View from the Rear

Welcome back friends!

It’s been almost a full decade since I wrote this column. When we closed USRiderNews and started Biker Nation as full time vendors, I traded the keyboard for a bar code scanner, and honestly, I’ve missed it.

But, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been in contact with many of you. Over these last 9 years,I’ve personally connected with hundreds of old and new friends from all around the USA through the motorcycle rallies as a vendor.

While the #vendorlife can be and is challenging, both financially and physically, the opportunities it brings to connect face to face with our customers, friends and fellow vendors are invaluable, and something I would not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise.

In this bi-weekly column, I plan to continue to share my perspective on the motorcycle lifestyle as a “passenger princess.” Although Scootie Boy and I don’t get the opportunity to ride as much as we used to (traveling with a trailer full of merch and no room for a bike doesn’t lend itself to summer bike nights and day trips like it used to) we still ride when we can and i still enjoy the “view from the rear.”

Yes, I have a motorcycle endorsement, as well as a recently acquired CDL medical card (that’s a story for the next column) but I decided it is more enjoyable for me, personally, to view the world from the back of the bike.

Don’t misunderstand, I have female friends who ride. I love them to pieces. Melanie, (Mel) my Helen Bingo playing boo, rides a beautiful white Victory motorcycle and lives life wide open. Loves hard and deep and has a smile that brightens my day every time we see each other. There are others, too many to name in one post so that’s why we’re starting a feature on this newly designed website called, Rider Stories. Look for Mel’s story there soon.

If you know someone who we should feature, send me an email Sylvia@bikernation.biz I hope the upcoming holiday season for you is safe and joyful. While there’s still time (here in the South) get out and ride, be safe and enjoy the view.

Sylvia Cochran is the president of Biker Nation. She works the rally circuit with the Biker Nation booth at motorcycle events across the country, and her column, View from the Rear, runs every other week. You can reach her at sylvia@bikernation.biz or (478) 494-7992.