On a sunny Sunday in August, female riders from all over the UK (and a handful from Poland) woke up early, pulled on their leathers, donned their helmets, threw a leg over their motorbikes and rode in to North London to attempt to break a world record for The World’s Largest All Female Biker Meet 2015… and they did it!
Not only did these women blast the old meet-up record out of the water with a whopping 618 riders showing up, they managed a second world record as well… with 251 women riding at once as they set off away from the cafe in the afternoon.
The rules of the game were that every woman counted had to be riding her bike up to the Ace (passengers were not counted), and a camera caught every single one of the 618 riders who showed up between 9am and 2pm that afternoon. The parking lot of the Ace Cafe was soon overflowing and our ladies bikes were soon lining up along the other side of the street, up the pavement and walking paths.
With women of all ages, backgrounds, shapes and sizes on bikes of all ages, brands, shapes and sizes in attendance, the event was a massive success. We showed the world that it doesn’t matter how tall or short or young or old or girly or tough or how bright your lipstick is… women ride motorbikes! From 10 year-old Emelia to… ahem… I didn’t dare ask who the eldest among us was, we all had one thing in common, a love of riding.
The bikes were as varied as the women who rode them… Ducati, Triumph, Harley Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Indian, Suzuki… almost every brand represented in all sizes. And even better news…!
As every woman knows, it’s a royal pain trying to get decent and attractive gear in your size… the organizers, Nimi Patel and Sherrie Woolf (pictured above) are sending the data from the event to every brand and designer to provide proof that women are a large and growing portion of the marketplace, and if they want our business… they better start providing us with what we need; gear that fits, protects, and looks awesome!
With appearances from Maria Costello MBE of Woman On A Motorcycle, Zoe Cano of Bonneville Go or Bust, it was a day with no shortage of adventurous women to talk to. Even the Met stopped by with two super cool motorcycle cops to show off their Ducati Scrambler traffic bike and to tell us about London Bike Safe training events.
So… motorcycling women of the world, the gauntlet has been thrown. When is the next meet-up and who is going to beat 618? Because I’m willing to bet the ladies of the UK are ready to do it all again next year… and bigger!
Photographs by Madeleine Domries of StarkRavingMadeleine.com for themotolady.com 2015.
related:
On Monday, I crashed my Monster at about 50mph. I suffered road rash on my hip and lots of bruising- and Pandora has flesh wounds of her own. Here’s what exactly happened, and the lowdown on the gear that saved my life.
Posted on August 18, 2015 in Events, News & Features by Stark Raving Madeleine
The blonde at 11;29am looks like a gem..
If only I’d known about this, I’d have shown up and made it 619!! <3
This is absolutely fantastic and I wish i could’ve been there. BUT – Harley Davidson held a Women Riders day in a few years ago and there were 1000’s of women there from all over the world on their bikes. Ummmmm.
shame it wasn’t more advertised before hand … I know dozens of Girls who did not go cos they didn’t know.. … nothing wrong with girls riding bikes most ride better than the guys do.. my wife rides a Suzuki B king 1340 cc…