For 30 years, Patrice “Foxy” Johnson has been riding motorcycles.
She has participated in and organized numerous biker conventions and is the general manager for MC Professional Convention (known as “The PROC”), a conference that attracts thousands of motorcyclists from across the nation.
Additionally, she reps North Carolina in the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, is the co-chair of the NC (North Carolina) ALL Female Ride Committee, and is Black Girls Ride’s – NC ride leader.
“I’m definitely what I call a biker babe,” Foxy said in a recent phone interview with Lee Bailey. “We (women who ride) call ourselves biker babes.”
Foxy is quick to point out the benefits of riding motorcycles.
“Motorcycling actually relieves a lot of stress,” Foxy said. “Most people who aren’t riders don’t see it that way. They look at it from the perspective of you don’t have as much covering as you do when riding in a vehicle. But my best thoughts come from getting on my bike and taking a long ride somewhere.”
She continued, “I get more tense when I’m in a car than on my motorcycle. A car gives people more distractions. When I’m on my motorcycle, I don’t think to look at my cell phone or text. I’m just looking at the open road and enjoying the scenery. It’s just so open and you can think of so many different thoughts.”
Foxy is excited that nowadays more and more women are taking up the sport.
“A lot of women are purchasing their own motorcycles and are able to ride with other women,” Foxy said. “When I started, that wasn’t the dynamic. Most riders were male. More women are seeing other women doing it and are realizing how much fun and camaraderie we are building amongst each other.”
The ease of learning how to ride is also part of the appeal.
“You can learn how to ride a motorcycle in a weekend,” Foxy added. “You can go to a class on Friday and not know anything about it and graduate on Sunday. From there, the sky is the limit. The road is how far you want to ride on it.”
Born in Florence, South Carolina and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, Foxy was around motorcycles since she was a young child. However, while impressed with the bikes her uncles and family friends owned, she made one thing clear, “I was not willing to be the passenger.”
“You’re talking about a kid that wasn’t even a teenager yet. They would want to ride me on the back of the bike, but the closest I would get was to sit on the bike as long as it wasn’t moving. I was afraid. I just didn’t want to move with it. I admired it but once they started it up, I wanted to quickly hop off.”
Unfortunately, while most of the relatives and friends she knew back in those days have passed, she said, “The one uncle that I have who’s not deceased, he’s just in amazement and so proud that I’ve jumped out there as far as being the first woman in our family to actually take on this sport. Now he’s watching my journey and just can’t believe that I’ve done so much more then he could ever think of.”
It should not be surprising that the Raleigh, North Carolina resident has driven all sorts of motorsports vehicles – including the Slingshot. Although it may look like a small car, Foxy says do not get it twisted – it’s one nice ride.
“While it won’t give the ride of a two-wheel experience what it will do is give you the ‘breeze’,” Foxy said. “Meaning when riding on the open road, although you’re seated and driving with a steering wheel, you will be able to feel the breeze hitting you in the face. You will feel the rain. So, you will get some of what we feel when on two wheels.”
Earlier this year, in March, Foxy added a snowmobile to her list of motorsports vehicles. She and other members of Black Girls Ride had a blast in South Dakota as they took to the slopes for the first time on snowmobiles.
“Snowmobiling was the best experience,” Foxy said. “We had never done snowmobiling before. None of us. We could not have planned a better girls trip. The adrenaline rush was serious. We were having so much fun falling off and falling in the snow and picking each other up.”
Foxy added, “I just want folks and those in the African American community to know when it comes to snowmobiling it may not be something you see a lot of minorities do, but I’m here to tell you we are missing out and selling ourselves short when we don’t do that. This experience gave us a greater appreciation for the overall sport of motorsports.”
The trip was sponsored by Polaris and their Polaris Adventures network of ride and drive experiences at outdoor destinations nationwide. Polaris has been involved with Black Girls Ride for four years and is excited about the opportunities to work with more people of color and women.
“Across the board, we’ve seen a lot of growth with women in powersports whether its motorcycling, snowmobiling, or off-roading,” said Joey Lindahl, marketing manager of customer growth at Polaris. “I think groups like Black Girls Ride and lots of other organizations have started to remove some of the intimidation factors that may be women saw in powersports in the past. But (the growth) is not just with women. We have seen a lot of growth with younger customers and multicultural customers as well.”
Lindahl continued, “Polaris was founded by a couple of brothers over 60 years ago, who slapped an engine on the back of a sled cause they wanted to have fun outside and invented the snowmobile. That adventurous spirit, willingness to break molds, and push boundaries is exactly what a group like Black Girls Ride is all about. That’s what they’re doing everyday – teaching and empowering and that’s what we’re all about.”
According to Polaris, among African American snowmobilers, women surpass their male counterparts, making up 61.3% of this population. For more information on Polaris Adventures, go here.
For more information on Black Girls Ride, click here.
Meanwhile, Foxy plans to talk more about snowmobiling at the motorcyclists’ conference, MC Professional Convention, from January 16-19, 2020 in Houston, Texas. For more information on attending the convention, go here.
Contact Patrice “Foxy” Johnson via 919.423.3268 or email at [email protected].
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
