Lancashire Post : Motorcycling Exhibition
Mention in Lancashire Post following Women in Motorcycling Exhibition: A keen biker for a decade or so, Lindsay is discussing protective equipment. “I had a pair of men’s biking jeans for so many years because I couldn’t get ladies’ ones,” she says. “The armour wasn’t where it should be, it sat slightly underneath my knee. I was lucky I never had an accident, but if I had, I wouldn’t have been protected.”
Such a depressing reality – one in which manufacturers of products designed to keep motorcycle riders safe in extremely dangerous situations simply can’t be bothered to create products for half the population – is as bleak as it is unacceptable.
Born and raised in East Lancashire, Lindsay grew up around bikes owing to the fact that her father was an avid motorcyclist. But the seeds of her ever-growing passion for all things two-wheeled weren’t planted by her dad. They were planted by the shoddiness of the UK’s public transport system.
“I was living in London and getting fed up of the trains being cancelled and getting around being a pain,” says Lindsay, now 35. “So, nine years ago, I took myself on CBT (Compulsory Basic Training), got myself a little Vespa, and pootled around on that for four years. From the start, I just loved being on two wheels and the freedom it gave me.”
Now thoroughly enamoured, she soon progressed to bigger and quicker bikes, buying first a battered old Kawasaki ER-5 before replacing it with an ER-6. “As a bit of a risk-taker, I fell in love with the adrenaline rush,” says Lindsay, who got her bike licence before her driving licence. “Then, a couple of years ago, I got my dream bike: a Kawasaki Z1000. I just love it.”
Lindsay also got more involved with the famously gregarious biking community, attending various events and biker cafés and relishing the opportunity to meet others who shared her passion. “But people were always a bit surprised by a girl being on a bigger bike,” she says. “And there weren’t many other women, which made me think about the industry’s attitude.
“I myself was confident in the biking community, but I knew a lot of other women wouldn’t be and would therefore miss out on the amazing experience of being on two wheels,” says Lindsay. “I didn’t want women to decide against getting into biking just because they were nervous about the male-dominated world and the stereotypes, which are no fault of their own.”
Even whilst organising the Women in Motorcycling Exhibition – Lindsay is the founder and owner of events planning and management company Floor 3 Events, which she started five years ago – Lindsay experienced pushback from certain companies who refused to even give her the time of day due to her ambitions not fitting with their ‘agenda’.
“I suspect they meant it didn’t fit with their gender, but hey-ho…” says Lindsay, who is now leading a growing movement out to ride roughshod over sexist stereotypes and antiquated attitudes towards female bikers. And that movement, spurred on by positive female role models, is bringing a new generation of younger female bikers into the community.
Given a new lease of life and renewed confidence to pursue something they’re genuinely passionate about, the movement is also creating industry-changing ripples, too.
“Manufacturers are increasingly catering for a demographic they just hadn’t catered for previously,” explains Lindsay. “Triumph are doing lowered bikes, which gives people a lot more confidence whilst riding, and some big brands have released dedicated ladies’ ranges as opposed to just a few things here and there as an afterthought.
“I just know there’s a community of potential female bikers who just need that confidence to get on two wheels and, when they see people that they can associate themselves with, they can think ‘that’s for me’,” she says. “My best mate, for example: she’s always had a bit of an interest in bikes but would’ve never got involved had she not discovered the community.
“That’s why my message to women who are interested is that there are always other people there to support you,” adds Lindsay, who also pays tribute to early pioneers of the women’s biker movement such as Elspeth Beard, one of the first English women to ride a motorcycle around the world, pro racers Maria Costello and Ana Carrasco, and influencers Vanessa Ruck, Rosie Gabrielle, Ruby Rides, and Sallyha Din.
“Because of that rise in visibility and of female role models, more people are getting into biking because they’re finally being shown that biking isn’t all Hell’s Angels with tattoos and beards,” Lindsay says. “The dream is to make it so that the concept of a female biker is just as normal and accepted as a male biker, because it should be.
“But, fundamentally, it’s all about getting women out there enjoying riding. Hopefully that will engage the industry and show them that female riders are here, we’re not going anywhere, and that they need to cater to us.”
For the rest of the Lancashire Post article see here.
Check out other Vanessa Ruck media placements here.
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