The writing of Biker Chicz of North America -pt.4

By Wil De Clercq

Fortunately Ed and all the women involved were very supportive and patient. At times they lifted my spirit. I interviewed each woman by phone over a period of three months. I used a set of general questions that were common to all. Then I proceeded accordingly to unlock their persona with specific questions. Each biker chick had submitted a brief biography to us – some had their own websites chockfull of info – and the specific questions were posed to delve deeper into the background they had provided. Sometimes we drifted off-topic, talking about mutual interests, etc. But those talks always provided further perspective into their character.

The process of transcribing the interviews took another twelve months, whenever I was able to write and or devote time to the project. Each profile then went back and forth between Ed, myself, and whoever’s story we were working on. We had an agreement with the women that they could read their profile for accuracy, before signing off on it. Although not standard procedure, it’s not unusual either. For a book like Biker Chicz of North America, it makes sense to involve the people you’re writing about.

Some of the women – women who had been misrepresented or misquoted by other writers in magazine or newspaper articles – made it a condition that they read their profiles before publication. Once burned, twice shy. But because our aim with the book was to represent women bikers from a positive and inspiring point of view, not to exploit them, the process was a painless one.

When all was said and done, few of them requested any kind of changes. It was more about adding something than removing something. They were amazed how Ed and I captured their core being in 5,000 words or less. This was not an easy task because most of the women’s life stories could fill an entire book.  Due to the delay between the actual interviews, transcribing, and finished manuscript, it was necessary to update each profile before the second draft went to our copy editor Tom Pitoniak. Tom did an excellent job and was also a pleasure to work with.

Without Ed to pamper me through it all, however, there probably wouldn’t have been a book. Ed is a man with a biker’s heart and soul whose passion for motorcycling is infective. He is also one of the most optimistic people I have ever met and has a knack for turning a downer into an upper.

I’m not a biker myself, although my father had been in his youth when he was a Belgian motocross star. I haven’t been on a motorcycle since I wiped out on a dirt bike in 1988. I love motorcycles, especially the aesthetics, and I love motorcycle racing … that is I love to watch other people do the racing. I’m just not brave enough to do it or ride on the road. That’s why interviewing and writing about the amazing women in Biker Chicz was such a treat. I was able to relate to all of them on one level or another. I must say, however, that I identified the most with Laura Klock because she not only rides on the road, she’s a renowned racer as well.