First woman to report from
the seat of a motorcycle
From 1997-2003, Genevieve worked as the motorcycle lifestyle reporter on Speedvision cable network. She became the first woman in history to report from a motorcycle on TV.
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Below are some of Genevieve’s favorite TV segments that she produced and reported on for Speedvision. Her job was to come up with the idea, book it, write it, direct it in the field, and report on it (everything but edit it). Reporting for “Bike Week,” a 60-minute motorcycle program on Speedvision, was one of the most exciting aspects of her career she says. Click play button to view the videos.
“Cruising America” Series, Part 1: Paradise Valley, Montana
Aired Oct. 26, 1998
It was the summer of 1998 when Genevieve Marie (Schmitt) did a 5-part travel series called Cruising America where she "cruised America" on a Harley, something never done before on TV by a woman. This segment was referenced by Genevieve in her interview on the Driven to Ride podcast.
Genevieve’s notes from the field: “In the spring of 1998 I was reporting on Arizona Bike Week in Phoenix, first year of that rally. I interviewed the owner of this new RV company testing the concept of RV rentals. That company was Cruise America. They were showing off their new RV concept, a Fun Mover, where you can transport your motorcycles, ATV, bicycles, whatever toy you have, in the ‘garage’ section of the RV in the rear. I had this idea to do a cross country series with a motorcycle using their Fun Mover and offered the owner to sponsor the series by loaning me one to use on a road trip in exchange for me giving the company a plug in each segment. I then pitched the idea to my executive producer in Atlanta and he loved it. This is how my “Cruising America” 5-part series was conceived.
A neat story about this particular episode is that the stretch of highway I’m riding on in this series would later be where I would move to my dream home. Little did I know that somewhere along where I was riding in 1998, there was a field with cows grazing. A few years later, a log home would be built there, and in in 2004, I would move with my husband to live there in this log home. (I was living in Colorado Springs at the time.) What an incredible ‘prophetic’ trip that was! I have called this beautiful slice of paradise my home ever since.”