EDWIDGE

Who I'd like to meet:

========================================== QUICK THROTTLE MAGAZINE by FAMOUS JAKE EDWIDGE, OUI LIKE HER**************************** -How many French women on Harley's do you meet in an average day? I thought so. Me too. But one day I met one named Edwidge. It's pronounced Ed-weej and I had to ask, too. The French have an expression: Noblesse Oblige. Loosely, it means polite tolerance of boorish morons. I got to see it in action as everyone asked the same dumb questions in the same order. I did. She's French - Italian from Paris. She describes her name as German-English. As she related her incredible story to me in the most matter of fact way, she would pause to let my mind catch up and patiently explain the clear and obvious. Life is to be lived and enjoyed to the fullest with travel, adventure, romance, excitement and passion. What part don't you get?? Clearly, whatever her background, the woman was born with a wild gypsy soul. She says she was born a biker. Her father hauled her and three other babies around Paris in a side car. It was their only transportation. By the age of eleven she was racing dirt bikes and by eighteen she had outgrown the Old Country and headed for the Land of the Free to hitchhike her way through forty-eight states--including Hawaii. Recalling fragmentary memories of my own youthful travels and some dicey encounters with some truly scary MOFO'S. I wondered if she may have felt a little vulnerable, a lone girl far from home and on the road. She let me know she could handle presumptious men--and that I may be one of them. Being on the move, taking interesting jobs as they come along, staying free, riding everywhere--that's the way life should be. She was living in Califronia in the early 90's, riding the Sportster she chose for it's crisp handling and racing heritage. She would ride to work in heels, with her skirt tucked around her. When they proposed a helmet law she promptly moved to Arizona. "Riding is my life", she says, and she doesn't like to wear a helmet. So she moved on. Simple as that. While she loves the great riding environment in Arizona, she bristles at the idea that she may have settled down here -- it's all just a journey, and the best accomplished on two wheels. This is just a step along the way to the next adventure-- bring on whatever comes next!! She explained that she has no tattoos and no piercings. The story of a life is written in skin and scars and told with the eyes. No special signposts are needed, it is after all, the jouney that counts. I pointed out that in America, independent, free spirited women on their own bikes are still a minority and regarded as noteworthy and were once the subject of a certain suspicion amongst male bikers. She gave me that look again. Who wouldn't want this sense of power and freedom when you're slamming your Harley through tight turns in the desert mountains on a warm winter day? To Edwidge it is a expression of fun and feminity. Do you really think she'd change to suit you? Made it this far on her own. She's modeled, made movies, worked for the airlines, attended MMI (Motorcycle Mechanics Institute), Limousine Chauffeur, she's a Pilates instructor, and doesn't know what she might try next. The motorcycle is still her only means of motor-vation and wherever the road takes her you'll know her by a glint of her blue eyes and a flash of her red hair as she blurs by, riding free. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++