Driven to Ride

Some might say Aussie Alana Baratto was destined to work in the motorcycle industry. Her father was a rider, both on- and off-road, and he shared that cherished pastime with his daughters. Alana was gifted a Yamaha PW50 at age four and attended her first Grand Prix a year later. “It was something that I grew to love,” she explains, “and then decided to make into a career.” After a stint as a servi...

There are few better examples of a relationship coming full circle than British expatriates Teejay Adams and Arthur Coldwells. The pair knew each other as teenagers, and even dated, but they didn’t marry until some 40 years later, well into adulthood, on the heels of other relationships, and, in Teejay’s case, raising three children. Another common theme between Teejay and Arthur? A deep and lasti...

Motorcycling and music seem to go hand in hand, or at least that’s the opinion shared by Wes Fleming, the host of “Chasing the Horizon,” and Mark Long, the host of “Driven to Ride.” Both enjoy playing stringed instruments, Wes favoring the guitar while Mark is a bass player. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” admits Fleming, adding, “It’s the two groups of people that I like.” Besides his podcast...

Bob Starr considers himself “lucky,” having spent his entire career in the motorcycle industry, including more than 32 years at Yamaha in marketing and, currently, corporate communications. “I turned a passion of mine at a very early age into a lifelong career,” he says with the enthusiasm of a teenager, “and I have really, really enjoyed it. I hope I’ve made a difference in the industry and, cert...

The couple that rides together, stays together, right? Well, Cassey Stone, founder of the “Hell Yeah! Moto” women’s dirt bike riding school, and Jacob Michna, former head of the AMA Hare and Hound National Championship Series now running the AMA West Hare Scramble Championship Series, bring vastly different two-wheel experiences to their relationship, which probably explains why they get along so...

Stage names often have interesting backstories. For Ryan Kluftinger, better known as “RyanF9,” host of the “FortNine” YouTube channel, the explanation is straightforward: His boss came up with the internet alias. At the time, Ryan wasn’t exactly pleased, but he shrugged it off, figuring that was a small cost for the opportunity to produce his own content. Nearly a decade later, “RyanF9” is a house...

Like so many of his peers, Sean Bice began his lifelong love affair with motorcycling on a minibike. His adventures in small-town, northern New York state eventually led to the purchase at age 16 of a two-stroke Yamaha RD350, which Bice still owns. “My dad was cool enough to go, ‘I’ll pay for half, you pay for half, but you have to take care of this bike,’” he recalls. “It’s where I got started. I...

What comes to mind when someone says, “Sturgis”? As in, the annual motorcycle rally set in the South Dakota city of the same name. If you’re Mark Long, host of “Driven to Ride,” you know only what you’ve read or been told. See, before this year, Mark had never been to Sturgis, never mind the rally. So this past August, he packed his bags and pointed the headlight of his Yamaha XSR900 toward Mount...

Keith Keller ventured from the U.S. to the Cayman Islands to experience first-hand the spectacular diving and snorkeling for which the British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea is known, and he stayed for the motorcycling. That description may seem odd to dyed-in-the-wool riders, since Grand Cayman, the largest of the three islands, only encompasses 75 square miles—not exactl...

True story: “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long booked a Kawasaki Vulcan S through Riders Share for the MotoGP race weekend at Circuit of The Americas. Upon arrival in Austin, Texas, he went to the designated location to pick up the bike from owner Guillermo Cornejo. Turns out, Cornejo is the founder of Riders Share, said to be the largest motorcycle-sharing community in the world. What are the chance...

For generations of teenagers, a driver’s license represented independence, a milestone moment that transported fresh-faced wheelmen (and women) one step closer to adulthood. That is less so now, with fewer young drivers showing interest in taking to the road. Andrew Pieper, however, is all about bucking trends. In fact, he couldn’t wait to pass his driving exam so he could buy, you guessed it, a m...

If spectating at a MotoGP race in Europe is on your bucket list, then the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello won’t disappoint, as “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long discovered firsthand this past June. Long spent the week traveling with his buddy Mike, who lives in Switzerland. Together, they enjoyed the full, immersive race-weekend experience camping on the scenic (and noisy!...

“You’ve come a long way, baby,” was an advertising slogan created in the 1960s by Philip Morris for cigarette brand Virginia Slims. Aimed exclusively at women, the long-running campaign promoted equality among genders, particularly in the workplace. Crystal Fong has come a long way, too—both literally and figuratively—as she explains to host Mark Long on this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcas...

“Farm to fork” is a popular movement in which restaurants source fresh, locally grown ingredients from nearby farms for the meals they serve, as opposed to purchasing those items from wholesale distributors that cater to nationwide chains. Janus Motorcycles is the farm-to-fork of motorcycle makers, a regionally focused alternative to the global parts vendors used by many long-established manufactu...

Have you ever met someone who describes their life on this planet in such an entertaining way you lose track of time? Well, that is the dilemma “Driven to Ride” podcast host Mark Long faced with Mike van der Sleesen. Mike, the CEO of Vanson Leathers, was one of Mark’s first guests, and that interview barely scratched the surface of a life of adventure spent on and around two wheels. See, Mike was...

Jeff Allen has been taking beautiful photographs of motorcycles for Cycle World magazine and its digital sister, cycleworld.com, for more than 30 years. Jeff got his start in the early 1990s as a studio assistant. His current position as staff photographer has taken Jeff all over the world in a unique role that enables him to capture the essence of the sport while also experiencing two wheels firs...

We're taking you to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas. We're not just going to the race - we're talking with Clerk of the Course Beth Miller; Sean Bice, the prolific MotoAmerica content creator who co-hosts the series’ weekly “Off Track” podcast; Brian Case, Executive Director of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum; and 1993 500cc Grand Prix...

If there was a dictionary entry for “Moto California,” the definition might be “a nightclub on two wheels.” Or at least that is the concept West Coast transplant George Beavers had in his mind when he cooked up the idea of creating an exclusive and unique intercontinental vacation experience centered around riding fun motorcycles on spectacular roads in fairy-tale locations. Beaver’s two-wheel-ori...

Are you afraid to ride a motorcycle at night? Does your heart skip a beat when drops of rain appear on your faceshield? You’re not alone. Carolyn Figueria—better known as “Doodle on a Motorcycle” to the legion of fans who subscribe to her YouTube channel—uses her ever-expanding platform to address these and other challenges that could have prevented her from enjoying motorcycling to its fullest. K...

Some people seem destined for a certain line of work—a family business, for example—while others set out on a unique and unexpected career path with a specific goal in mind. Sarah Schilke identifies with the latter, the Oregon native having established early on that a life spent on two wheels in the motorcycle industry was the one and only direction for her. Schilke has been employed at nearly eve...

When Hank Snow took “I’ve Been Everywhere” to number one on the country-music charts, Dennis Noyes was writing for a daily newspaper in Venezuela. South America is a long way from central Illinois, where Noyes was born and raised. His father wrote for the “Stars And Stripes” and his mother was a linguistics professor at Purdue University, so words have always been and remain integral to Dennis’ ex...

When Bridget McCutchen set off from her rural midwestern home on a world tour, she had no idea what the next 16 months would bring. Some 451 days later, after covering nearly 50,000 miles and visiting 45 countries, the 22-year-old Wisconsin native had successfully checked off all the requirements to become the youngest person, man or woman, to travel around the world by motorcycle. McCutchen was n...

Would you let a complete stranger ride your prized motorcycle? Austin Rothbard is betting that you will—for a fee, of course. In fact, Rothbard started a business in 2017 based on that very concept. Rothbard is a motorcyclist himself and the founder and CEO of “Twisted Road,” a peer-to-peer, community-based rental service that he fondly refers to as the “Airbnb of motorcycles.” Twisted Road builds...

How’s this for a company motto? “Hand built. Made to last.” Those aren’t just words, either: Top Fuel Motorcycle drag racer and former world record holder Kory Hogan survived a 246-mph crash in a leather suit designed and manufactured under the unyielding direction of the guest on this episode, the founder and CEO of Vanson Leathers, Mike van der Sleesen. Founded in 1974 and operating since 1988 f...

Michael Lichter rode a motorcycle to the Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the first time in 1979—44 years ago. He documented that trip with a camera from the seat of his Harley-Davidson Shovelhead. Little did Lichter know that inaugural visit to  the wildly popular biker party would lead to attending dozens more rallies and hundreds of other similar events and gatherings around the...