Registrations have opened for the Australian leg of the Women Riders World Relay 2019 with 150 signing up in the first day.
Click here to check out the 13-day route from Perth across the bottom of Australia and up the east coast on the day 180 of the rally.
Aussie relay ambassador Christi Hartwig is expecting the Australia leg will have more participants than any other country with thousands already expressing interest.
Click here if you are interested in signing up.
Christi HartwigThe Women Riders World Relay is the idea of UK office manager and keen rider Hayley Bell, 27, to alert the motorcycle industry to the growing number of female riders.
Hayley Bell“Women Riders World Relay is an opportunity to celebrate female motorcyclists and gain worldwide recognition, as well as to raise awareness of the fastest-growing segment of the motorsport industry,” she says.
Women can register on the Facebook page here while the public can monitor their progress on this Facebook page.
Relay progress
It started at John O’Groats, Scotland, on February 27, 2019, and will be relaying a baton from woman to woman and from country to country over the next 12 months. Womwen continue signing up for the rally along the way, but more than 14,000 women had registered by March.
The women have since ridden through the British Isles, Europe, the Mid-East and the Baton is currently in Pakistan, the 41st country on the global route.
Previously it traveled through Turkey and at that time it had traveled over 31,000km passing through 1279 registered Guardian’s hands.
The baton arrives in Perth from Indonesia on August 25 and should receive a warm and enthusiastic welcome from Aussie women, says Christi.
“I have built a team to assist me, creating a route throughout Australia,” Christi says.
“I’m pleased it’s generating positive feedback. The women are excited, they want to ride!”
Christi last year became a moderator, team manager and tasker for the relay and is now the Ambassador for Australia.
“I’d like to unite, inspire and encourage female riders throughout Australia,” she says.
Relay with purpose
Hayley says she started the relay to show the motorcycles industry the female market that is “so blindly overlooked”.
“I’m tired of going into motorcycle stores and seeing four variations of pink leather jackets that look as though they have been thrown together as a half-arsed attempt after they have spent months creating fantastically designed men’s suits,” she says.
“I’m not preaching feminism, nor am I subjecting myself or our group to being labelled as ‘anti-man’.
Australian relay itinerary
Day 1: 25 August 2019, Perth to Norseman 772km;
Day 2: 26 August, Norseman – Nullarbor RH, 905km;
Day 3: 27 August, Nullarbor RH – Port Augusta,764km;
Day 4: 28 August, Port Augusta – Adelaide – Mildura, 702km;
Day 5: 29 August, Mildura – Bendigo – Melbourne, 553km;
Day 6: 30 August, Melbourne – Wagga Wagga, 490km;
Day 7: 31 August, Wagga Wagga – Bathurst – Orange – Dubbo, 520km;
Day 8: 1 September, Dubbo – Tamworth – Glen Innes, 515km;
Day 9: 2 September, Glen Innes – Brisbane – Noosa, 502km;
Day 10: 3 September, Noosa – Gympie -Toowoomba -Byron Bay, 614km;
Day 11: 4 September, Byron Bay – Newcastle, 624km;
Day 12: 5 September, Newcastle to Batemans Bay, 456km;
Day 13: 6 September, Batemans Bay – Canberra – Sydney, 442km.