The Sheilas Shakedown

I CAN feel the rubber burning underneath me, the engine shaking, revving, powering the rear wheel. I can hear whistling and cheering out of the corner of my eye. Sheilas were running down the hill, Sailor Jerry’s in hand, bearing their painted chests, coming to watch the rubber burn and the smoke rise. Looking around as I released the throttle on my Seventy-Two Sporty, I sensed complete freedom. The Sheilas Shakedown delivered the goods!

But let’s go back a bit. We started with bike games: precision turns, slow races, bite the sausage, to name a few. The girls on the sidelines beamed with enthusiasm and the competitors bonded as we competed in this hilarious ceremony of ridiculous games.

Certainly sights to remember were Meighan Mary’s tattoo gun in full swing, the Sailor Jerry’s pouring and body painting done at a rate ensuring there were more topless lasses than down at your local tits-on-toast.

The bands rocked as us Sheilas danced, then what the Hell—more burnouts even on the dance floor! We danced like there was no one watching (well, no blokes anyway). The party lasted until the wee hours of the morning and finished up in the Sailor Jerry’s van.

The sun rose and thank the Lord there was coffee. The Screaming Jimmies had us sorted for breaky—a well-thought-out hangover kit which included two Panadol, two Nurofen, a Gatorade and a durry. I settled for a mass amount of bacon and a quadruple shot of espresso!

Until next year, sheilas! The Litas Newcastle will be back.

Matilda Quist: Raise Hell, Babe…

MATILDA Quist has been riding motorbikes for eight years and currently rides a H-D Seventy-Two, an authentic ’70s Sportster with a chopper attitude. She is a member of the Litas in Newcastle which currently consists of 12 women who share a love for the open road and two-wheeled machines.

Ozbike first became aware of the Litas at the recent Mudgee Meltdown where we met members from both the Wollongong and Newcastle chapters.

Currently, the Litas Newcastle meets up fortnightly, although some members have organised to ride every weekend and meet during the week for dinner. Recent rides include from Newcastle to Port Macquarie and Walcha on the Bucketts Way, Thunderbolt’s Way and the Oxley Highway.

The Litas was started by Jessica Haggett in 2015 in Utah, USA. It has now grown worldwide with more than 2500 women riders in 27 different countries—a major achievements in such a short time. 

The three main reasons the women ride are: 1) to show the blokes that it’s not just them who can throw a burnout, stand up on a seat or win a drag race; 2) to enjoy the freedom of escaping family life or getting out on one’s own; 3) to ride with a group of women who share the same passion for riding and learning new skills.

words by Matilda Quist; photos by Ravyna Jassani