I had never been interested in motorbikes until my husband bought one back in 2007, after having to sell his previous bike when he had his first child.
I never wanted to get on a bike. I was 44 years old and had always been frightened of them.
Then he told me he was going to the Isle of Man for the Manx Grand Prix with our middle child. I told him that if he was going on holiday, then I was coming too.
He said that if I wanted to go, I’d have to get on the back of his bike.
That’s where it all began.
After going to the Isle of Man for a few years, I decided I wanted to learn to ride for myself. When I told my husband, he said, “If you want to ride, you can always get on the back with me.”
That wasn’t what I had in mind.
So I booked my CBT. I turned up one Sunday and found I was the only woman there, surrounded by a group of men. There was just little me — all 5ft 1in of me.
When I came home with my certificate, my husband said I’d proved to myself that I could ride, and that was that. I didn’t need a bike of my own.
How wrong he was.
Before long, a Honda CBR turned up that I’d found online. It needed a lot of work, and it took my husband three months to get it running properly. But the first time I rode it, it was amazing. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.
One day, I rode my bike to work and dropped it as I was turning into the car park. When I got home, my husband said that riding wasn’t for everyone and that it obviously wasn’t for me.
Never tell a woman she can’t do something, because she’ll prove you wrong.
And that’s exactly what I did.
I booked riding lessons, passed my theory test, and then passed both my Mod 1 and Mod 2 first time.
It was then that I bought my second Honda — a CBR250. I absolutely loved getting out on that little bike. Don’t get me wrong, I was terrified. I’d be shaking whenever I went out, but I didn’t care. The feeling of riding was worth every bit of fear.
My husband and I split up in late 2012. After Christmas, I moved in with my mum, sold most of my belongings, and made the decision to move to the Isle of Man.
It was just me, my car, my bike, and whatever else I could fit into the hired box van.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.
There, I found the Curvy Riders — an all-ladies motorcycle group, run by women for women. They were absolutely fantastic. They believed in me, encouraged me, and gave me confidence in my riding.
I was loving life.
I kept my little 250 for four years. I even travelled to Scotland with the Curvy Riders on it while everyone else was riding their “big girl bikes”. Somehow, I always managed to keep up, and they never lost me — although I’m sure they must have tried a few times! Haha!
Later, my new partner came into my life. He rode a bike too, and encouraged me to think about getting something bigger.
After plenty of chatting and thinking, I went to a dealership and spotted a Kawasaki Z650. I booked a test ride and took it out the following day.
I fell in love with it.
It was an incredible bike, and by the time I got back to the dealership, I’d already decided. I ordered a brand-new one.
Since then, I’ve travelled all over the UK with the girls and enjoyed some fantastic trips around Europe with my now husband. The adventures, the friendships, and the freedom that riding has given me are something I could never have imagined all those years ago, when I was too frightened to even get on the back of a bike.
In 2024, I traded my Z650 in for another Honda — a Honda Hornet 750 — and I absolutely love it. Honda just suits me. The size, the weight, the way it handles; it feels like it was made for me.
If someone had told 44-year-old me that one day I’d be riding across the UK and Europe on my own motorcycle, I’d have laughed.
But sometimes the things that frighten us the most become the things that change our lives forever.
