I’ve been reading quite a few articles in magazines and ezines all about the ‘new’ sport of motorcycling for women. At the first article I got a good chuckle. It was written as if we women had JUST discovered motorcycles. But my humour died when I came across a second, then a third, then a fourth article in other magazines. It is almost as if women never knew the existence of two wheeled travel before this. I admit it. I got a little (understatement) testy until I realized something. It wasn’t the riding world which did not recognize that women have been embracing riding for decades, but the sales people who seem to suddenly realize we women have money. Now, it would appear all of a sudden that women need to be enticed to buy bikes as if it’s a brave new world for us. That coupled with a book or two I’ve read written by women who seem to think they are pioneers in the brave new world or motorcycling because they just got a motorcycle last season and put a monstrous 3000km of travel on it! Woohooo!
I know. I know. I sound bitchy. I should be welcoming these things with open arms. Welcoming new women riders. Welcoming the fact that women have now become a driving force in the motorcycle world. And I do celebrate these things. I just get a tad snarky when the women who were riding when riding wasn’t ladylike or ‘cool’ are dismissed.
So without further ado – some links for all of you. Women were riding when riding wasn’t acceptable. Sit back and enjoy the next few posts.
Elspeth Beard – A singular journey around the world in the 70s
