Cory Texter was practically born with a throttle in his hand. His grandfather Ray owned a Harley-Davidson dealership in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Father Randy was a successful national-number flat-tracker and an AMA U.S. Twin Sports champion. Sister Shayna has won 19 American Flat Track Singles races. Cory himself notched two AFT Production Twins titles.

Texter is the very definition of a self-starter. Before retiring from professional competition, he earned a college degree and tried his hand at journalism, podcasting and, most recently, race promoting—all successfully. In fact, he just wrapped the eighth edition of the “Winter Throwdown,” a Florida tradition geared toward amateur flat-trackers that draws 800-plus entries.

Racing is a metaphor for other aspects of his life, says Texer, 38, a husband and father of two young boys. “It’s such a simple thing when you break it down. There’s a green light to start the race, and there’s a checkered flag. You have to figure out a way to get to the checkered flag before everybody else, and you don’t always have to be the fastest guy to do that.”

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If you like watching riding vlogs, motorcycle reviews, or hey, even listening to a moto podcast, you have Genevieve Schmitt to thank for it.

Genevieve has blazed her own trail for basically her entire career. From reporting on the seat of a motorcycle on the Speed Channel (and earning the title of first woman to do so) to founding Women Riders Now dot com back in the early 2000s - before most people even thought about launching a motorcycle website - and growing it to an audience reaching the hundreds of thousands, she’s led the charge in the industry for not just women in motorcycling, but for any moto-content creator.

Genevieve wrote and covered stories from the female perspective, and surprise - it turns out that a whole lot of riders, male and female, appreicated Genevieve’s work - sharing her opinions on industry trends, motorcycle legislation, and reviewing bikes from not just stats from a spec sheet, but how a motorcycle actually makes you feel when you ride it.

There’s a reason she’s has earned the the title of “top 100 leaders in powersports”, too - Genevieve has toured the country giving seminars on introducing women to motorcycling, she’s been featured on the History Channel, ABC News, USA Today, The New York Times, and more, and she’s scooped up industry awards left and right, including the AMA’s Bessie Stringfield award.

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WATCH THE FULL FILM HERE

In the classic 19th century Jules Verne novel, “Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours,” eccentric Brit Phileas Fogg and his French valet, Passepartout, wager they can circumnavigate the world in 80 days. That nearly three-month time table would have been a walk in the park for the Vancouver-based content team at YouTube motorcycle sensation “FortNine.”

Ryan Kluftinger, Connor Bondlow, and Edwin El Bainou set out to ride across America, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and then back through Alaska, the carrot being the current world record of 19 days and change, all while filming their every move. Their motorcycles of choice for this ultimate “Iron Butt” adventure? A pair of Ducati Multistrada V4 Rallys.

While Kluftinger describes their global lap as “the greatest ride of my life,” the two-plus-week excursion (no spoilers!) wasn’t without moments of undeniable reality. “What we were doing was fun and exciting,” he says, “and suddenly you remember the danger associated with it.” “Yalla Habibi!” premiered at the Rio Theater in Vancouver on December 22. Watch the trailer, or jump into the full film!

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This Saturday on Driven to Ride, we’re dropping something special.

We sat down in person with Ryan, Connor, and Edwin from FortNine for a full, hour-and-a-half conversation about one of the most ambitious motorcycle projects ever attempted: trying to circumnavigate the globe in under 19 days while filming a feature-length movie along the way.

From extreme sleep deprivation and hallucinations, to riding through freezing nights, dodging kangaroos in Australia, and pushing the human body far past its limits — this episode pulls back the curtain on what that trip really cost, physically and mentally.

This teaser is just a taste.

The full episode drops Saturday, both as a podcast and a full video.

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The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum exists at the intersection of the past, present, and future of motorcycling. “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long traveled to the museum for the very first time this past October. His eye-opening experience coincided with the annual Barber Vintage Festival, which attracts tens of thousands of riders from all over North America and beyond to central Alabama.

The magnificent five-story building sits in the southeast corner of Barber Motorsports Park, adjacent to the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course, affectionately known as the “Alabama roller coaster.” The museum and park are the legacy of dairy heavyweight and successful Porsche racer George Barber, whose vivid vision for a “motorcycle mecca” began in the late-1980s.

Long took full advantage of the three-day weekend, conversing with Executive Director Brian Case, Conservation Manager Ally Domar, Education Programs Manager Dr. Liz Johnson, and legendary designer Pierre Terblanche. He also took in Q&A sessions with champion racers and celebrity authors, while roaming the exquisitely manicured, 880-acre grounds. It’s a don’t-miss episode.

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Ultan Guilfoyle is a filmmaker and an author, who co-curated the landmark 1998 exhibition “The Art of the Motorcycle” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “Installing motorcycles in the rotunda was a thrill,” he recalls. “It was like taking sculptural, three-dimensional objects and putting them up in the space and allowing people to see them in a way they had never seen before.”

On this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, Guilfoyle relates the story behind the exhaustive efforts to gather the astounding 111 motorcycles presented in the exhibition. “If you’re curating an art exhibition, say you’re doing Picasso, you know where all the Picassos are,” he tells host Mark Long. “You make 50 calls, and you’ve got 40 yeses and 10 nos. At least you got an idea. We had no idea.”

Co-curator Charles Falco and Guilfoyle had a list of 50 “must-have” motorcycles, without which they had little hope of achieving their lofty exhibition goals. Twenty-one of those machines were ultimately lent to the Guggenheim by the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. That, Guilfoyle says, led to a relationship with founder George Barber, a relationship that continues to this day.

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Wendy Schneider’s recently released film, “Angels of Dirt,” is a true labor of love. The 90-minute picture focuses on Charlotte Kainz, who, as a child, embraced the male-dominated sport of flat-track motorcycle racing. One of the challenges, Schneider tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, was explaining the rich history of this “go fast, turn left” form of two-wheel competition to a new audience.

While Schneider interviewed a number of top former racers, both men and women, Kainz is at the heart of the story. “This is somebody, who, at a very early age, was carving out her destiny,” she says. “Watching her emerge as a contender, who said, ‘I want to race a Harley-Davidson XR-750. I want to race it at the Springfield Mile, and I want to win.’ She was her own compass.”

Kainz was a force, says Schneider. “All of us who were friends with her over the years loved watching her become who she became. That pairing of this young person on this monstrous motorcycle meant something that was bigger than both of them. It was really quite beautiful to be around. Why not celebrate it?” Why not, indeed. Watch the film at angelsofdirt.com.

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Motorcycling has opened nearly every door imaginable for Heather Wilson Schiltz, both personally and professionally. Schiltz heads up High Gear Success, a communications and marketing firm that caters to motorsports companies, event organizers, and racers. She is also the host of “Momentum: A Motorsports Podcast.” And, borrowing from her childhood dreams, she teaches others to ride.

Schiltz was quite literally born into motorcycling. Her father was an avid off-road racer. After high school, he opened a KTM/Husqvarna dealership in central Ohio. “Our lives revolved around going to the races and being in the dealership,” she says. “I don’t think he expected it to be a lifelong thing, but that’s what it turned into.” Heather’s parents recently sold the dealership after 48 years of operation.

Schiltz has been riding since she was five, but the actual behind-the-handlebars aspect of the sport takes a backseat to the many relationships she has forged. “I enjoy riding so much,” she admits. “It’s really freeing—a great experience. But I love the community and the family aspects that surround it. When I think about motorcycling, that’s what comes to mind for me.”

High Gear Success

Momentum: A Motorsports Podcast

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