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Michele Thomas is the executive officer for the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce, and a dirt biking mom

She said, “I like to play in the dirt. We play as a family it’s been a family tradition ever since I could ride a bicycle.”

The Thomas’ legally recreate on a secret spot of land tucked away on BLM territory.

“When I was a kid we bought our helmets at garage sales, and I remember all the hand-me-downs,” Thomas added. “So much has changed since then. I can’t wait for my kids to grow up and trailer their own kids out to sit around the camp fire and talk about and remember these good old days.”

 Industry lead: important factors

Michelle Marshall is an application consultant for Race Tech Suspension, an aftermarket performance company.

She said, “First of all, most of the bike applications are not set up for a woman rider. You need to set up your bike [Suspension] specifically for your size, the bike size, and your riding style whether that be beginner thru professional on dirt or on street.”

Marshall races motocross on her Yamaha YZ 250 as a novice, and sometimes does a little Speedway riding.

“I don’t want people out there to judge me on my riding,” Marshall added. “I’m just out there having fun and making friends. My friends become my customers.

I used to be a service writer at a local car dealership and the guys I worked with would ask. How come you get all the women to write up for service?

I’d reply, ‘Because the women feel more comfortable dealing with another woman, I’m always honest with them, and I wouldn’t sell them something that they didn’t need.’ You don’t make friends doing that.

If I could choose my job title it’d be, ‘Suspension Diva” Yeah.’”

 New in business

Melissa Iannacchione just opened her full-service repair and tuning shop two-months ago with her business partner Shane Larson in Oceanside currently known as The Garage.

 Iannacchione said, “We’re currently fishing around for a more permanent name. We’re open to suggestions and hearing from our customers on what they think will be a good name for our shop.

We repair and race prep dirt bikes, street bikes, ATV’s, utility vehicles (UTV’s), personal watercraft (PWC’s), and all boats with Rotax motors.”

 Iannacchione graduated with distinguished honors from the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute’s (MMI) Phoenix campus several years ago.

She said, “While I went to school I worked at Chopper Kings a custom chopper shop – that’s where I learned to weld and all kinds of interesting stuff.

Then, I worked as a service writer at North County House of Motorcycles for two-years. I really had to prove myself with the guys over and over, but the lady customers loved me.

We’re fully certified to repair Harley-Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki, at the same time we maintain the fleet of 16 PWC’s for California Watersports a watercraft rental facility in Carlsbad Lagoon.

We like to get involved with the action, we sponsor 9-year-old Austin Madigan [#56] of Wildomar and go to his races as much as possible to support him while he races on his [Kawasaki] KX 65 that we set-up for him.

We want to make sure that our service is top notch even for the littlest of our customers.”

 Love the ladies

Todd Cram the owner of MotoCutz an onsite custom vinyl ID plate and lettering company for several race facilities said, “I love the idea that more and more women are riding and racing now. It’s so cool and good for the family as a whole.

Like our moto says, ‘We Got Your Back.’ I’ll fully support all of the women with sponsorships (product discounts) on all the services that we offer at our cost.

It doesn’t matter what their riding level is, how old they are or anything as long as it’s a lady that committed to riding; she’s welcome to come see me.

If the boys want a discount, they’ll have to send their biggest fan and sponsor to come see me – Their mother. Don’t send your girlfriends. That won’t get you anything.”

 The next step

Retired professional motocross racer Debbie Mathews now trains riders of all ages and gender across the county with her pioneering Women’s School of Motocross.

She said, “Women should come out and feel the camaraderie with the other women in the sport.”

The immediate thing from the dealer experience is to tap into the grassroots level at the dealership level, she said, and if they can point a person in the right direction after she’s left the front door with the bike, that’s a good dealership.

“More dealerships are hiring women as staff, they [Dealers] need to be approachable in this market in order to grow this industry,” Mathews added. “The grassroots and the professional women are linked more than people are acknowledging or realizing.

If you come out to any race, you’d see for yourself how all the women interact with each other. It’s phenomenal the women are finally taking the control on their interests in their sport.”

There is no reason in this world for the factory riders or satellite women racers for the factories not to open up the equipment available to the professional women, Mathews stated.

“For goodness sake, televise the women’s class to bring more people,” she continued. “The public has to have the exposure in order to build the grassroots level.

This [Women racing] has been going on for decades – open the door for the ladies moving up in the ranks. That’ll grow the industry.

I guess I’d call myself the ‘Chief Cheerleader for Women’s Motocross.’ It’s in my heart and in my soul to champion for the women’s cause. The most important thing is to always give back.”

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