This has been a career that I never saw myself in, but I’m grateful for it now because I have met so many extraordinary people throughout my time with Ultimate Motorcycling.
Early on, the common phrase was, “Mary will do it!” Not being a motorcyclist myself, I was the one they would put on the back of a bike to test out the two-up perspective or just to see what the newbie would think about racing around the track on the pillion with Steve Rapp at the controls, giving her the thrill of a lifetime.
“Mary will do it!” included Kawasaki’s dirt bike school at Femmoto in Las Vegas. I had never even driven a manual transmission car with any success, and I was the most inexperienced rider that day. To avoid a collision with another rider, I laid the bike down, only to come back with the largest bruise of my life covering one solid leg. I loved it and would do it again—that was a great day!
Arthur told me afterward that if you don’t crash from time to time, you’re not trying hard enough, so I felt proud of myself. As tempting as it was to go out and get a motorcycle license, I thought my true need for speed doesn’t mix well with bikes, so I will stay behind the wheel of my car and live vicariously through all of you.
I must say that my time at Ultimate Motorcycling has taught me so much about the media business. From when we were just printing and seeing everything involved with putting out an issue, and then watching the changes as we moved into being fully digital. Honestly, it was scary—a whole new world. At that time, who would’ve thought we would be here today? What a thrill to be a part of a team that has ridden that media rollercoaster, and to say we’ve made it this far is a huge accomplishment. Credit rightfully belongs to the original three people from Robb Report MotorCycling.
Production Manager Bri Cumbe taught me so much back when I started. Her ability to layout and design the magazine was genius in the print days, and then watching her fully embrace the changes that came with going digital has impressed me so much. Thank you and your team for always making the publication look so fantastic, Bri.
Editor Don Williams’ ability to keep the content fresh and diverse for our readers is inspiring! On the editorial side, he has assembled a staff and team of contributors that have given UM a strong, trusted voice in the industry. Don, I just want to say thank you for your unwavering dedication to bringing the best content that this industry has to offer our readers.
President and Owner Arthur Coldwells, thank you for your leadership and bringing me on board for the ride of a lifetime! Your foresight and vision to continue moving us with the times and changing media factors has been an incredible adventure to watch. I’m so happy to be a part of it.
In closing, thank you to everyone who has contributed with content, photos, stories, digital support, and advertising—to you, we are grateful beyond words.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you, the readers, our audience that tunes in daily, weekly, and monthly year after year. I’ve watched you grow from a modest but loyal print circulation to the mind-blowing digital consuming audience of motorcycling enthusiasts we have today.
Thank you, everyone, for making this the ultimate ride for us these amazing 20 years!
