Women in Moto Exhibition

The search is on for my tribe!

Now that I’m back into biking, lots of fun things keep popping up in my social media fields and I was thankful that one was the Women in Moto Exhibition . As soon as I say it and delved into the show details I knew it was one for me and I had such a blast😍.

I don’t actually know that many female riders so I jumped at the chance to go to an event focusing on women and what we ride, and everything from clothing to customising bikes, to training,  off roading, adventures and more.

Meeting the awesome speakers panel

The show did not disappoint – I was there for one day and could easily have done more. I thoroughly enjoyed the key speaker sessions I attended. Ruby Rides, Sophie McGann, AJ the Honest Biker, BikerKaz and Rosyulina the racer all shared their experiences of how they got into biking, how their passions have progressed and the highs and lows of their social media experiences. They also had top tips on handling the pressures of trolls.

One of my favourite – and completely packed out sessions, was the talk by Ruby Rides on how to wear makeup under your helmet. My guy was with me and couldn’t understand why that was one on my list  – then he took one look in the packed out room and said “That’s a lot of interest – I’ll see you later”😂

It was an excellent talk, with really useful handy tips, names of great products and where to get them, and her model looked great at the end of it. As soon as the weather stops hitting 30degrees when even suncream is sliding off my face, I’ll be going shopping😁

It was great to see lots of ladies getting a taster of biking, in the paddocks with Honda’s training team – the smiles were beaming and reminded me of when I passed my own CBT.

I was also fascinated by things I’d never even considered – like a biker’s funeral. I met Marian Sinclair who runs Motorcycle Funerals and was seriously impressed by the range of vehicles they have which can transport you to your last resting place. She’s quite correct when she says, “if you’ve always travelled on two wheels, why would you take your last journey on four?”. It’s certainly food for thought.

Off-roading has never appealed to me because I don’t like dirt – and I really mean that. But chatting away to ladies from the Trail Riders Fellowship got me thinking about its benefits such as riding control when skidding and riding on loose surfaces. Having a (deep) gravel drive, which makes the beginning and end of every ride a pain in the proverbial,  I was interested when they talked about their women only training camps in Wales. As one of the riders put it “women do learn differently and that’s really accepted on the course – they know we like to have it fully explained, see it in action, explained again and then we have a go” – well it may be generalisation to some but it’s spot on for me and the way I learn so that’s another added to the list “To Find Out More”.

Having lived and worked in London, I’ve completed two BikeSafe London days there, from the Ace Cafe over the years. First on my GPZ500 and again on my FZ6s. I was chatting away to the Derbyshire Police Bikesafe team who suggested I do a session with them. Unlike London, where the environment focuses on built up city roads, Derbyshire Police has country and twisty roads which of course is much more the sort of roads I’m on now. Again, another one for the list.

It soon became that whilst yes there are lots of male bikers, there are also many female bikers in or around the area I live in and also different groups to find them through as well as the long reaching arm of social media. So I’m looking forward to getting out and meeting up with them too.
If you’re in the Buckinghamshire area please feel free to send me details of any cheerful, welcoming groups, bike nights and meet ups and I’ll add them to the list as it’s much appreciated.

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