As told by Laina D.
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Time
casts a haze over memory--I couldn't say if Kristina F. and I became
friends first because we were both in recovery, or because we'd both
been riding our own motorcycles for years. Certainly, it was our affiliation
with Narcotics Anonymous that allowed for us to meet each other. It
was our delight in finding another hot woman who rode her own bike that
brought us together, and it was our commitment to health and growth
that nurtured and promoted our friendship. This was San Francisco, 1989.
We'd found that staying off drugs and alcohol didn't seem to be the
only and final answer in our recovery. We began attendingCoDA meetings
together, often taking the bikes. It was during this time that we began
talking about forming a club--a women's clean and sober motorcycle club.
As far as we knew, there was nothing else like it in the Bay Area .
There were all kinds of clubs and organizations: outlaw and otherwise,
clean and not, straight and gay, but we knew of nothing for straight
women who didn't use drugs and alcohol; in other words, nothing for
us. We decided it was time to start our own. One night on the floor
of my living room, Kristina brought a pencil drawing she'd put together
from ideas from motorcycle magazines. We ended up with the head of a
woman emerging from the head and body of an eagle, wings coming down
like a feathered gown surrounding her. Her hair flowed behind her. She
was perfect: we'd created our patch. The colors, turquoise and lavender,
were my choice. The name of the club was yet to be chosen. One day I
was on the bike cruising, lost in my thoughts, playing with words in
my mind for the name of a club that would reflect the kind of women
we hoped to attract: strong, independent, beautiful. Not the kind of
women who fall apart easily. Not the kind of women who pack. But not
man-hating, self-denying women either. We wanted women who gloried in
being women: both strong and feminine. Leather and Lace was good--so
good it was already taken. I kept sifting in my mind and slowly it emerged:
Raw Silk. I brought it to one of the first meetings we had and it was
agreed. In the meantime we had added two more members, Stacy and Gretchen.
The four of us became the founders of the club. One of the first snags
we ran into was what the nature of the club would be. I have to admit
that what I wanted was a far cry from what Raw Silk ended up being.
I'd never hung around with clubs of any kind. All my riding had been
solo or with an independent old man. I'd hoped we would be a group of
women who wanted to ride together, maybe get together on a weekend day
now and then, have a potluck meal first, then get on the bikes and go.
Or that the members would be there on the other end of the line when
I called, so that when I asked, "Wanna ride?" someone would say "Sure!".
The others, however, had very different ideas. Both Kristina and Stacy
had extensive experience with outlaw clubs. They knew of a protocol,
a way of life, a set of unspoken but unquestionable rules about how
to be a biker. I didn't know any of this. I'd just been innocently riding
around since 1974 completely naive to all of it. I'm not sure about
Gretchen, actually, she didn't say much, but I was clearly outnumbered.
We were going to be a club with a patch that had to be "approved" (what
the hell did THAT mean? I didn't need anybody's approval) with a charter
and by-laws and officers. On the other hand, there was going to be a
lot of emphasis on our sisterhood and being of service to Narcotics
Anonymous and other recovery institutions. And so we developed. We had
our founding membership, our approved patch and name, and our basic
goals. Raw Silk was born: Kristina was the first President, Stacy would
be Vice Pres., Gretchen was Treasurer, and I was Secretary.
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©2001 Raw Silk MC
