Madeleine Velázquez is full of surprises. Meet her when she's wearing street clothes -- head full of dark curls, bright eyes and bold lipstick, a flowing dress over her tiny frame -- and you wouldn't suspect the ambitious project she's planning. Nor would you guess what she's already accomplished.



Velázquez is Missrider (missrider.com). Her goal is to be the first 60-plus-year old Latin American Woman to circumvent the globe riding her own motorcycle, and her "While I Am Still Able To - World Tour" begins in 2017.

A high school computer teacher by profession, Velázquez describes herself as a motorcycle adventuress. Of Puerto Rican extraction, her first long distance ride came in 2011 when she piloted a Triumph Bonneville solo from the Pacific Coast across the United States to her home in Worcester, Massachusetts. This was followed by a 15,000 mile ride from Boston to the Panama Canal and back in 2012; a 9,500-mile ride along the east coast -- Newfoundland to the Florida Keys -- in 2013; a round trip to Montana in 2014 during which she met and assisted actor Ewan MacGregor, who had run out of gas in Utah (http://www.missrider.com/blog/an-act-of-kindness); and a ride to Alaska in 2015, completing her tour of North America.



But her thirst for riding a motorcycle extreme distances hasn't yet been quenched and Velázquez speculates that her upcoming world tour might accomplish that. She has purchased a Yamaha XT250 for the trip, and spent the summer of 2016 training for the world tour and customizing the bike. To hone her off-road skills, Velázquez attended the Pine Barrens Adventure Camp Riding School in Nesco, New Jersey (http://www.missrider.com/blog/pine-barrens-adventure-camp) and the MotoVermont Off-Road Training Tour in Jay Peak, Vermont (http://www.missrider.com/blog/moto-vermont).

The world tour is set to launch the summer of 2017 . . . the exact route is yet to be determined but South Africa is a possible starting point. "I never plan the exact routes," she says, "I just get a general idea of a destination and plan it as I ride, I do general research of destinations and allow the locals, the road and weather to lead the way."



Velázquez is seeking a riding partner or partners for the round-the-world trip ("It's more fun that way," she says), especially in northern Asia, where she is unfamiliar with the languages. For more details and contact information, see her blog at www.missrider.com or her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/missrider.madeleine.

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