Diamonds are a girl’s best friend . . . unless you are a braapin’ girl. The sweetest things my husband, Kevan, has given me are not sparkly—well, unless you count the beautiful orange bar riser he gave me a couple of years ago. Guys, here are some ideas to make your sweetie swoon with inner jiggy-ness—that is, if she is a braapin’ girl.
- If she is on old iron, think of her need to bust pow and upgrade her ride. I loved the conversation I had the other day with a gentleman from Fort St. John, B.C. He was upgrading and boosting his wife’s sled. He loves her so much and he wants her to have the same kind of braap power that he does.
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Fancy gear. Being a mom of four, I never ever spent big bucks on my own gear. I kind of threw gear together like a yard sale. It was on Kev’s second trip to visit me in Canada that he brought me some real sledding clothes (it was the wooing stage of our relationship and did he know how to woo me!). I felt so fancy and my butt stayed dry! I love you Motorfist. I’ll never forget the tears of joy in my eyes, riding and feeling like a million bucks—oh, and did I mention that my butt was dry?
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Helmet cams are so much fun. It’s awesome to be able to replay the day’s events from a bird’s-eye perspective. We laugh a lot at my dialogue, singing and whistling from the helmet cam footage. Take the time to follow her while you are wearing the helmet cam. It is an awesome feeling to watch your own footage—well, until you are arse over teakettle in a tree well—then that is just awesome humour. Take the time to blow up a picture of your sweetheart shredding. Everyone wants to feel like a rock star now and then.
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Sled wraps are always an awesome way of customizing your girl’s shred-mobile. Many companies out there will add those special touches to make her sled a reflection of her inner braapness. It truly does mean a lot when your “backup sled” becomes her purple shred machine—it’s finally hers. If your buddies are good ones, they won’t mind going with you on a purple blinged-out machine when you offer up a sled for them to use for the day. I completely enjoyed working with Toyskinz and Xcelerated Performance designing my unique wrap—people will see me coming this year.
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Powder coating—nothing says love like custom powder coating. A-arms are a nice touch.
- Colour and bling. We women absolutely love colour, but not just pink—think outside the box.
Here are some real-life, heart-melting gifts my braap sisters received from their guys:
Tamara: SmartWool socks in flashy colours.
Cedar: Performance parts are always nice.
Andrea: Feet-hooker running board inserts for her M7.
Julia: 509 helmet, Oakley goggles and a backpack—best presents ever.
Christye: Pink Klim jacket, Klim boots, oh, and a 2013 Pro RMK 800!
Jackie: Klim gear and his patience (all of us can relate to the gift of patience).
Susie: “I’m easy,” she said, “a new sled!”
Mare: Her heart went pitter-patter, flip-flop when her husband bought her the mountain seat she’s always wanted.
I was feeling kind of low the other day, humdrum glum. My husband was so excited when I came home from work. “I have something to show you,” he said. His eyes had that little glint of cocky in them. I followed him outside and lo and behold, he had made an awesome place for us to wrench side by side. We had just moved into this off-the-grid place, so this was no easy feat. He rewired the shop so it could be powered by our generator and completely cleaned up the area so we could once again work on sleds together. He knew that some of the happiest moments we've had together involved working side by side on sleds. It is something we haven’t done for over a year, since moving to Nelson, B.C.
Working at Main Jet Motorsports, Pat, who is one of our mechanics, usually works on my sled. He is so sweet, kind and, well, epic when it comes to sled stuff, but I missed getting greasy and bonking my knuckles while learning to be sled independent. My husband is awesome. He teaches me, lets me do the dirty work and only steps in when absolutely necessary.
As we sat in the shop, I began to feel a wave of happiness flow through me. Diamonds aren’t this girl’s best friend—a little two-stroke smoke, wrenches and brake cleaner are what makes this girl’s heart go pitter-patter.
