International Female Ride Day by Andrea Mcquaid
In 2007 Vicky Grey of Motoress decided to get the girls together to celebrate females riding bikes and to bring us to the worlds attention.... under the title 'Just Ride'. It was meant to be a national event but in its very first year it caught everyone's imagination and went global! It has been held on the first Saturday in May ever since. To get involved you can literally just get your bike out and nip to the shops or you can join a few friends and go for coffee... on your bikes... or join a pre-planned ride... it's up to the individual lady how 'big' she wants her IFRD to be. Two years ago i was enjoying a day off from work and decided to go and look at some motorbikes, with the intention of doing my test... it was a long held dream of mine to ride my own since i was first as a pillion as a teenager. I abandoned all thoughts of having my own bike as my life went on and i started a family, no way was i going to have a bike whilst i had children to 'be there for'... but as the children became teenagers and more independent, i pledged i'd take my test before my 40th birthday... well, that came and went and i set a new goal of doing my test before i hit 45, i finally got my act together and did my CBT, i bought a KSR WORX 125 and started getting some miles under my belt... this was April 2016.I went for my test in April 2017 and passed my Mod 1 first time but it took me two attempts at Mod 2. At last i finally had my license! I then kept seeing these notices for IFRD and i wondered where my nearest gathering was... i'm a part of an all female biking group on FB and late one night i asked the question 'where was my nearest gathering?' The reply was that nobody had organised one in my area so maybe i should organise one?? I laughed and said i'd only just passed and was on a 125 still... anyway it soon became apparent that i was to organise a gathering of lady riders.. With less than three weeks to organise it and less than three weeks of me holding my full license i had gathered 12 ladies together, some knew each other, others didn't know anyone. We met up, had a coffee and then went on a pre arranged ride that i researched and led! we then ended up at a friends cafe and had a lovely hot breakfast, cake and plenty of tea and coffee, we have stayed in touch ever since... I have now organised another for this year, but ill be riding my pride and joy... a Harley-Davidson 48... i honestly annot tell you the joy riding has brought to my life, ill be 48 in May and my husband, daughters and grandchildren are all so supportive... even my Mam loves it when i turn up to see her on the bike xxx For more information on IFRD visit www.motoress.com being held on the 5th May 2018!