Learn How to Perform at Your Best from Guinness World Record Holder, Leslie Porterfield

Living a life in full is a conversation you always wanted to have with that person who gave an amazing TED Talk or the author of one of your favorite books, or that inspirational Olympian you always wanted to know more about. It's graduate level conversations with those making a difference in the world and in the lives of others. This show brings you new ideas and approaches so that you can live a life in full. I'm your host, Dr. Chris Stout and I hope you enjoy this episode. This episode is brought to you by the nonprofit I founded, the center for Global Initiatives. The center is an all volunteer organization so there are no salaries and thus all tax deductible donations can go to the work. While our key country partner is in Tanzania, our work is global and generally focused in the areas of education and healthcare. We also help others to get their nonprofits started or augment others project based initiatives. It's our goal to open source humanitarian intervention and to help make it easier for others to do more good in the world. We are proud to have been ranked a great nonprofit every year since 2011 and to have achieved a Platinum level rating by Guidestar Links. In this episode's show, notes will take you to published articles on our outcomes, a number of helpful tools, and downloadable resources which are all free always. Please Visit us at CenterForGlobalInitiatives.org and be sure to watch our video at Patreon.com DrChrisStout to learn more. Thanks. Hey everybody, a quick show note before we get started with this amazing episode with Leslie. We did have a little bit of audio hiccup, a couple of points in time. Not enough to stop and restart the show or anything like that. I think you can get the gist of it, but just want to give you a heads up. I think it happens maybe about 15 minutes into our conversation and then maybe about 10 minutes later. So the human brain is an amazing thing, can put together bits and pieces of language information and I think you can make perfect sense of it. So just want to let you know it's not your device that you're listening to, but we just had a little bit of a proverbial technical audio hiccup that happens every so often. Nevertheless, Leslie is amazing and I really hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks. Welcome to another episode of Living a Life in Full. I'm your host, Dr. Chris Stout. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Leslie Porterfield is the fastest woman in the world and that's on a motorcycle. She's also been named Racing Female Rider of the Year by the American Motorcyclist Association. Leslie holds three land speed records and is a member of the very exclusive Bonneville 200 mile per hour club and its first woman member. She's been profiled in Time magazine and featured in a documentary entitled Chasing Leslie Porterfield. Leslie, welcome to the show.

Well, thank you so much.

So good to have you on. I believe we first met a while back at Chicago International Motorcycle show event. And at that event you were talking about your racing career and what you were doing, and I just, I have to admit, big fans. Fan and just, you know, blown away by your accomplishments. And I want to go into a lot of that, but I guess for me, and maybe the listeners as well, is maybe just start us off with your beginnings. What. What first got you into motorcycles? When was that?

Well, you know, it. It really happened by accident. I. I was 16 years old and I'd never been on a motorcycle. I had a neighbor that had a bike in a box that it, you know, that was all in pieces, and I bought it for a couple hundred dollars. And I think. I think my biggest thing, probably the biggest reason I didn't give up or just decide to, you know, not fix it and ride it was everybody laughed at me and just said, oh, you'll never be able to get that thing running. And then, you know, you'll never be able to ride it. And so, of course, just somebody saying that, you know, a few people saying that made me more determined than ever to go ahead and do it. And I realized how much I enjoyed it, so.

And did you?

I entered. I entered into the racing scene because, well, I'd gotten in a. I gotten quite a few speeding tickets. And so I was about 19 and had a friend sleep, say, you know, come on out to the track. I think you'll. You'll get a lot less speeding tickets that way. And it was something I enjoyed. And motorcycles just, they, you know, they became not just my passion, but my livelihood. I bought into a motorcycle dealership and I was racing off and on and then working in the industry. I'd been out of it for so long, which is why I. Out of the racing scene for quite a while. And Bonneville was always on my bucket list. So that was. That was one of those things that I said, okay, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna be crazy and build this ridiculously fast turbocharged, you know, 500 plus horsepower machine and go and blow away a record.

All right, okay, so let's. I. That, That's a lot to unpack here. So you had some mechanical aptitude, I guess, when you got the bike in a box then. Right. And was, was that through just lifestyle and at home or was that through school or combinations?

Just, it's just something that I enjoyed. So, you know, I picked up a manual, I found some, you know, I had some mechanic friends that would help me, you know, help me work on some things or tell me how to do it or loan me tools.

That's great.

It was just something that I, I, I mucked through and learned a lot about, which ended up helping me over the years. I, I love the mechanics of things. I, I think that's one of the most fascinating things, especially about racing at Bonneville, because there's not, you know, there's so many different classes that you can race in, so you have so many different modifications that you can do, wherein one type of racing, whether it be drag racing or road racing or, you know, motocross, you have certain parameters and there's not, you can't just think up some wild creation and try it.

Right.

So that's the good thing about Bonneville is the, the engineering aspect and being able to delve into that, you know. Well, nobody's tried this. Let's see if it works.

That's great. So when you first started racing and decreasing the amount of speeding tickets you were getting, what kind of racing was that? Was that road racing?

Is that it was road racing? Yes.

Golly. Okay. Well, and again, from the bits and pieces that I know about those kinds of things, it's, it's sort of like the, the modifications can be what, like by fuel types and by, if they're like how, what type of fairing or no fairing or.

Yes. Engine size, fuel type. Yeah. Body modifications, whether it's unfair or has partially streamlined or a fully streamlined machine. So there's various stages of bodywork and then there's so much with that you can do with frame geometry and suspension and things that, you know, there's usually class for just about anything.

Wow. So were your folks supportive? Terrified. A little bit of both or what was it like?

A little bit of both.

A little bit both. Okay, so now this was all in Dallas, is that right?

I've grown up in Dallas.

Okay, so was the racing there in Dallas and was that the road racing

stuff or, or tell us local to Texas and the region. And then of course, I'm much more known for the, for the Bonneville achievements. That was something, you know, I'd been, I hadn't been on a track or Racing much of anything for years. I did, I did, however, get to go and ride the Baja 1000 in 2005. And that was another one of those bucket list things. One of those. And I've, I've gotten, I've been so fortunate. I've been able to take trips on motorcycles all across the country and, you know, so this has been such a, such a big part of my life. Not just, not just the dealership aspect and working in the industries is being, you know, being a motorcycle rider, racer and, and working on them.

Yeah. Wow. So you also have this entrepreneurial spirit and involvement in these businesses as well, too. So were you sponsored at some point? Obviously you are sponsored, but how did you go about getting your first sponsors and what was that like?

I was actually quite fortunate in that regard. Going out to Bonneville. My, my first year at the Salt Flats was 2007. And so to build this bike and, and get it out there, it took over a year to kind of get it, get it, get it going and get it ready. Went out in the summer of 2007 to the Bonneville Speed Trials and the Motorcycle Speed Trials and, well, I didn't have any sponsorship. This was just me and my, my dog in the passenger seat and bike in the back of my truck.

Wow.

And it was something I was excited about, excited about going and doing. And I crashed that year.

Oh.

I got myself a helicopter ride into Salt Lake City and had a concussion. So my first trip, the conditions were pretty bad. It was, it was very wet, it was very sludgy and it, of course, was my first time out there on a. You know, it's definitely not like pavement, so this is, you know, a whole new world for me. And yeah, unfortunately, I lost control of the bike doing over 220 and I, eventually I came, I, I tried to, tried to ride it out, but I did come off of the bike at, oh, somewhere over 110 miles an hour.

And what was it like a tank slapper or did you hit bad salt

or the back end? It was, it was very sludgy. I had a really hard time with traction, which is a constant problem anyway, but especially in that year. And the back end got loose on me and then, yeah, I got a, got a pretty good head shake and then the backhand came back around on me and, and just bit me off. Wow. So.

Oh, my.

That was not fun. I decided that I really wanted to break records instead of bones.

Better strategy.

Yeah.

Wow.

I guess somehow, you know, it did garner me a lot of attention. It was not my intention to, you know, be known as the girl who came out there and crashed on a big turbo bike.

Gosh. Wow.

Yeah. The following year is what, what really helped me with sponsorship. I came out there, Discovery Channel happened upon, upon my, my pit set up. I had one of my guys that was helping me, my electronics tuner, they came by and asked about the rider and he said, oh, yeah, you'll have to wait. You, you have to wait just a minute till she comes back because you'll really want her story.

And they said, oh, female writer, her story.

Yeah, yeah. And she crashed last year and this is her first time back on it. So they decided to follow me around with some cameras and that got on Discovery Channel.

Was that the speed Capital one, speed capital of the world, Bonneville, or was it? Okay, because you've been in front of the camera quite a few times with, with your story and stuff, so. But this was the beginning of that then, huh?

Yes, this is the very first time out there and it was purely by accident.

Wow. No pun intended.

And the great thing is, thankfully, you know, I didn't crash again. I actually set my first record.

Wow.

Right there on camera, which was, which was a really, a really great accomplishment for me. It was the first time a woman on a conventional motorcycle got into the 200 mile an hour club. So I got this. I, I set this very first record with Discovery Channel filming me and helicopters with cameras flying overhead.

You know, what a feeling. Gosh.

And it was such a rush, but I never really anticipated the fame part of it. You know, most of my obscure racing and things has not been that big. Of course, I don't think I've ever gone for anything as big as, as I did at Bonneville.

So what were you riding? What, what kind of bike and how was it set up?

Turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa.

Oh, God.

Inline four cylinder bike, 1350cc. And I actually, for the next event, which was like two weeks after the filming of the Discovery Channel event, I put in my larger engine, which is a 2000 class, 2000cc, you know, 2 liter class engine, and set a record. And the, the great thing about Bonneville is a big test of rider and especially longevity of engines and all your parts and pieces because not only do you have to go fast, you have to hold your top speed for a while and then turn around and do it the other direction and hold your top speed for a mile. So it's the average of those two runs. Wow. And you know, it's a It's a lot to put a machine through. Well, I would think those speeds. So I actually, my 2 liter motor is a big, you know, it's a big stroker motor that is unhappy being revved too much and getting real hot.

Yeah.

But I, I did, however, make it my return run on a record. It was at. My bike was sitting right at 240 miles an hour. I was reading on the GPS when it threw a rod through the cases.

Oh my gosh.

Oh, yeah. And I stayed tucked in, pulled in the clutch real fast and hoped that it wouldn't lock up my back tire, which it didn't. It was like probably because I had so much momentum, it just shredded.

Yeah. Yeah.

As I left parts all over the course.

Oh.

But I did get my record. So I've, I've never been quite so happy as, you know, throwing a rod through the cases as I have that one. Well, I was, I was so thrilled to have my record.

If you get that kind of result now. Was that the record? I've. I've tried to be as fine tuned with my research as your bikes are with their performance. So was that. 232.522. Okay, so I'm just going to say that again for listeners. 232.232.522 mile average miles per hour at Bonneville. And that's. That's, that's all a person needs to get a Guinness title.

Huh? That's it.

Throwing the rods optional. So you must. It must be so hot too. I mean, it's just sort of like you're in full leathers. You're on a bike that's probably a thousand degrees hot, you know, and yes, there's a little wind, but you're probably not feeling any of that. I mean, I would think that would be enough to make you kind of nauseous and dizzy and loopy and stuff. What's it, what's it like to. To be, to take a bike to something like that and to hold it

and in those kinds of conditions, it's, it is tough. Yeah. You know, it's wearing leathers out there all day when the. It's a very desert climate and sometimes it gets brutally hot, so. And you're in ton of. Of safety gear.

Yeah.

So it can, it can take its toll. But I'm, I'm from Texas, so. Southern girl. I'm used to the heat.

That's true.

That's good. So I guess that, that probably helps me. I know I have friends from other countries and you know, from up north that come out there and are just in temperature shock. For me, going to Bonneville in, in August is a heck of a lot

cooler than winter in Texas.

So I've well over 100 degrees here.

Yeah.

In the 80s or so up there. So.

That's true, that's true. I've, I've had a good friend of mine that's in the Chicago area in Evanston, Rebecca Bernick on the show and she's also kind of cut from the same cloth as you. She's entrepreneurial and quite the business person and, and she has set some speed records and she's, she's run at Bonneville. I don't think the records were set at Bonneville. She was doing it at like Ohio mile or Maxim mile or something and she was doing them on kind of the opposite extreme of the bikes that you run. She was doing them like vintage 50s era BMWs. And for them, I think, you know, records almost, you know, more than half of what, what you were setting, which I think would have enough of its own terror as well too with sort of, you know, period. Vintage, period. Correct. You know, types of suspensions and, you know, the technology certainly was not, you know, the kinds of things that you're going to be running on a Hayabusa or something like that. So.

Yes. But when you push the limits on anything, whether it's smaller engine and a vintage bike with less technology and suspension, brakes and electronics and all of that, you're pushing it to limit. That's, that's the rush about it. Yeah, it's such an interesting challenge to set landscape. It's been such a great, great thing like that one on one challenge of you and your machine not just in a pack on a track.

Yeah, yeah. Much different.

Bonneville is such an unusual place. It just looks like a different planet with it being so flat and stark white. It's really beautiful and very unusual and I think one of the biggest things, everybody is just so friendly.

Yeah.

And you see these things that are, you know, everything like, like you said bikes and there are things that are, that cost millions of dollars to build and there are things that look like you need a tetanus shot and everything.

So like at over 200 and I totally appreciate what you say because, I mean, it's just, you know, you, you, the, the variations, they're all, they're, you know, there's the adrenaline, there's the mechanical, there's the physical, there's the psychological from sort of like a perceptual what is it like? Like over 200. Very few people go over 200 miles an hour other than like in an airplane, which is, you know, just obviously so different because you have no reference but like on a bike. And I appreciate Bonneville, you know, has, you know, some man made references to kind of just keep you, you know, in the proper areas. But is it. Does think. Do things slow down at that speed or what? What was your experience of being over 200 miles an hour on. On two wheels, on salt? Like,

You know, it. It's a strange thing because. Stationary objects,

Oops, we're. We're losing you.

And stationary object freeze and things like that. So it really. I was shocked at how if everything goes. It really doesn't tell exactly what's. Not working on my. And when. When they came out with my times like, oh, well, did 240 miles an hour, but. And I had a pretty good idea it was fast, but I didn't know it was 240 till they announced it that I had a 240 average through the mile. So it's. But when things go wrong at 100 miles an hour, it can get real ugly real fast. I mean, really, at any speed, when things go right, it's. It's a huge adrenaline rush once it's over. You know, looking at that, I think for me, I'm so focused. For me, when I take off at the starting line, I'm just focused on trying to do my job the best I can not think about anything else. You know, worry about my, My writing position and when to shift. And looking at my, at my data, managing wheel spin, because this is before I, you know, before they had traction control, so. Or before they had it sorted out and, you know, so my job was pretty busy. But when, when I got the bike shut down and had that successful run, it was. That's when that adrenaline would kick in and it would just be this huge rush. Wow, that really happened.

Yeah, that's for. And now it's been documented, you know, by helicopters and computers and everything else. What with the. With, if I may, unless this is traumatic, but, you know, to have started off going out there, I would have. If it was me, I would have been, you know, I appreciate the getting back on the horse, back on the bike, you know, back on the whatever, so to speak, but did you have any ghosts of that when you were back out there setting records? Did you say, okay, I've learned this is what gets, you know, if this happens, I need to avoid this happening again. So that I don't have a bad outcome, a bad consequence, or was it sort of like, nope, been there, done that, and now I'm focused and fresh or. How did, how did you deal with what had happened a year ago now that you're out there setting records?

Well, you know, there was a. There was definitely, of course, a physical recovery, but also a very personal, you know, emotional recovery from it. I was actually worried that they, fellow racers would not want me back, especially being a female rider on a big bike. There were a couple of people who were like, you know, hey, little lady, you shouldn't be on this motorcycle. You should be, you know, I don't know, in the kitchen. Well, that's not me.

Yeah.

So, you know, it was. It was very different. I actually had a lot of support and concern from fellow riders that I met out there, fellow racers, and that. That helps solidify my decision to go back out. Because I think anybody who's in any sort of extreme sport, whether it's motorcycle racing or, you know, snowboarding or anything that has that danger for being hurt, you try to minimize. You try to minimize those risks, but you're aware that things can happen.

Yeah.

And so I went back out there with, you know, with a fresh start.

Yeah.

And did my best to minimize the risk. Did some more testing, of course, rebuilt the same bike.

Wow.

Did some more testing. Was able to sort out a few more kinks, and conditions were much better the following year. And I was able to get out and, you know, set some records instead of falling on my butt. So that was a really good thing. But it does happen. And I know, I know that that is a factor in riding motorcycles on the street or racing motorcycles. It's just you do take those risks. And for me, I guess I'm just crazy enough to be persistent enough to keep at it.

That's great. I think you raise a few good points, too, that I want to highlight. I mean, part of it is that community that you talked about, you know. Yeah. You're going to have the naysayers or the trash talkers or the, you know, that are sexist or biased or whatever. And then you're also going to have a group of people that are supportive. And like you said, you know, people will. Yeah. I have learned from. I been to the Ohio mile some years ago and, you know, people share tools and people. Even though, yes, you're in competition, it's always, you know, and you might be in the same classes or something, and that, yes, you are competing with somebody else, but it always Seems like at some level you're competing with yourself. And the fact that there is that kind of community or camaraderie or, or, you know, sharing of things, I think happens. Perhaps this is my little armchair theory. In events and activities that are much more higher risk, I think people realize that the stakes can literally be life and death kinds of things. It doesn't take much for something to go sideways and go, go wrong. And I think maybe that's part of the thing that helps people say, hey, you know, we are all in this together and there are, you know, competitions and challenges and we're all trying to beat the clock and set a record and do this and that. But nevertheless, you know, we're human beings and we all have this shared interest in, you know, speed, be it with two wheels or four wheels or whatever. So I think that's nice.

Those are shared passion. Yes, Most people are very helpful and we all, you know, we do share this passion and we share this and we all have this knowledge of, you know, one of us could be injured or, or not come back home.

Right, right. That's serious.

It has happened. I've lost some, some dear friends and great racers and you know, it does happen, but it happens in a lot of the extreme sports and even the not so extreme.

Right, true.

There, there are risks. And for me it was a risk I was willing to take but wanted to minimize to the best of my ability and do the best I could to achieve my goals. And what I found in that process were a bunch of like minded people, most of them, who are incredibly supportive and some, some great lifelong friends.

Yeah, that's, I love that story. I think that's so, so amazing. Now help me with context and timing because you were talking a lot about, you know, the, the, the fine tuning of the bike and all that. And I saw in doing background on you that Time magazine had just a spectacular. We'll put this in the show notes, some links to it because I really want people to see these images. It was just Time magazine, so it's top notch, top notch journalism, but then also top notch photojournalism and the photography. And it was like you in a wind tunnel and tucking and different kinds of things and stuff like that. Was that before or after the Chasing Speed documentary? Which, which came first?

Let's see.

Were they right around the same time?

Oh, good grief. I believe that was just after it.

Okay, all right, so well then maybe let's talk. I guess it doesn't, I guess it doesn't really matter, but it was very,

the timeline was pretty close.

Okay, that's, and that's kind of, that's, I guess maybe why I couldn't distinguish the two. Not that it makes a hell of beings difference, but, but since I brought this up first and this step us through the, the Time magazine profile and what was going on in that. What were you doing in that? And for people that haven't had a chance to see it yet, share what that experience was like.

Oh, well, there was a great photographer, Michael Kirby Smith, who works with, you know, does some. He's a photojournalist for several different publications including Time. And so he followed me around. Some of those pictures in, in the Time pictorial are from a wind tunnel in Kansas, which was such an amazing thing to be able to do when you're working on aerodynamics. I found it just fascinating to be able to be in that wind tunnel and simulate the speed from the wind and get my body position correct and look at the, look at the flow of the air over the motorcycle with me on it and see if there are ways, you know, we experimented with different shapes and things to get more downforce to help with traction. And it was, it is just fascinating. And to have to bring along a photojournalist like that for such a great publication is Time magazine. Yeah, really, what an honor.

No kidding.

When they, when they contacted me, I was like, well, of course, yeah, let

me check my calendar.

And so I was very happy with the, the, the way everything turned out. It was neat having somebody, you know, he ended up being just kind of like part of the crew following us around and he did some photography in, in Dallas at my motorcycle shop and while we were testing and then also out at Bonneville as well.

Wow. Wow.

It was, you know, we had had a hangar because by this time I graduated from a, you know, an old Dodge pickup track with the dog in the front seat to a big transporter and you know, freeway. The dog had. Had his own bed.

So, you know, you've made it exactly,

you know, you made it when, you know, when the dog, who's I, I would always joke around and call him my crew chief, you know, has his own plush bed to, to ride in. So yeah, we had a. There's an airport not far from Bonneville and it has the big hangar for the Enola Gay. And we actually rented that whole hangar and so I could tear down the bikes in between events and have the transporter trailers, trucks all in it. And so I know there were some pictures from, from there, from that Airport as well and it in Windover. So it was fascinating. You know, it's, it's been, that's been something really interesting is the part of photographers around and having cameras around. Yeah, I never anticipated that because it is a very personal journey. You are battling the clock and it's high risk. And for me it was very, a very personal journey to go to Bonneville. I was, I was just a little bit stagnant and I needed, I, I wanted another project and I wanted to do something and Bonneville was, was it and it kind of brought. And just we all get in those stages where we're a little burnout, right. Whatever. I was just getting, I was getting a little burnt out. And find that I'd kind of lost that passion and it become all work. And so yeah, it really reignited that passion for motorcycles and the sponsors just came kind of naturally. That's great because I ended up with kind of accidental press coverage and speaking to people and everything about my record setting and, and everything. The sponsors were pretty, you know, it's definitely work getting sponsorship, especially for motorcycle racing. But I was able to, able to secure some great sponsors that were, that were great to do projects with.

I think it makes it, I mean you kind of then become a de facto role model. I mean for resilience, for, you know, women's leadership, for, you know, almost. And even with like the timepiece, like kind of demystifying what is Bonneville all about? You know, probably I would, I would hope most people have heard of it, but they may not know a whole lot about it. They may not know the ins and outs of it and the, you know, the kinds of risks that, you know, someone like you have faced and survived and then just the whole science and the engineering aspects and all the things that go into having a bike that's going to perform and you know, and set a world record, you know that those things don't happen overnight or magically or quickly or automatically. I think is, is, is great and, and to geek out on this for a second. Don't you also like when you set a record or suspected of setting a record, have to like go through like a tech tear down and they have to, you have to totally disassemble your bike, which would just be to me like the worst thing in the world, you know. So, so is that right? You have to do that?

Yes, you do. They measure your cylinders, make sure you have the, you know, your correct displacement for your class and examine so much. Gosh, yes. After you've, you Know, qualified for the record with one run and set the record with your return run. Your. Your machine goes straight to impound and you get to tear it down.

Golly, what a. Here's your reward.

Exactly. But I can't really complain because this salt so corrosive. Everything that every time you run, you have to take everything apart anyway.

That's really good.

So half the hardware has to just be thrown out. Wow. It's. It's very tedious. There's so many things behind just going to Bonneville. You can't just, you know, pack up something, go out there, run it a few days, set a record and drive home. Yeah.

Next. So.

And that's something that was something that I had to learn. And a lot of it was, you know, learning through other people and being able to go and, you know, through trial and error too.

Right.

Well, I need to take this part next time because it's incredibly corroded.

Well, yeah, and like with, with Rebecca and her crew, I know people, you know, they're like always kind of, you know, she was running carburetors. So, you know, it's like tweak the jets and do this and that and change the mix and, you know, it's just constant, you know, little tweaks and iterations, getting feedback from the rider to say, you know, hey, it. We were really pulling great in second and then, you know, kind of went kapui at third or what have you. So did I see you at. Have you been at the Ohio mile? Back when it was the Ohio mile. Have you run in.

No, I haven't now have run at the Texas mile and I'm in the 200 mile an hour club there on my motorcycle.

I just. What was it last year or something? Some guy ran a Ford GT or something almost, you know, I forget what he like, set some astounding recording. Obviously that's four wheels and a little different kind of thing, but. So how do you feel about tarmac versus Salt?

I think it's just a completely different world, you know, it is. The tarmac is. You're going from a dead stop and getting to your, you know, fastest, fastest speed at the end of that mile and then shutting down. So it does have its own risks and it is, but it is a different world than Bonneville. My life is. I've been very focused on Bonneville because that was. That was my dream. But I have enjoyed the fact that, you know, tarmac gets a lot more. A lot more traction. I have enjoyed going and running down at the mile Events in Texas. It's. That's definitely a unique challenge in and of itself.

And is that, is that East Coast Timing association or is that also. Because that's different than Bonneville.

There's always East Coast Timing Association. Yeah, it's a different, different sanctioning body for that. Texas mile has its own and the east coast has its own. Okay. Was, you know, in control of the Maxim Mile.

Right.

Right now, the Ohio mile? I believe so. And then, you know, they do have different sanctioning bodies. And the stta, the Southern California California Timing association, it manages over Speed Week, which has cars and motorcycles. It's the home of the Bonneville 200 mile per hour club.

Okay.

Which I'm a proud member of.

As you should be. As you should be.

Then, then there are some. The motorcycle only events. The motorcycle only event, which is just after Speed Week and it is sanctioned by the fim, which is basically the International Motorcycle Federation out of Switzerland.

Oh.

And that's setting that record there got me into the Guinness Book because that is a, it's a great sanctioned body.

Ah. Okay.

I've had a top speed of 246. Wow. Point six on my machine. And gosh, I was always hoping to get that 250 mile an hour mark, but I hadn't achieved that yet. And it's been a little bit, a little bit busy the past few years.

You've had your hands full.

Yes, indeed.

Wow. Wow, I, I did not know that. I'm glad you shared that. That did not pop up in my research. That's, that's amazing. And was that on the 2 liter haya or, or what was that on?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah.

Gosh. So when you do like, or when people do the, the, the tarmac event, so to speak, did the, those rules don't require the breakdowns, do they? For records or, or do they?

Yes, they're for regional records.

Okay.

Yeah.

But I mean, you don't have to do the, the disassembly, do you, on those or do you.

Yes, they do. They do.

There's no getting around that.

And they do have. Yeah, they do. Check.

Gotcha. All right, that's. Yeah, that's good. So I just, I feel like the journalist part of me has to kind of bring this up. I know that you and you started off, you know, with talking about your, your crashes and ribs and concussions and medevac trips and things like that. Is my research correct. Were you once tapped to do, to race in the, the machine that Jesse Combs was, was killed in this last August.

Yes, that is correct. That is correct. I signed on board in 2011 and had, you know, gone up and met with Ed Seidel, who is one of the, you know, who is one of the owners of the, of the team and who passed away prior to Jesse being a driver.

Wow.

So. Well, Leslie was, I was, I was slated to drive it and then I, I, I had to make a decision on, okay, I'm getting older and want to have kids. So I tried and I got the two for one. I was pregnant with twins. And I remember the day that I called, called Ed Schadle and I said, listen, Ed, you know, I'm, I'm gonna have to back out of, of driving the North American Eagle because, well, I'm pregnant with twins. And so we had a great conversation, but it was, it was heartbreaking to hear that, you know, Jesse had passed.

Well, the two of you have so much in common. I mean, being really kind of pioneers and, and you know, getting in machines that are like amazing. I mean, from what I read about hers was like, it's basically like a jet on wheels, I mean, without wings or something. So.

Correct.

So that's got to be like totally like a bizarro class or something like, like that. Tell Share with the listeners what kind of machine that was.

Oh, it, it is very much like a, a jet airplane with, with no wings and wheels on it instead. You know, that was the, the, the goals, goal was to get that thing up to a thousand miles an hour.

Really then overall record.

It's, and it's quite capable of doing quite a bit. Yeah, it definitely has the horsepower for it. Or the jet power.

Yeah, I was gonna say, because it's like literally like a turbine jet engine. Right.

It's powered.

Good Lord, you know.

Very fascinating.

Yeah. Golly.

Well, well, I'm, and I know Jessie, Jesse was such a, she still is such an inspiration.

Yeah.

To so many people. And you know, it's nice to see other females out there. We've got a lot more. When I started racing, I never, I hardly ever saw women on motorcycles, on the road, let alone out at the track. And now it's becoming, you know, much more commonplace and accepted, which is, which is really nice to see.

Yeah.

Because it's always been kind of a male dominated sport, but I think, you know, there's, I think it's great to have that accepted acceptance of some really talented female racers. And Jesse had a lot of, a lot of talent, a lot of charisma and was such an inspiration to so many and so good for sports in general.

Yeah, well, I think people like Jesse, I think people like Rebecca Bernick, I think people like you, you know, have again been very good ambassadors and wonderful role models for that, you know, be it for women or, you know, or for anybody. I just think that, you know, I tip my hat to you for all the kinds of things that you've done and you know, just everything has been, you know, without a playbook. You know, you've kind of iterated and developed and, and evolved and figured things out along the ways and done it in a way that's again, very, I think, inspirational to people and serves as a great role model from engineering to, you know, to being a Guinness World Record setter, to being, you know, an amazing, you know, racer. So. Bravo, bravo. So thank you.

I think one of the most, one of the biggest things about the racing and, and it being so public, one of the biggest honors has been the, the fan mail and things like that. I had a, a class from Canada where a girl wrote me and she said, you know, we're, me and my group are doing a project on, on you because we're supposed to do a class project on an inspired, an inspiring female. And I, I think that's been such a. Getting, getting some fame. Crayon pictures of a little girl on her motorcycle and me on my motorcycle.

Oh, that's wonderful. Oh, that is. Oh, see? See what I mean? That's great. That's good. That's good.

That's the biggest.

So with that and with the stresses and the strains and the challenges and things like that, what do you do to unwind like, you know, after a run or after just a, you know, a crazy hectic day or how do you manage the, the stresses of what it takes to, you know, be a record setter, to, you know, get out on a bike and go out on Daytona or Bonneville. Sorry, Bonneville.

Yeah, at Bonneville. Boy, it's, it's such a, it's such an interesting way of racing and there's so much camaraderie, you know, after an event, of course, you know, usually a five to seven day long event of running your motorcycle, tuning your motorcycle and just like a carburetor, the fuel injection, different altitudes and different fuels and everything else, it is constantly, you know, tuning, adjusting everything even during, during the race week. So, you know, afterwards, that's when I take a little time to myself, you know, enjoy, rest up, eat right, get some sleep. You know, especially after I haul everything home, get everything Cleaned up and you know, that's a, it's, it's an important balance. I think everything in life is about balance. You know, I like to go out and work my butt off and go really crazy fast, but I also like to, you know, go and take my dogs to the lake or you know, relax for a while. I think it's important to have all of that.

Right. So I know family commitments also kind of taken more center stage and stuff, but. Are you currently riding for Motorbikes India, is that correct? I have my back.

Yes, I am.

What's that like?

I work as an ambassador for Motorbikes India and do some, do some writing for them and it's very exciting to be involved with something and a culture that's been fascinating to learn about. I was able to take, I do a lot more public speaking now and motivational speaking, volunteer work because I'm not, not, I'm not incredibly active in the motorcycle racing scene because I have, I have twins.

Yeah.

So. And you know, I've spoken about minimizing those risks.

Yeah.

The risks that I was once willing to take.

Right.

I'm really not willing to take anymore.

Good.

No matter how much I minimize it, I have to now 7 year olds that are very, very dependent on me. So. But I'm able to still stay active and I'm able to, I still do ride, I love motorcycles. So always be a big part of my life and to be able to do some volunteer work and you know, speaking working with, with kids, especially like Stand up for Kids, which works with homeless children and Racers who Care, which works with underprivileged children. Those things are so important to me. And then having this, having this commitment with Motorbikes India, I, I was able to take my kids and take them to India for a week.

Wow. How fun. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. So you know, they went to school and said, oh yeah, you know, we went to, we went to India and our teacher goes. No, you mean Indiana. No, no, I mean India. My daughter came home and said. My teacher said it was pronounced Indiana. No, honey, you know, this is when they were in kindergarten. I guess not every five year old goes to India. Goes to India. Of course. Traveling on a 23 year old on a 23 hour flight. And also my son is autistic.

Oh God.

So two five year olds, one being autistic and quite hyperactive and yeah, that now that I, I gotta admit, I, I think I'm more proud of surviving that with my sanity than going 246 miles an hour.

Because you're quite the endurance athlete in all sorts of areas. So that's very impressive.

Yeah, I pushed the limit.

That's great. That is very good. That is very good. So with all these kinds of things with entrepreneurship, with world record setting, with racing, with building, with designing and engineering, with being a parent of twins, you know, do. Are there things that, and you talked about like self care and stuff like that with managing stress, but are there things that, you know, any tips you might have for our listeners about, you know, time management or setting priorities or anything like that that they can, they can try out for themselves that you found successful?

Oh, I think. Oh, there's just so much managing expectations. I mean, especially as a parent, it was bad. As bad enough as a racer for me to put pressure on myself to be the best, but as a parent, you know, trying to be supermom and get everything done every day, every moment, have everything look perfect. That's something that I have struggled with for years and struggle with now and have to constantly remind myself that, you know, I, I have to have my needs met.

Right.

And my responsibilities met. And so what if my floor is a little messy or maybe I didn't get something done on time or yeah, I may look like a train wreck in my sweats going to run around and get things done. But trying to be perfect has always been. I've set unrealistic expectations for myself and I've done some pretty unreal things.

Yeah, yeah.

But I had to, I had to find those limitations.

Yeah.

And I had to realize that, okay, I'm driving myself crazy trying to keep everything, you know, everything going. So many balls in the air. I can be the best at everything and do it all and all the time. And I've had to realize that I can't. Time management is very important and part of that is also taking care of myself, taking care of my sanity.

That's good.

And making sure my two little ones are growing up to be good, well adjusted kids.

Yeah, I think that's very insightful. You know, I think it's one of those things where, you know, kind of setting those kinds of priorities, having good perspectives, you know, and you certainly have a, you know, some, some laurels that show that, you know, when things do need to have that level of perfection, you know, to stay alive on a bike at 200 God knows how many miles an hour kind of of a thing.

Exactly.

Is mission critical. But then also that that doesn't necessarily mean that's how a person runs their life as a, as a business person, as a parent or what have you. So I think, I think you're spot on. That's very good advice.

It was a big transition for me going from, you know, motorcycle racer and retail business owner to, you know, I sold off my business in 2015 and for the, the major reason of, I do want to be, I'm a very hands on mom and my priority is raising my kids.

That's great.

And so that has been a big transition for me going from, you know, a gung ho racer and businesswoman in that type of business to being a mom of twins. So I think, I think those, all those priorities and needs, they change and I'm thrilled with being a mom. And it's funny how so many people say, you know, don't you miss all the, all the travel you used to do and all the racing you get to, you got to do? And I, you know, I don't, I've had such a great time and I don't think it's, it's not like my life is, that part of my life is over, it's just changed. And for me to be a mother, I'm just extremely grateful and blessed. I love being a mother and it's, it's nice being able to, to balance it all. You know, I know that, but I know that I'm not superwoman. If I'm at work 12 hours a day, I'm missing out on, on parenting my kids.

Yeah.

And so it's, you know, that's, it's been very humbling. The past seven years have been full of lots of lessons and a constantly adjusting time schedule and expectations and things like that. That's good as life changes.

Right. And, and that's, you know, people, we all evolve and I think there's, you know, very few things in the world that are more important than, you know, being there for your kids and, and you know, working as hard as you can as a parent. I mean, I always, you know, myself as my kids were getting older and even now that they're pretty much independent, you know, I still feel kind of that, that tug and that pull and you know, you know, should I have done this or did I do this right or how can I fine tune things now that we're all in a different stage of our relationships and the dependence isn't like what it is, Certainly not with twins and certainly not with seven year old twins. So again, I tip my hat to you, Leslie. Having priorities in the right place is a critical kind of thing. And I know that Oftentimes that's not an easy thing for some people or, and sadly not enough people take that kind of perspective that you have. So that's fantastic. So you're such a generous, giving person in so many ways with the humanitarian work and racers who care and things like that. You've been also very generous with me and our listeners today and I want to acknowledge that and thank you for that. And I just have a few last couple of questions that I want to get out and see what's what. So if some of the listeners are like me and kind of like wannabe, are curious, land speed record curious, where does one start these days to get into motorcycle racing or land speed racing of whatever number of wheels and things? What would your best advice be for someone interested in that and what would their first few steps be?

Well, you know, well, if you're getting into Bonneville or any other type of racing, I would say, like there are many aspects for say, road racing. You have track days to get involved and regional things to get involved with. With Bonneville racing, there are different options. There are the paved miles, which are pretty easy to get out and get. You can contact those, those sanctioning bodies, the ECTA or the Texas Mile directly and check on their events and they'll give you all the information that you'll need for your machine and for yourself.

Great.

And then on the SCTA or the FIM websites, you can get a lot of information about getting licensed for Bonneville. And those events are held in the summer. And for Bonneville, if you, if there's any way that you can go out for an event before you run, will help you prepare so much that people are very nice, the pits are open there. Then people will tell you, they will talk to you about if you have a certain machine and need some help in what kind of, you know, what kind of class that you want to run it in. And there are also forums online where you'll end up meeting some very supportive other racers. If you go to some of those Bonneville, Bonneville online forums or Bonneville, you know, social media groups, you can ask those questions. And you'll probably meet several racers like myself who are more than willing to pitch in to help. Because navigating the classes, the licensing, the when, where everything can be a little overwhelming, it really helps to have someone who's been there help you through that process. And that's one of the best things about Bonneville is all those, you know, that, that great grassroots community.

That's great. Good. Well, we will do our research and get all those links to those websites and, and whatnot put into the show notes. Thank you and again, thank you for being on the show. For folks that want to learn more about you and connect with you, what are some good ways to. Well again we'll have a lot of the show notes for the Time magazine and the documentaries and the Discovery Channel show and things like that, but what are some good ways for people to learn more about you, the things you're involved with perhaps to reach out. What would, what would be good ways to do that?

Well, I do have social media avenues. Leslie Porterfield racing on on Facebook and Salty Speed Queen on Instagram.

Oh, good handle, good handle.

Yeah. So I've got a few, a few things like that.

Okay.

Also, you know a right for motorbikes India, so I have some, some things through there but pretty, pretty easy to find online. And welcome any, any messages or anything if, if somebody wants to get involved in racing, that is great. Well, good.

Well, I'll probably be hitting you up so because again I'm just always so curious about that and, and just again you've been ever since I first, you know, came upon you at that your talk that you gave in Chicago. It's just again been a big fan and the more I've had the opportunity through prepping for this show to learn about your work. And again in the giving back and the humanitarian kinds of aspects and all the multi aspects of entrepreneurship and writing and engineering and everything else, you're just an amazing role model. And just again, I appreciate you taking the time out today to share your story with our audience and look forward to keeping in touch.

Leslie all right, well thank you so much for having me. It's been my pleasure.

Take care. Bye Bye.

Take care. Bye.

Living a Life in Full is a production of Stout Media, a subsidiary of Gordian Knot LLC. Assistant Gracie Wong Music Dan O' Brien executive producer and host Dr. Chris Stout to learn more, stop by our website at lifeinfull for show notes and please recommend us to your friends and subscribe on your favorite platform. And as for the obligatory disclaimer, this podcast is for general information uses only and does not constitute the practice of psychology, medicine, nutrition or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical or psychological advice. No doctor patient relationship is formed. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I take conflicts of interest seriously. For all of my disclosures as well as show notes, please see livingalifeinfull.org podcast and my LinkedIn profile. Thanks. And until next time,