Q&A - Cassandra Barragan
There’s no 2 ways about it, Cassandra Barragan is a total BAD ASS!
She is our Issue 99 guest Art Director which isn’t her first rodeo as she took the reigns in 2017 plus has contributed photos numerous times to the magazine.
We fired her over a few questions to find out how she became such a big legend. Check it out.
DicE: Can you tell us your earliest memory of a motorcycle?
C: Yes! I grew up in a rural High Desert town in California. When I was 5, my dad came home one day with two little Honda 50’s and they were both broken, but he made one running bike out of them for my brother and I. He instantly crashed it, so I became the pilot. We rode it all around the desert, and in the winter I would put my little brother in the sled and rope it to the bike to pull him around in the snow. It was instant love.
What was a turning point with motorcycles in your life?
Great question. So I went to college in San Francisco. At age 19 I transferred to a university in Madrid, Spain. When I was living abroad my grandpa Frank in the desert sadly passed away. He had built choppers and rode with friends from a young age in the 60’s and 70’s. He also started Cheat’ah choppers with my uncle Cheetah Ron.
Anyway- I came back to the states a while after he passed and lived on the front porch of my grandma Donna’s double wide in the desert for a couple months to recalibrate and spend time with her since she was now alone. After I got there I found out my grandpa had left me his bike when he passed. It was an ‘01 sportster with a tank bra and old guy seat and I loved it. That week I learned to ride it in the dirt out front with my grandma egging me on from the porch to go faster... once I got it on the pavement it made a lot more sense.
After that summer, I moved back to San Francisco and rode the bike all the way up there. When I got to SF, I started to meet some people who had bikes and eventually people who rode choppers. It was so wild to me to see young guys on choppers.. I had only known old guys to own them. One day at work bartending, someone came in and saw my bike outside and told me about max’s 69 mile ride in the East Bay and I went. I made a bunch of new friends that day, many of whom I’m still close with. Finding that camping, riding, adventuring community marked a turning point for me.. prior to that I was having a hard time fitting in in SF and feeling comfortable in my skin, but meeting a bunch of folks who loved the same kind of adrenaline as me made a big difference in my life.
What do you have in the garage now?
I’m never getting rid of that ‘01 sportster, I’ve ridden it over 100k miles and I love it. I’ve made some functional changes to it over the years to make it more comfortable to ride.
I also have a 1955 panhead chopper that I slowly collected parts for for 6 years and my husband helped me finally finish the month after I had a baby. (Good trade)
Besides that, I drive our 3 kids around in a minivan (let’s be transparent) and we just bought my dream truck, a ‘77 K10 for $2500 (!!) so that’s my next project
How would you describe your style of work and what inspires it?
Definitely inspired by my family and the place I grew up. You can take the girl out of the desert, etc etc. Hence the monster truck dreams.
Also inspired by my Grandpa Frank and his crew in SoCal. My blue bike is based on one of his, but I’m a lot taller than he was so I put 10 over on it!
Also- I have been fortunate enough have found a life partner who is a highly talented fabricator and mechanic, so Michael gets all the credit for the fact that my vehicles run, go fuckin fast, and stop really good.
What do you love about riding?
It’s like therapy. I think if I could ride every day I could probably stop taking antidepressants.
Also definitely the people… I absolutely love my community and try to stay connected with friends all over the world who ride motorcycles.
I have also met some of the most amazing and inspiring women while on motorcycle rides. My friend freedom and I met in Mexico on EDR. That ride also gave me Cindy DuLong 2 years prior! I met little Sara the first 69 mile ride and while I haven’t seen her in years she’s a legend.
How was your first experiences doing the magazine to now?
Ahh I love DicE. I was lucky enough to work with Dean and lay out the magazine for a few issues in 2017. This time around, I was able to start planning further ahead with Dean and bring in amazing content.. especially articles about some powerful women! The process of laying out each page is meticulous work that takes a long time and there’s a lot of opportunity for creative freedom. One of the reasons I’ll always come and work with Dean (on any project anywhere, anytime!) is because he really highly values the people that he works with. It’s not often that you find someone who’s so great to a collaborate with and has built such a great team. Honestly I think that’s a big reason why DicE has been so relevant for so long.
Anything to add?
Yeah.. some unsolicited advice and something that’s helped me a lot over the years, from Brené brown- Authenticity is a choice and a practice. You don’t wake up as an authentic person. You have to go out daily and tell yourself to be authentic.
