Dirt biking for hard-riding women is slow to get airborne

East Valley Life

April 21, 2003, By Jennifer Wood, Tribune

Tamra Madden, 19, of Mesa is ranked 16th. in the nation in the Women’s Motocross League.
As Tamra Madden rattles off her extensive list of injuries, you can almost hear the smirk in her voice.
"I was doing a disc table-top and my front end came down and the front brake lever went into my cheek. It broke my eye socket bone and my cheekbone.

"I broke my ribs. I have scars up on my right side.

"I broke my hand. My forearm is completely numb now."

Madden fails to mention a broken collarbone and major tailbone injury — her dad, Mike Madden, recalls those later — but such is the laid-back attitude of the fearless blonde. Ranked 16 th in the nation in the Women’s Motocross League, Madden has been racing dirt bikes competitively since 1999.

"It doesn’t scare me, I get right back on," said the 19-year-old Mesa resident, who often rides at ET Motorpark in Pinal County. "People have said I ride like a guy — and that’s a compliment to me."

According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (www.msfusa.org), women accounted for 40 percent of people learning to ride dirt bikes in late 2002, compared to 25 percent earlier that same year.

"It’s been dubbed as the next big thing that Generation Y girls have been following as a trend," said Ethan Goodrich, an instructor at Extreme Arizona in Cave Creek. "They want to get into action sports. They see guys doing it and they want to get out and do it. Motorcycling just happens to be one of those sports that have caught their interest."

Goodrich said wives of men already involved in the sport also are asking to learn how to ride. In February, Extreme Arizona hosted a two-day class for women, dubbed the Dirty Girls Dirt Bike School. Kristine Hinck, who works for SoBe Beverages, a motocross sponsor, developed the concept.

"I got really into (motocross) and I thought, ‘I don’t know how to ride. I want to learn,’ " Hinck said. "For the most part, the men right now are getting a lot of attention and we think that there’s space for women to play in motocross."

Along with two other instructors — Ron Jackson and Bill Arsenauld — Goodrich led seven women through the mechanics of motorcycle riding at the February session.

"If you’ve ridden a bicycle before, you can pick up riding a motorcycle," Goodrich said.

Riding for recreation is less taxing than riding professionally (broken bones are not nearly as common), but it does require eye/hand coordination, strength, safety know-how, practice and a bit of extra cash.

Mike Madden estimates the family has spent about $35,000 on travel, dirt bikes and gear over the past four years. A first-time rider can get started by purchasing a used bike for about $1,500. Gear adds at least $500 to the bill. But, riders will tell you the hefty price tag is worth it.

"It’s a huge rush," said Tamra Madden, who offers private lessons. "It may be expensive, but it keeps you out of trouble and you have a lot of fun."

The WML season will begin with a race May 9 in San Bernardino, Calif. Madden, a student in child psychology at Paradise Valley Community College, plans to participate in three of this year’s six events. Next year, though, she will put school aside to pursue dirt bike racing full time.

"I’m not going to go back to school until I decide that motocross isn’t for me," she said.

Miki Keller, president of the WML, said men’s respect for women riders has heightened. Still, Madden finds that many of her male counterparts won’t take her seriously.

"They feel like I don’t know what I’m talking about. I hate it."

And, securing corporate sponsorship continues to be a challenge (one major motocross company sponsors a team of eight racers, all male). Hinck said it is only a matter of time before SoBe sponsors a female dirt bike rider; companies are waiting until the sport gains more exposure.

"I wish they would show more clips on TV. We just get two-minute clips of the women’s pro," Madden said. "It gets better each year. In the beginning, there was only maybe five girls at the most. I had no competition at all. Now it’s different. There’s a lot of girls . . . but I still don’t have much competition."