Lawnmowing Neighbors and Female Bikers Rev Up for the
Fourth
When they roll into place along the Central Street parade route on July 4, the Entyce (motorcycle)
Ryders and the Lawndale Lawnmowers will be demonstrating the kind of "civic engagement" and
"social connectedness
While the Lawnmowers reprise an old act in the parade, the Entyce Ryders, a female motorcycle
group, will be making their first appearance. Not denying they enjoy their status as pioneers ("Once
they find out we're women, it's different"), Lavicieia Sturdivant, president and spokesperson, says
they have a serious purpose as well.
"We are ladies on a positive mission," she says. "Wherever you go, you conduct yourself as a lady."
The group got acquainted at a beauty shop in Chicago three years ago, says Ms. Sturdivant, and,
seven strong, had their first outing - a party given by another female group - in February 2004.
They chose a name, established a board and a set of regulations, set dues and decided to hold
mandatory monthly meetings in their homes. They also voted to participate in frequent community
service projects. To date these include such things as a clothes drive for victims of Hurricane
Katrina, a back-to-school girls' basketball tournament and a Toys for Tots collection.
The Entyce Ryders will rev their engines in Evanston's parade for the first time. The group includes
three Evanston women and is intent on showing that biker chicks are ladies. Photo courtesy of
Entyce Ryders
The Ryders now number a dozen, three of them from Evanston and the others from Chicago, and
range in age from 21 to 35. By day they are postal workers, real estate agents, nursing assistants,
college students. Ms. Sturdivant operates Heavenly Hands, a year-old massage therapy business.
After work, they like nothing more than riding. "Most of our significant others also ride, so they know
the importance of it," Ms. Sturdivant says. She estimates the group spends 15 to 20 days a month
together. Each has a bike name: Evanston's Latanya Knoble is Miss Tasty; Sienna Stanley is All
Good; and Ms. Sturdivant is Hot Fudge.
All but one of the Ryders have sports bikes (also known as crotch rockets, says Ms. Sturdivant). Led
by their road captain, they ride in formation all over the Chicago area. They are planning a second
trip to Atlanta in July, trailing their bikes as they did last year.
Aware of the hazards of their sport ("My mother always reminds me," says Ms. Sturdivant), they ride
with helmets and, she says, act on their belief that "it is never a bad habit to pray before we get on
our bikes."
But on the Fourth of July the president says their main challenge will be their children. "Our kids
want to be a part of the parade," she says. Ten of the Ryders have children, and nine of them are
girls. Watch for them to walk in front or in back of Entyce Ryders, wearing t-shirts and smiles of
pride.
Fourth
When they roll into place along the Central Street parade route on July 4, the Entyce (motorcycle)
Ryders and the Lawndale Lawnmowers will be demonstrating the kind of "civic engagement" and
"social connectedness
While the Lawnmowers reprise an old act in the parade, the Entyce Ryders, a female motorcycle
group, will be making their first appearance. Not denying they enjoy their status as pioneers ("Once
they find out we're women, it's different"), Lavicieia Sturdivant, president and spokesperson, says
they have a serious purpose as well.
"We are ladies on a positive mission," she says. "Wherever you go, you conduct yourself as a lady."
The group got acquainted at a beauty shop in Chicago three years ago, says Ms. Sturdivant, and,
seven strong, had their first outing - a party given by another female group - in February 2004.
They chose a name, established a board and a set of regulations, set dues and decided to hold
mandatory monthly meetings in their homes. They also voted to participate in frequent community
service projects. To date these include such things as a clothes drive for victims of Hurricane
Katrina, a back-to-school girls' basketball tournament and a Toys for Tots collection.
The Entyce Ryders will rev their engines in Evanston's parade for the first time. The group includes
three Evanston women and is intent on showing that biker chicks are ladies. Photo courtesy of
Entyce Ryders
The Ryders now number a dozen, three of them from Evanston and the others from Chicago, and
range in age from 21 to 35. By day they are postal workers, real estate agents, nursing assistants,
college students. Ms. Sturdivant operates Heavenly Hands, a year-old massage therapy business.
After work, they like nothing more than riding. "Most of our significant others also ride, so they know
the importance of it," Ms. Sturdivant says. She estimates the group spends 15 to 20 days a month
together. Each has a bike name: Evanston's Latanya Knoble is Miss Tasty; Sienna Stanley is All
Good; and Ms. Sturdivant is Hot Fudge.
All but one of the Ryders have sports bikes (also known as crotch rockets, says Ms. Sturdivant). Led
by their road captain, they ride in formation all over the Chicago area. They are planning a second
trip to Atlanta in July, trailing their bikes as they did last year.
Aware of the hazards of their sport ("My mother always reminds me," says Ms. Sturdivant), they ride
with helmets and, she says, act on their belief that "it is never a bad habit to pray before we get on
our bikes."
But on the Fourth of July the president says their main challenge will be their children. "Our kids
want to be a part of the parade," she says. Ten of the Ryders have children, and nine of them are
girls. Watch for them to walk in front or in back of Entyce Ryders, wearing t-shirts and smiles of
pride.
PREZ, ALL GOOD AND MS.TASTY ARE ALL RESIDENTS OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
"We were looking for something like a sisterhood where we could go out and doing something for the community and for the kids," she said.
It took McNeal one day to learn how to ride. Entyce hired an instructor to come out to a park on and teach all the women who wanted to know
how to ride.
McNeal is now just learning how to pop wheelies and ride the tank.
"It's a bond," McNeal explained about the biker culture. "It's a bond between the bikers that like can't be broken."
They call her Nowlata, but her real name is Latrese McGee. You will hardly ever catch McGee, founder of Entyce Ryders, on her motorcycle
without a bunch of Now n Later candies in her pockets.
"It was just four females sitting around with nothing to do," said McGee, cosmetologist and flagger for a construction company. "I typed up
flyers asking women to come, and the day we had our first meeting, 13 women showed up, mostly all of my friends. That's how we got
started and I became the founder.
"Actually, with my vision, and the vision of the CEO and president, we just like a challenge," McGee continued. "We feel that we can do
whatever the men can do. And we just stepped our game up by adding four and half inch stiletto heels. Now everybody is excited about
seeing us with our heels on. Right now, we can just stand up, but next year we're going to stunt."
The girls hit Washington Park and a police squad car pulls besides them. Entyce Ladies are not in trouble. The officer just wants a phone
number.
Police don't hassle the riders too much, Johnson said. As a matter of fact, quite a few African American police officers belong to the various
Black bikers clubs throughout the city, he said.
"They are on us, of course, for speeding, but a lot of times I will drive by a police car and pop a wheelie, and they will give me the thumbs
up," Johnson said. "The issue with police and riders today is that a lot of bikes are getting stolen, and officers are cracking down in looking
at who are riding on the bikes."
Johnson said white bikers clubs have a stronger support group than the Black groups, but the Black motorcycle clubs do a lot for their
communities.
"Nu World Ryders do a lot for their community," Johnson said. "That's the same type of atmosphere we are trying to create here in
Bronzeville. And they come out and support us on many of our events. I mean next to God and my family, this is it for me. This is my life.
"We don't party with people we don't know. We party with people we see on a regular basis. It's like 50 to 60 (Black) bike clubs in the
Chicago area, and we're like one big family."
|
The men all paused
Vicketa McNeal, 29 - her rider name is Ruby - is the CEO of Entyce Ryders, a group of all-female sport bike riders on the West Side.A group
of about five Entyce Ryders sped down Lake Shore Drive causing heads to turns as their curvy bodies hug their motorcycles. Half of the
girls wore pink stilettos as they leaned on their motorcycles to get a grip on the road's tight bends."How we got started is actually when we
all were in the beauty shop one day and we saw a bunch of guys riding by," McNeal said. "This was in March in 2005, and we said we
should start our own group. We never rode with the guys before. We didn't like being on the back of bikes."McNeal's family beauty shop,
Studio Entyce, 2113 S. Pulaski, is the headquarters for the lady riders.
Vicketa McNeal, 29 - her rider name is Ruby - is the CEO of Entyce Ryders, a group of all-female sport bike riders on the West Side.A group
of about five Entyce Ryders sped down Lake Shore Drive causing heads to turns as their curvy bodies hug their motorcycles. Half of the
girls wore pink stilettos as they leaned on their motorcycles to get a grip on the road's tight bends."How we got started is actually when we
all were in the beauty shop one day and we saw a bunch of guys riding by," McNeal said. "This was in March in 2005, and we said we
should start our own group. We never rode with the guys before. We didn't like being on the back of bikes."McNeal's family beauty shop,
Studio Entyce, 2113 S. Pulaski, is the headquarters for the lady riders.
|
| Babes With Bikes Thursday, September 13, 2007 By Tiffany Forte LaVicieia Sturdivant’s love affair with bikes started at a beauty shop, when a group of biker guys walked in. She noticed their confidence, their swagger, their togetherness. That sold her and months later, she and a group of women from Chicago’s West Side created their own bike club. Spectators no longer, they just had to ride. Sturdivant soon joined the Entyce Ryders club, which at the time was the newest all-ladies club to hit the city’s West Side. The move looped the women into an exclusive, national family of bikers who fraternize, ride and help the community. (They also look pretty cool in their pink and black leather gear biker gear.) They’re not the first all-chick bikers group, and they certainly will not be the last, but they are definitely part of a growing trend of female bikers who are flipping their gender roles and having fun doing it. Good thing the fellas like it. “They’re tired of riding on the back of men’s bikes,” observes Rickey Gadson, 40, a professional drag racer who was raced by a female biker. “There are so many women that ride now that when a woman sees another woman riding, that’s a sign of independence.” At a recent Chicago gathering of sport bikers sponsored by the #1 Stunnas bike club, some 20 percent of the crowd was female. The three-day event featured a meet-and-greet, a stunt show and a picnic. It was like a family event – though few people were related by blood. And all the women got their props. Yet the stereotypes are still out there. Tonya “Baby Doll” Benjamin, of San Diego’s Hurricane Biker Girls club says though her club has received much love nationwide, female clubs go through a lot to gain respect from their male counterparts. “Because the Hurricanes are physically attractive and care about our looks, people think we’re bimbos, stuck up and can’t ride when it fact we are just the opposite,” says Benjamin. Regardless of what personal experiences each rider has, they stay in it due to their passion and love of motorcycles and this community. Sturdivant enjoys the reactions she gets and the inspiration she gives to others—and with that comes responsibility. She says: “Our purpose is to provide values such as respect, responsibility and unity as well as meeting the needs of the community. That’s where our mission comes in.” Tiffany Forte is a freelance writer. She contributed to the bikers story in the October issue of EBONY. 2 Responses to "Rally Riders" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 06.09.08 at 9:39 PM Gary Slutsky says:I am trying to contact LaVicieia Sturdivant to invite the Entyce Riders to be in the Evanston 4th of July parade. They were in the parade last year, and we sent them an invitation for this year, but it came back undeliverable. If you can ask Ms. Sturdivant to contact me at gss1000@comcast.net I would really appreciate it. They were a big hit in 2007. Thanks, Gary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.17.08 at 4:04 PM sonya says:out of all the female biker clubs in chicago i think Entyce Ryders have the best spirit. They are still rather neww but they seem to be growing and sticking to their mission. alot of other female bike clubs have broken up and no longer exist but Entyce Ryders is still standing strong. you can expect Entyce Ryders to be club that goes down in history. much respect to the Ladies of Entyce. you all are Ladies on a positive mission. |
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| Lavicieia Sturdivant President of Entyce Ryders |