The days of being a woman and wild are here and they are smiled upon. The Dream Roll has been looked at as a gathering of strong, independent women who just want to ride. You might think that an all-women’s motorcycle campout in the middle of the forest would obviously be something to see, but nothing could have prepared you for what was to come at the weekend of the first ever Dream Roll. A full moon, a topless dance party on an abandoned airstrip from the 20's, a burnout contest under spot lights, and solutes from ladies ripping beside 40 foot waterfalls whilst dodging wild(?) cows, the weekend was seriously nothing we could have ever fully planned.
Lanakila McNaughton (photo above left) and Becky Goebel (photo above right) came up with the idea to throw The Dream Roll during a Women’s Moto Exhibit event in Vancouver, BC. Lanakila being the photographer of the exhibit and from Portland made it easy to collaborate with Becky who had her own Canadian territory and was starting to be a big part of the women’s moto scene in the North. The two hit it off and started pushing the event through social media, their communities and their own platforms selling over 300 tickets in their first year.
There was a look of pride on every face that made it into The Dream Roll event grounds. Some of these ladies came from Portland and Southern California while others rode from NYC or flew from Australia. Their faces lit up as they drove into The Dream Roll where there were 2 massive dome tents, one filled with vintage furniture and hanging hammocks while the other boasted 1500 free beers as well as a vendor supplying free marijuana ice cream samples. The sun set as the women parked their bikes of all sorts along the tree line and started shaking hands. The positive vibes were strong as the DJ had the time of his life playing music for some wild & free ladies in the middle of Southern Washington. The party was supposed to shut down around midnight but there was still beer waterfalls happening onto Lana’s head long after 2am.
Saturday morning was full of coffee and raindrops. It was pretty obvious that it was going to be a wet day but the babes were full of excited energy. There was a ride-out to the ranger station about 7 miles away where riders chose where they wanted to explore that day. Some went on a 70-mile ride around the entire park, exploring the volcanoes and canyons surrounding the national forest. Others hit up Lower Lewis River Falls where they were spotted skinny dipping in the rain and others checked out the ice caves not too far from the camp site. No matter what road you chose to get lost on, there was wildlife, twists and turns, and tons of other ladies tearing up the Pacific North West around every corner.
It was really cool to watch ladies roll back into the event grounds after their rides that day; Some with complete rain gear on, totally soaked and some with jeans and a hoodie on, totally dry. There were some ladies with massive smiles on their faces and some babes who rolled in with a new group of buds after a day on the roads. It was pretty cool to hear stories of where everyone went and what was discovered. There was zero cell phone reception at the Dream Roll so it was all word of mouth and ladies trying to describe to each other where to roll to next. This was pretty fascinating considering most of us “met” and came together because of our phones, Instagram and almost everything to do with having cell phone service.
The rain quit on Saturday night and a rainbow appeared above the tipi (or teepee for some). The sisterhood vibes were seriously strong that night. It was apparent that there were strong bonds made after the hurdles that were jumped because of the rain, the riding terrain and the excitement of watching each other kill it on bikes. Five bands played in the dome and a burn-out contest started going down in the spotlights supplied by the Dream Roll film crew.
Being able to bring this diverse gathering together is an honor and I wouldn’t change the outcome of The Dream Roll for anything. I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us and I look forward to seeing new and familiar faces. The Dream Roll 2016 will be taking place at the same location during August 12-14th. For more information and tickets, visit www.dreamroll.com.
You can see more photos of the Dream Roll at @thedreamroll, #DreamRoll or both Lana and my personal accounts, @womensmotoexhibit & @actuallyitsaxel on Instagram.
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