a you know this is like the 108th episode of the show it was the sixth season
and i probably had 115 guests because i've had a couple of you know guests and couples and things
like that most of the people and including a few motorcycle and safety instructors on the show
would recommend people do not have their phone on their handlebars.
And, you know, I believe people wear helmets when they want. You know, Pennsylvania is no helmet
law. Connecticut's no helmet law. But would you, you know, what would you tell somebody that's in
their 20s that is used to having, you know, an iPhone or whatever about putting a phone on their
handlebars, especially if they're just starting out riding? I'd say first,
I think Quad Lock is great if you do want to put your phone on and mount it on your handlebars.
Before you leave home or before you leave your destination, look at the Maps app or look at Google
Maps, look at Waze and make sure you've kind of memorized your route. You don't want to keep
looking down at your phone. You don't. Yes, you'll hear it if you have a Bluetooth headset in your
helmet, but maybe you don't. But you don't want to keep looking down. You definitely want to keep
your eyes up to where you want to go. And just kind of know the general route that you're taking.
Like, think about whether you're going north or south on the 95 or whatever highway it is. Just be
aware of where you're going.
And, you know, once you know that if you're taking the same route, then you should be fine.
But I mean, it's riding with your phone. It's good to know where you're going.
As a female rider, having the phone there with your destination or like I always have mindset to
home no matter where I am. Sometimes like when I first started riding. because i'm a female i get
harassed on the highway um so i knew the route home no matter where i was and to get home safely so
i think females that that part's important to know like where to go that's safe just in case
something happens yeah one follows you i hear you and i think it's a generational thing I did have
that Alicia, oh gosh, I can't remember. But she wrote, she edited a coffee table book called,
I'll send it, I'll text it to you. It's a great book. Tell your husband to get it for you for the
holidays. But it's a coffee table book about famous women motorcyclists throughout history.
And it's a thick book. Alicia, I forgot, anyway. And she's got a Ducati and she's got a Ducati with
no speedometer so she can honestly tell police. that if they ask her how fast she was going,
she's like, I don't know because I don't have a speedometer. So that's the other thing. But the
other thing is that she used to carry her phone on the handlebars until she got into a wreck,
an accident, and she was like 90 feet away from the motorcycle and she broke a leg so she couldn't
get to the bike. So from then on in, she actually carried the phone in her vest in her pocket and
did use the headset. Um, for the turn by turn, because she said, I didn't want to go down a ditch
and have the bike be up there with my phone and not able to call somebody. So I would have people
kind of think, yeah. Um, because yeah, if you fall off the bike and your bike is down the road and
you're there, like what the F are you going to do?
I had my phone fall off of my bike, but that was on the BQE with all the potholes, like you
mentioned New York City has. And it got crushed by a truck, and then I found it on the side of the
highway. Yeah, that happened to Francesca Kang. I don't know if you know her, but she actually went
back and she found it. And then I lost mine on McGinnis Boulevard, and it wasn't even on my
handlebar. It was in my pocket, and then the battery was at like 7%. I had to use Find My Eye.
I'll tell you that story offline, but when I see you at Wicked Wednesday, it's a longer story, but
it's a funny story. But this has been great. I really appreciate you coming on, and we will have
the link in the show notes. Hopefully everybody comes out to Wicked Wednesdays, and if you're a
guy, don't freaking overwave your engines, or Kristen's going to come down on you. Right? Oh,
thank you for having me. And thank you for allowing me to share my stories. You're most welcome.
Have a great day. Talk to you later. Thank you. You too. Bye.
Okay.