VaVaVroom announced its winner for the "Are you one of 'those' girls?" contest. Tamela Rich with 577 votes takes home the grand prize. The contest was held on the company's Facebook page from October 1 through November 9, 2010. In keeping with the company's tagline - Riding. Fashion. Fun., the contest asked women motorcycle and scooter riders to answer the following questions in 250 words or less:

  • What do you ride that makes you one of “those” girls?
  • What do you wear that makes you one of “those” girls?
  • What do you do for fun that makes you one of “those” girls?

Founder, Denise Maple, noted that VaVaVroom “wanted to recognize and celebrate the individuality and community of women riders”.

Tamela's contest entry was titled "A Real MAMA (Middle-Aged Motorsport Athlete)". She explains how, at the age of 48, she learned to ride a motorcycle. Three short months after learning to ride, she decided to take her skills to the road in a 7,500 mile journey from North Carolina to Oregon with a pink bra-adorned windshield to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. In her efforts, along with a few dozen other "those" girls, she raised $40,000 for the cause.

photo credit: Catherine Anderson

"It was fun broadening the range of what "kind" of woman is one of THOSE GIRLS! I'm grateful for my friends taking time to vote for me and for writing such nice notes at the bottom of my entry. I'm a writer, so thanks to VaVaVroom I can now claim that I've won my first essay contest -- a double win", said Tamela.

Tamela's full essay is as follows:

In March of this year I learned to ride a motorcycle. In June, I strapped a pink bra across my windshield and traveled 7500 miles from North Carolina to Oregon and back to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. I waited until my 48th year to become a real-life Motorcycle MAMA (Middle-Aged Motorsport Athlete). While I wish I’d done it sooner, I can’t remake my life. As one of “those” girls, I don’t waste time with regrets. I joined forces with about 40 other of “those” girls, hailing from the United States and Canada, and we met at our rallying point in Cheyenne, Wyoming this July. You’ve never seen so much pink on people or bikes. “Those” girls raised $40k for the cause. I found beauty in the landscape, of course, but also in the people I met on the road. Everyone wanted to get their picture taken with my bra-adorned bike, and many stopped to tell me, a total stranger, about their bout with cancer or a friend or family member’s battle. People asked me if I felt safe on this trip and I think the pink bra must have been a good luck charm. I never met a scary person or a scary animal, and only once did I have scary weather (about 30 seconds of wind shear). Lesson: Don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do. “Those” girls know that fear is just excitement without the breath.

It is because of her story and her efforts that she was named VaVaVroom's "Those" Girls Contest winner. She will take home the grand prize of a collection of motorcycle and scooter products with an approximate retail value of $679, as follows: