Hi Dario, we finally managed to catch you…

and apparently you are not always “in the air” but you are also a fan of two wheels. We know that your Scrambler Special was prepared by Ducati Salzburg.

SS: Tell us a little about the idea and your experience as a Ducati Ambassador.

I grew up with a passion for engines just a stone’s throw from the Ducati headquarters, I could only fall in love with the style of uniqueness that make Ducati a very special motorcycle brand for me, the brand that first put some airplanes into its bikes . In the last three years I have had the privilege of having almost all the Ducati in production since 2019 on test and I have tried to understand what were the characteristics that I would have liked to have in my ideal bike and this is how my Scrambler Special was born.

I wanted to have the two revolutionary inventions of the pioneer Ing. Fabio Taglioni, two-cylinder L-Twin and desmodromic valve system as a basis. Then it had to be as agile as the airplane I fly and that’s why we changed something by working on the bike which is now inspired by Flat-Track motorcycles. In September 2021 you set five aviation records on an Istanbul motorway, taking off from inside a tunnel and entering directly into the next 1,730m long tunnel.

SS: Whizzing inside a rigid structure is pure adrenaline! How do you manage it?

A California woman with peace and love in her heart…

and an adventurous spirit in her head.

Real estate agent. A Ducati Scrambler all of her own and a passion for MTB. Let’s find out what she hides under her helmet when she walks the streets of Monterey.

(I currently live in the Laguna Beach area of Orange County, California. I grew up in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California.)

SS: What do you feel when you are on your Ducati?

I feel absolutely incredible when I am riding! It is a such an escape for me and brings me both peace and excitement! I can tune everything out, yet completely tune in if that makes any sense at all. It has been a very empowering experience for me as well, people seem so shocked and impressed that a little woman would ride such a powerful bike. I encourage more women to try it, don’t let the boys have all of the fun! Speaking of the boys, I do however thoroughly enjoy being a passenger from time to time. I have yet to find one besides my son that will ride on the back of mine, haha!

SS: How much time do you spend on two wheels, bearing in mind that you are also a mother?

As much as I can! During the summer as many as four or five times a week. Having a motorcycle to ride around Laguna Beach and up down the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway is an absolute dream! Lately its only been about twice a week and my bike calls to me from the garage. As far as being a mother, my children fully support it and love when I shuttle them around on it. The call me a baddie. Yes!!

Wheels and Waves 2021 – an event that wasn’t meant to be one

When the first Wheels and Waves Festival started at the Biarritz lighthouse in June 2012, exactly ten years ago, the unusual event was nothing less than the starting signal for a completely new facet in our motorcycle cosmos. No longer thick tires and gigantic displacements characterized the motorcycles of the participants, but style and minimalism. And they were allowed to be classic.

The riders of the bikes from the 60s and 70s had also dressed up – contemporary, chic, stylish. This was matched by a well thought-out media presence with groundbreaking graphics, its own fashion and cinematic accompaniment. There had never been such a sophisticated aesthetic of its own before.

No one before had managed to establish themselves alongside the somewhat dusty outlaw bikers, touring riders and vintage motorcycle enthusiasts. “A new era had begun, beyond born-to-be-wild campfire romance and boring classic bike gatherings,” reports Jörg Solar, who travels to the Atlantic every year with his BSA A 65 from Hamburg in northern Germany. He adds: “And the Wheels and Waves was the initial spark.”

So they all came, shaken awake by a new current. From France, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA, Japan and everywhere. On their 250cc Hondas, Norton Commandos, 60s Harley choppers, Moto Guzzi V7s and BSA scramblers.