The first riders in a new women-only relay around the world have set off on the 100-country event.

‘Women Riders World Relay’ (WRWR), an attempt to take a baton right around the world on motorcycles, set off from John O’Groats in Scotland yesterday on the first day of the relay’s 12-day tour through the UK & Ireland.

The hand-carved wooden baton will be carried by 200 ‘Guardian’ riders across the British Isles before it continues through 100 countries to arrive in the United Arab Emirates in January 2020.

The WRWR is the brainchild of Ducati rider Hayley Bell, who came up with the idea on Facebook. “I wanted to ignite a global sisterhood of inspirational women to promote courage, adventure, unity and passion for biking from all corners of the world and do something that’s never been done before to this scale. My aim is to wow the industry into realising the global market for women in Motorsports and to inspire women worldwide.

“Going into motorcycle stores and seeing a lack of choice, combined with stereotypical pink and being told “there just isn’t the market for women”, highlighted to me just one small element of a much bigger picture around women in Motorsports. I want to show the industry the force behind the market that is so blindly overlooked.”

Hayley’s campaign immediately struck a chord with other women riders. Within one month the Facebook Group she set up to promote the idea had 10,000 followers. It now has a total global network of 14,000 women riders following the baton’s progress.

Events on International Women’s Day 

As well as the individual legs of the journey route, a series of events are happening on International Women’s Day weekend. As you’ll see in our Motorcycle Events Calendar, on Saturday 9th March, the Women Riders World Relay will hold a ride-in meeting at the iconic Ace Cafe in London, where there will be a number of activities including talks from leading female riders adventurer Elspeth Beard and racer Jenny Tidmouth. On Sunday, there is a very different event, an introduction to off-road motorcycling for women, including more talks and taster sessions. After the event, the baton will set off on its next leg on the journey, to France.

The Women Riders World Relay schedule:

Feb 2019: Scotland

March 2019: Ireland, Wales, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro

April 2019: Albania, Macedonia (FYROM), Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic,
Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands

May 2019: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania

June 2019: Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan

July 2019: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos

August 2019: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia

September 2019: New Zealand, Japan, Canada

October 2019: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica

November 2019: Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay

December 2019: Paraguay, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana

January 2020: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Oman, UAE