{"id":450963,"date":"2026-02-01T05:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/450963\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T05:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:03:12","slug":"women-riders-world-relay-on-a-mission-to-connect-riders-in-every-country-elevate-visibility-in-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/450963\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Riders World Relay on a mission to connect riders in every country, elevate visibility in industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of female motorcyclists from around the world has passed through southern Western Australia as part of a global bid to challenge industry culture.<\/p>\n

Comprising women riders from all over the world, the Women Riders World Relay (WRWR) aims to build connections and challenge attitudes in global motorcycling that often leave women sidelined.<\/p>\n

A serious incident prompted Welsh rider Hayley Bell to start the event in 2019.<\/p>\n

“I had an accident on my motocross bike, which resulted in me having a handlebar through my stomach,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I was wearing a child’s piece of body armour because there was no body armour for women, and the men’s [body armour] was enormous, I could literally just spin it around on me.”<\/p>\n

The event aims to raise awareness of the challenges women riders face \u2014 from inadequate safety gear to laws preventing them from holding a licence \u2014 and connect them with other riders.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Hayley Bell and Liza Miller ride through Pakistan. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“We want to connect every single female motorcyclist in the world, and that is every single discipline, in every single country,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So we can directly influence how the market is going to be for women by having a collective voice.”<\/p>\n

Australian Cathy Thatcher is one of thousands of women taking part in this year’s relay, travelling more than 3,500 kilometres to Orange in New South Wales from her home in Perth.<\/p>\n

\"Cathy<\/p>\n

Cathy Thatcher is the Western Australian ambassador for the Women Riders World Relay 2026.\u00a0 (ABC News: Samantha Goerling)<\/p>\n

“Every state representative rode the baton home, and my journey was just a bit longer than others,” she said.<\/p>\n

“[We] met a lot of women along the way, connected a lot along the way, and passed the baton.”<\/p>\n

Having founded a women’s social motorcycle club which now has hundreds of members, Ms Thatcher said building community among women riders was deeply fulfilling.<\/p>\n

“The women I have met on motorbikes, they’ve made me complete, and they’ve given me a really great purpose in life,” she said.\"A<\/p>\n

A group who rode to Albany Western Australia as part for the Women Riders World Relay.\u00a0 (Supplied: Cathy Thatcher)<\/p>\n

A global venture<\/p>\n

In New Zealand, ambassador Leigh-Anne Crane said she took up motorcycle riding “late”, but it had become a huge part of her life.<\/p>\n

“It gets in your system, you know, and then you just want to do it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m a mum of five kids, and they’re all grown up, so this is just me time, really.<\/p>\n

“Doesn’t matter where you go, every ride is a good ride, it’s euphoric.”<\/p>\n

\"Leigh-Ann<\/p>\n

For New Zealand ambassador Leigh-Ann Crane, motorcycles are freedom.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Enkh-Erdene Od-Erdene grew up surrounded by motorcycles in her family’s dealership in Mongolia, and touring the country by bike on holidays.<\/p>\n

“Riding became one of my deepest passions because it gives me this feeling of freedom, especially riding in Mongolia, where everything is so open and beautiful,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a very honest experience. When you ride, you face yourself, your fears, your focus, your confidence.”<\/p>\n

Ms Od-Erdene first learned of the WRWR after the female world record holder for the fastest speed on a modified sports motorcycle \u2014 Erin Sills at 381.8km\/h \u2014 booked into her motorcycle tour in Mongolia.<\/p>\n

“She really inspired me, not just as a rider, but as a person,” Ms Od-Erdene said.<\/p>\n

\"Enk-Erdene<\/p>\n

Enk-Erdene Ord-Erdene leads motorcycle tours in Mongolia.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Now, she’s hoping to connect more women riders with each other in Mongolia, as well as with the global riding community.<\/p>\n

“If we can build that bridge, I would consider that a big achievement,” she said.<\/p>\n

Later in May, the WRWR will lead a Legacy Lap of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy.<\/p>\n

It will be the first female-led legacy lap in the renowned motorcycle race’s near-120-year history.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Women riders in Mongolia connect while they wait for the snow to clear.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

A growing community<\/p>\n

The first WRWR in 2019 saw more than 20,000 women riders pass the baton in more than 100 countries.<\/p>\n

For this year’s relay, now in its second iteration, instead of a physical baton, riders can pass a virtual baton through the WRWR app via their phones.<\/p>\n

\"Liza<\/p>\n

Liza Miller is on a mission for women riders to be recognised.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Joint chief executive officer Liza Miller, from California, said the relay had already reached nearly 50 countries since it began on January 1.<\/p>\n

“It’s so cool to see the different types of communities and the different types of bikes that they’re riding,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We are all women riders, we’re all the same, but we’re in so many different countries and customs and cultures and religions.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of female motorcyclists from around the world has passed through southern Western Australia as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,233075,29946,233080,233081,806,805,233077,803,804,233078,85,233079,45,233076,233073,233074],"class_list":["post-450963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-female-riders","tag-great-southern-news","tag-isle-of-man-tourist-trophy","tag-manx-tt","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motorbikes","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-riding-clubs","tag-sports","tag-wa-motorcycling","tag-wa-news","tag-women-motorcycling","tag-women-riders-world-rally","tag-wrwr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}