Cape Town – Once a year, the call goes out to women motorcyclists all around the world: Just Ride!
And, on the first Saturday in May, that’s exactly what they do; women’s motorcycle clubs and riding groups in more than 20 countries get out there on the roads to highlight the growing number of female riders worldwide, encourage women who’ve always wanted to ride but never had the gumption to get their butt on a bike, and make their presence felt “in numbers too big too ignore”.
International Female Ride Day was founded in Toronto, Canada in 2007 by motorcycle racer, riding instructor and founder of online women’s motorcycle magazine Motoress, Vicki Gray.
It went international that first year and has now, in its ninth year, become a global event involving thousands of women in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand and in dozens of places across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Gray refuses to dictate what form individual rides should take; some are fund-raisers for chosen charities, others are testosterone-free track days at iconic circuits such as Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, but the majority are exactly what she had in mind eight years ago - a way to bring women bikers together to be visible and Just Ride.
INTERNATIONAL FEMALE RIDE DAY IN SOUTH AFRICA
In Johannesburg the riders will meet Harley-Davidson Johannesburg, 167 Rivonia Road, Morningside from 8am on Saturday 2 May for a 9am departure, on a marshalled ride to Ciao Baby at Cedar Square for breakfast. Any female rider on anything with two or three wheels, handlebars and an engine is welcome to join the ride.
A buffet breakfast will be available at R80 per person, and each rider will receive a metal badge commemorating the ride.
Cape Town’s International Female Ride Day will start from Cape Town Harley-Davidson in Somerset Road, where dedicated parking has been arranged at the Caltex garage next door and the riders will be treated to coffee and muffins – and helium balloons to to decorate their bikes - from 8am.
The ride will start with an official group photo on the garage forecourt, followed by a marshalled ‘brag ride’ through the city, and then on to the Dockside Café in Langebaan, for a leisurely brunch (for own pocket) where each rider will receive a metal badge.
Any female rider is welcome, and there will be a small prize at the end venue for the best-dressed bike.
For more information on both rides, contact Mirinda Vermaak of Lady Bikers SA on 021-824-3397.