Biker Chicz of North America, the much-anticipated new book by Edward Winterhalder and Wil De Clercq, is now available where ever books are sold. This is Winterhalder and De Clercq’s third non-fiction collaboration since the publication of their best seller,
The Assimilation: Rock Machine Become Bandidos, in 2008, which has been translated into French and German.
Like The Assimilation, Biker Chicz of North America revolves around the culture of motorcycles and motorcycle personalities. But that’s where the similarity ends. It is quite a departure from the authors’ first book, which chronicled the vicious Montreal biker wars from 1994 to 2002. Biker Chicz of North America features women whose stories are meant to empower other women, whether they ride a motorcycle, are thinking about riding one, or simply want to know more about the lifestyle.
While each of the women featured in Biker Chicz of North America are unique and extraordinary in their own right, there are, not surprisingly, certain attributes they all have in common. In addition to being avowed Harley riders—and in many cases ambassadors for women’s motorcycling—they are successful, intelligent, freethinking, adventurous, risk takers, creative, inspiring, and tenacious.
“Our original intention was to focus on mainstream women motorcycle riders who are more or less the average girl next door. But somehow we ended up with women whom we consider to belong to the current royalty of North American female bikers. The only criteria we were looking for was that they had inspiring stories to tell and that they rode a
Harley-Davidson,” said Winterhalder. “We are not Harley snobs by any means, but because Harley-Davidson motorcycles are the most identifiable and representative of the biker culture, we chose ‘America’s Freedom Machine’ as a common thread to lend continuity to our narrative.”
Winterhalder is one of the world’s leading authorities on motorcycle clubs and the biker lifestyle. The creator and executive producer of the Biker Chicz and Living on the Edge docu-reality series, he is a consultant to the entertainment industry for TV, feature film, and DVD projects that focus on the biker lifestyle. Winterhalder has appeared worldwide on television networks such as Bravo, Nat Geo (National Geographic), History Television, CBC, Global and the History Channel.
De Clercq has ghostwritten a number of successful books and is the co-author, along with enduro/rally rider Lawrence Hacking, of the MAX award winning To Dakar and Back: 21 Days Across North Africa by Motorcycle. De Clercq has been a dynamic force in the world of motorcycle journalism for more than twenty-five years.