Event takes place during the 2017 Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival and feature individual instruction and special trail obstacles for women to conquer.
It’s that time of year again. The seventh-annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival kicks off today, June 9th, at Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania and runs through Sunday, June 11th. This time around, it has something a little different, just for Jeep-loving ladies.
Today’s Babes of Bantam Trail Ride allows women to learn how to go off-road in the company of other women. Participants are divided into two groups. According to the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival website, “One group will start at 12 noon and another start at 1 p.m. Each group will ride one of the trails and receive individual instruction by female coaches as they attempt several new obstacles that have been added specifically for this ride.” Coaches will also guide drivers over, around, and through the challenges on the Jeep Playground.
Wendy Callahan, an organizer of the ride, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that she and her colleagues have noticed an increased interest in Jeeps and off-roading among females in the past couple of years. “We wanted to construct an environment where women can learn how to off-road without the stress of their husbands’ (judgment).”
The bad news is that the Babes of Bantam Trail Ride is already sold out (although we’re not surprised). The good news is that there will be plenty of other attractions at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, including the Best of Bantam competitive Jeep show, Jeep Invasion block party, Mystery Road Rally scavenger hunt, and the Ruff ‘n Tuff show, which has a category called “Best Chick Jeep.”
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
