Lifestyle Cycles Riding Group: Get to know ride leader Carol aka "BatGirl", and how the rides happen

"Hey everybody, Junior from Lifestyle Cycles here again. We've been asked to tell everybody a little bit about the riding group. Lifestyle Cycles Riding Group is actually an amazing group. It's composed of everyone riding every type of motorcycle. So, even though Lifestyle Cycles is really focused and specializes in Harley-Davidsons, our riding group has many, many different types of bikes. For example, Carol Sleeper here, she is one of the leaders. We have ride directors, ride managers, sweep riders, a whole array of different people all connected on headsets. Right, and there's Harley-Davidsons, Indians, Honda Gold Wings, Suzukis, trikes—there's all kinds of bikes in this. It was started 10 years ago, and it was really just an idea where we wanted to put the riding community together, get people something fun to do, fun places to go. And now, Carol, you lead these rides. Now, when you lead these rides, how do you communicate? So, you have 50 or 60 bikes going, and you change lanes, you have to maneuver through traffic. How do you accomplish this?"

"Okay, so the ride directors and ride managers are all synced up with headsets. We don't allow the participants to be involved in that because we're really working the ride, and we're coming up with a plan and everything in real time. So, if I'm leading the ride, which is a lot of times the case, and we need to move over, let's say to exit on the freeway in 3 miles, I need to start moving that group over. So, I'll have one of my blockers come up and do the first block, and then we have to be in communication with the sweep. Because if someone breaks down and I lose my sweep, I need to know when I lost him and who he's pulling over with. I have to have somebody else, one of our other ride managers, take up the sweep temporarily because again, somebody else could also have a problem, which we've had numerous breakdowns in one ride happen. That's because their people did not have their bike serviced at Lifestyle Cycles. But not only when you're doing this, you're not only managing all of your riders, you're actually managing all the cars on the road as well, because you have to move them over and keep space for all your riders."

"Now, one of the other cool things is you take people to places they never even knew existed, um, and directions and routes that they never were there through all the back roads, country roads. What's your favorite place that you've taken people to? You've gone to some very, very cool spots. What is the coolest ride you've done?"

"I'd have to say my multi-day rides out of the state of California. Sturgis, I know Sturgis 'cause we had Colorado. Million Dollar Highway was amazing. We went through Bryce, through Zion, it's just gorgeous. And then some of these back roads, my thing. We all, all the ride directors that run rides have kind of their little area of what they're kind of known for. And for me, it's my twisties and back roads. I like it. My goal's complete when I hear people come up to me at the end of the day and say, 'I've never been on that road before. Oh my God, that was so cool.' I get a happy feeling because that is kind of my objective, is to hit these back roads and twisties, those obscure roads that they have never ridden on. There's always a simple way to get where you're going down the highways and freeways, but you never ever take them. You might take two hours to go to some place that's 30 minutes away when you're on one of these events. But you're doing it, you're picking the most scenic rides, the places that you're going to see the most vistas and ocean, and you stop and you take pictures. And um, you've kind of with this riding group created a community. There's 4200 members in this now."

"Absolutely a community. And it's more than just a community to me, it's an extended family because I spend time—I mean, the biggest thing that you can do is spend time with people, right, that you care about. And with me and the riding group, we actually spend—we choose to spend time outside of our rides. We go—I go to, you know, camping with these people. I go to dinner. I go to shows. I mean, we spend time with people bowling. Yes, bowling. Bowling, which I'm [__] at, but they made me do this. I'm better on a motorcycle than bowling. Yes, yes. Now, you don't just get on these rides and start riding. You actually take the time, and a lot of time, and you go pre-ride these things. So, you go down these routes, everywhere you're going to take everybody, and you've found the coolest little pubs and restaurants and places and set up with them. So then your group gets there, they have, you know, servers ready, um, special foods, things like that."

"Yeah, but it's mostly because of the roads that we're pre-riding, especially after the rain's been having, right? So, whenever we have a ride and there has been rain, we have to go check the roads, make sure they're in good condition—no rocks, no gravel, no sand, no potholes. And if there are, is it going to be dangerous for the ride group? And do I need to reroute it? So, yeah, there's a lot of time. The only time we really don't pre-ride is when we're out of state and a lot of the roads we've already been on, and I have already been on. But sometimes we haven't been, um, but then it's an adventure for us all. So, if there's one great thing, the last thing you want to say about the Lifestyle Cycles Riding Group, what would that be?"

"I would say just I just love how we are. I mean, it's like where we hug each other, we literally tell each other that we love them, love each other. Um, and so it's just, it's my family, and I would do anything for my family. And so that's why I'm so involved with this group."

"Well, I love you. I love you too, and thank you for doing this. You're awesome, and I got to tell you what, everybody, you really want to try riding with—because if you think you're a badass, you got something coming 'cause she's going to outrun you, I promise that. Private rides."