Ladies Day - FEMALE MOTORCYCLISTS ATTEMPT TO SET A NEW WORLD RECORD
Posted on
Hundreds of lady bikers will be gathering at the Ace Cafe in North West London on 16th August 2015 in an attempt to create a new world record for the largest number of female motorcyclists meeting together in one place.
Between 400 and 600 women aged 24 to 65 years are expected to ride to the meeting, coming from as far afield as Ireland, North Yorkshire, Dorset and Wales. In September 2014, 221 Australian women on 190 bikes set a record for being the most women riding motorcycles at once.
The world-famous Ace Cafe London has agreed to host the event on their annual Ladies Day and confirmed sponsors include Circuit of Wales, Mike Dawson Racing, Oval Motorcycle Centre (OMC) and Woodridge Motorcycles. OMC and Mike Dawson Racing will be in attendance on the day. Mike Dawson and his team will be offering free suspension advice and basic suspension adjustments and the Team from OMC will be offering free 9 Point Safety Checks.
There will be a charity fund raising raffle, with prizes including Moto GP tickets, bike services, tyres, biketime suspension set up, workbench time, Motorcycle Maintenance training courses and Ace Café goodies. The charity to benefit from the day is The Hospice of The Valleys, whom Circuit of Wales support.
The meeting is the brainchild of bikers Nimisha Patel from London and Sherrie Woolf from Wales. They are keen to raise awareness of the increasing number of women riding motorcycles, particularly for bike and clothing manufacturers in the hope of seeing improved product ranges aimed at women. “When shopping for protective clothing, the female section is usually lacking in options and often the quality is lesser than the male counterparts. Sizing is also a huge problem that could be resolved with quite simple solutions. The assumptions are very frustrating with many ladies leather trousers not having the Velcro area to attach knee sliders. It’s time to realise that women are no longer just sitting on the back of the men’s bikes, we’re buying our own and using them for touring, off-roading, track days and commuting, just like the guys!” quotes Sherrie Woolf.
Karen Cole, Safety and Training Director at the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) and a long term rider herself explained: “We believe the industry’s Get On programme has been instrumental in bringing more women into motorcycling. 40% of people who took a free ride with Get On were women, according to survey replies from nearly 9000 people.
Get On made it easy for women to try motorcycling for the first time.*Social-media has surely played a part in bringing women riders together in the past few years. The proliferation of female biking groups on Facebook has meant women riders can easily find friends to ride out with locally. As a result, small informal groups have been springing up across the country, which obviously helps generate and sustain interest in riding.” Pages have been set up on social media sites to share news of the event and organise logistics. Even celebrity bikers are spreading the word, including James Whitham and Maria Costello, herself an ambassador for ladies in the sport of motorcycle racing. “We hope that even more women will hear about the record attempt in the lead up to the event so that we can get as many lady bikers together as possible on 16th August. It will be a great opportunity for women to meet, share information and hopefully encourage more ladies to get involved with bikes.”
For further information about the event, please contact Nimisha Patel and Sherrie Woolf on [email protected]
