Of bikes and (wo)men

Men who ride motorcycles always complain about women worrying endlessly about their safety. When they were still young, their mothers prayed without letup whenever they see them ride. And now that they’re married, it’s their wives’ turn to clutch the rosary everytime they see them get on the saddle of their bikes.

Why is this so? Maybe it’s because of the dangers inherent in riding motorcycles. It is no secret that motorcycles are unstable machines that will not stay upright unless moving or unless supported by a stand. Hence, it is no surprise to hear most women (and even men) afraid to try them.

Comes now this pretty lass who rides motorcycles every day. She is in her mid-20s, with one kid, and truly in the peak of her life. She alternately rides two sports bikes (it used to be three) which, by their sheer size and power alone, would intimidate even the big guys.

"I have long realized that you don’t need balls to ride fast bikes," said Love-Love Tioseco (yes, her name is really Love-Love). "I don’t ride these bikes to prove anything. I just ride them because it’s fun."

Tioseco is known in the local biking circle as the "superbike goddess." Maybe because she is pretty, and of course because she rides ultrabig bikes. Tall, fair-skinned and armed with curves that could put Ara Mina out of work, Tioseco never fails to make men’s heads turn whenever she passes by.

And unlike other women bikers who look and act more like men, Tioseco is a real woman in the strictest sense of the word. In fact, one of the things you’d find in the compartment of her Ducati 748 or Suzuki TL1000R bike is a makeup kit.

Love for speed

Tioseco’s love affair with two-wheeled vehicles began when she was 5 when she got a BMX bicycle as a present. She was instantly hooked. "I love the speed, the freedom," she recalls. However, because of her daring style, she broke an arm and was instantly banned by her parents from ever riding a bicycle again.

But she did not stop. Instead, she switched to scooters which are faster. As she was growing up, she collected classic Vespas and Lambrettas and she regularly rode them in their subdivision in Makati. When she was old enough to get a license for motor vehicles, she bought her first big bike, a Honda VFR400R.

But the 400cc didn’t thrill her much. She wanted something bigger. So in 2000, she sold her VFR and her three classic scooters to buy a Honda CBR 900RR, known to the biking universe as the Fireblade. We asked her why buy a racing replica (that explains the RR) and she asked us back, "Why not? Is it illegal for a woman to buy a race bike?"

Buying a race bike apparently was not the ultimate thrill for Tioseco. To race one is. Last December, she entered her first race – an endurance race – at the Batangas Racing Circuit (BRC) on board a 400cc bike. It was a gruelling three-hour contest that was held under the rain. Halfway in the race, Tioseco stopped. She was uncomfortable with the bike she was riding and wanted a bigger one. She switched to a Yamaha XJR 1200.

"This is me," she said to herself when finally she was making tight turns at high speed with the 1200cc bike. She finished third overall behind two male riders.

Love for safety

Ironically, Tioseco is one of the slowest rider you’d see on the road. Even on her big bikes, she wouldn’t dare race other bikes, much more cars. She believes the safest way to go for speed is on the race track.

"Other riders tell me that I’m endangering myself by riding slow on highways. But I tell them that I wouldn’t risk myself or my bike by racing on the road. I know my limits," she said.

At present, Tioseco regularly joins the novice races at the BRC. Her boyfriend, Victor Velasquez, himself a champion racer, observed that Tioseco is often dared by many male riders to race on the road. "She never does it," he said. "She’d rather race on the track, never on the road. We just wish those would-be racers would also have the guts to go to the track and get a taste of real racing."

And Tioseco never rides without a helmet and protective gears. She also never takes a backride who would not don a helmet. In fact, she just bought her eight-year-old daughter her own helmet so she could take her along on weekend rides with her boyfriend.

Tioseco believes that people, regardless of gender, are generally interested in riding motorcycles. The fear in their mind, she said, is normal but it is simply heightened by incidents involving riders getting killed because they lacked the discipline to always wear a helmet and observe courtesy on the road.

"Every fatal accident is yet another reason for many people not to ride bikes," she said. "That’s why we riders should do everything to be safe. Other people, especially women, will only ride motorcycles if we prove to them that it is safe. They already know that it’s fun, but we have to make them realize that they can have fun safely."