Update May 4, 2015: Please visit the
Women Riders Now Facebook page to post your photos from International Female Ride Day and to see others.
International Female Ride Day (IFRD) happens every year on the first Saturday in May, and this year its May 2.
International Female Ride Day is a globally synchronized ride day for women motorcycle riders to get out and just ride.
International Female Ride Day asks women to be on their motorcycles, scooters or trikes with the purpose of highlighting and profiling women who enjoy the activity of motorcycling. IFRD kicked off in Canada its first year in 2007 and immediately became an international movement. Because of this event and its influence other women's motorcycling events began being organized in May over the last nine years, such that May has evolved into Women Riders Month in the motorcycle industry.
This year for IFRD, event founder Vicki Gray, of Motoress.com, will journey to India and join the “Bikerni Association of Female Bikers India” to celebrate the globally synchronized ride day.
Vicki Gray is the founder of
Motoress.com, a resource for female motorcyclists, based in Toronto, Canada. She came up with the idea for International Female Ride Day back in 2007. Thanks to her and her team, IFRD has become a global movement.
The Bikerni is India’s largest women’s motorcycle club with more than 700 members. The festivities will take place over two days beginning with a ride from Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Daman and Diu, Gujarat. "We have been celebrating IFRD religiously since 2011 when the Bikerni was first formed,” says Urvashi Patole, Bikerni Founder. “I first got in touch with Vicki in 2011 through Facebook; she sent me an IFRD t-shirt and since then our alliance has continued to grow. Every year women bikers across India celebrate IFRD with aplomb. This year, Vicki is going to be in India with us! What more could we ask for? We are super excited!”
Bikerni board member and west zone moderator Sheetal Bidaye adds, "The number of female motorcyclists in India has been on a consistent rise and IFRD has been celebrated across states as if it were a religion of women bikers. This year it’s even more special as founder, Vicki Gray, shall be joining the celebrations herself, which is so inspiring and shall motivate the country's female riders even more!”
Leading up to and following the Bikerni IFRD celebrations, Vicki will continue to explore India’s beauty and culture by motorcycle. She has partnered with Bikerni board member, long distance endurance rider and India tour expert, Chithra Priya, for the program. Chithra and Vicki met in Toronto during Chithra’s visit to Canada on IFRD 2012. “I’m delighted to be under Chithra’s expert assistance! I’m further thrilled with the anticipation of joining Bikerni friends and to experience the adventurous, fascinating motorcycling culture of India,” says Vicki.
Each year, more and more women across the globe find out about IFRD and
organize their own rides. Even if you don’t have a
group to ride with, women are encouraged to get out and enjoy the day on their motorcycle.
Tell us what you are planning on doing on May 2 in the comments below. And if you’d like to connect with other riders, join the
WRN Forum and network online in the International Female Ride Day thread we’ve started.
For more information and resources to mobilize an IFRD in your area, visit
Motoress.com. You can follow other riders that day on the
International Female Ride Day Facebook page, and follow Vicki and her new friends in India at
Bikerni's Facebook page.
And to know more about what's going for Women Riders Month, visit the
WRN Calendar of Events. Additionally, Harley-Davidson has a complete calendar listing of Ladies Garage Parties going on at dealerships all over the country. There are more than 50 Garage Parties during the month of May. Visit
Harley-Davidson.com/womenriders to learn more.