#Women Who Ride
By Heather d'Entremont | @bambi_dm | hidentremont@gmail.com
I was the second of my friends to get a motorcycle license. My husband had just purchased a Harley Davidson Softail and the passenger seat was not ideal. My dad rode motorcycles when he was younger and I loved them, but had always been a passenger. I wanted to ride my own, to be able to take off for an adventure (or a simple evening ride) whenever I pleased. But most of all, I dreamed about riding motorcycles with other women.
A couple of my friends got their license right after me, but we still rode with our husbands or alone. It wasn’t until we had a solid group of seven motobabes that we started branching off and organizing our own group runs.
There is nothing like the feeling you get riding with other women in a group, idling at a traffic light and seeing a little girl in the car next to you, smiling and waving. Hell, sometimes even grown women will wave at us and give us a thumbs-up! It still surprises me when this happens, but then I remember that a big group of female bikers is still fairly rare. The community is still growing and women tend to ride with mixed groups.
Enter the Litas.
One of our own co-founded the Litas New Brunswick branch. The rest of our little group followed and soon we became acquainted with another group of motobabes from the next city over. Riding along New Brunswick’s country roads, overlooking fields of green and sparkling ocean waters, is exhilarating in and of itself. But sharing that experience and excitement with a group of like-minded women is second to none.
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Social media and networks have become a staple in almost everyone’s daily life, but for the female biker community, it is playing an even more vital role.
With a small but growing community, connecting with other female bikers is the key. And the easiest way to do it? Post a photo or a status update.
According to Deloitte, over 90% of Smartphone owners check their favourite social networks at least once within a few hours of waking up. So it’s no surprise that female bikers worldwide are heeding the call and coming together to an increasing number of all-female riding groups and events – almost all organized and promoted entirely online.
The common thread?
An Instagram post, for example (see how Babes Ride Out in California got its start). Or a post on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp. The options are endless, and female riders are coming out of the woodwork to join other motobabes!
Hashtags are trending and some boast tens of thousands of posts: #womenwhoride, #ladiesofharley and #ladybikers are just the tip of the iceberg.
With more and more exposure, the love for two wheels is spreading. Just look at Babes Ride Out: from 50 to 1,200 babes in three years: clearly there is an appetite and market for these kinds of events.
So, get on Instagram and follow the @thelitas_. Raise hell, babes.
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About the author: Heather d’Entremont is Canadian motobabe and member of the Litas New Brunswick branch. She has been riding for three years: one year on a Kawasaki Vulcan and two on a Harley Sportster. During the day, she can be found working in communications for the Government of Canada, but in her downtime she can be found dressed in leather, sporting a sparkly silver Gringo helmet and riding around on two wheels.