Isn't Everyday National Female Ride Day? Issue #234 | Ride, Day, Women, Female, Street

You are here: Home

Isn't Everyday National Female Ride Day? Issue #234

Written by Nancy Irwin
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Someone sure knew how to work the media machine because word of the first National Female Ride Day seemed to land on the desk of every editor in the country on the 19th of March. And within 24 hours I’d heard of it, as had many women I know. Most of us didn’t concern ourselves with the details. All we could think of was that by May 4, the proposed date of the event, the weather would be good and we could ride. Of course we’d be happy to ride on that day. We’d be happy to ride on any day. Originally from Ontario, campaign organizer Vicki Gray is a motorcycle racer, instructor and coach who has been riding since 1983. She moved to Europe in 1999 and worked for Revlon International, the cosmetic company. Apparently she has had a demanding career—name one that isn’t—and found reprieve from the stresses of work in motorcycle racing. Vicki founded RaceGirl Motorsports (RaceGirlMotorsport.com) with headquarters in Amsterdam, and later offered workshops and rider training to encourage women to ride. She recently moved back to Ontario and launched the website Motoress.com, where you can both add and view photos from National Female Ride Day. And whether it’s “shameless self promotion ”as one of my vintage biker friends suggests, or simply an innovative idea, the first Female Ride Day is the initiative of Motoress, and the concept will very likely both increase the flow of traffic to the website and bring more women into the sport of motorcycling. That said, May 4 turned out to be a lovely, warm and sunny day in Toronto. I had some errands to run in the morning so I headed off downtown. Of course I rode my motorcycle. This was nothing special beyond, of course, how incredibly special it is to ride a motorcycle in the first place. A gas-powered engine connected to two wheels that allows me to fly like the wind is incredibly special to me. I hate to imagine living in a time without motorcycles. But I digress. Having heard of this excuse to get out on our motorcycles, my riding club, the Toronto Amazons MC, took up the National Female Ride Day challenge and met that Friday—generally we see each other on Wednesdays when we meet on Church Street for tea, and call it a show ‘n’ shine. Our group is a real mix of girlie girls and others who, well, look more like boys. Let’s just say most of us look like ourselves—new and long-term bikers who try to keep the bugs out of our teeth when we smile. And we all ride wherever we feel like riding; being female makes no difference—except when it comes to public restrooms. I was delayed by a technical difficulty (read: someone’s bike suddenly didn’t work) and when we managed to get to Church Street the Amazons were all lined up, 16 bikes with more than 16 women standing around looking like the bikers they are, milling about with cups of Starbucks in their hands and talking to people in the street, all of whom were wondering what the occasion was. What can I say? National Female Ride Day worked for me. I didn’t see any more bikes than usual on the road that day, but I did see WAY more women with bikes than usual on a Friday on Church Street. It was an excuse to ride and an excuse to gather that ended up with a large group enjoying dinner in a restaurant while a lineup of motorcycles captured the attention of passersby. People on Church Street noticed women with motorcycles that day. I don’t know what difference this promotion made elsewhere in the country, but Vicki Gray got her name in print and us out on the road, which is good enough for me. Thanks to her, a number of Amazons took to the street and we’ll do it again too, whether she calls on us or not. I wonder though, will Ms. Motoress make a difference in encouraging more women to ride? If it means more boots and gloves and bikes are made to fit us, and more women begin riding their own motorcycles, all I can say is, you go girl! Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.