Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Ride a Motorcycle Around the World

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But upon her return to the UK, she realised that despite her achievements, no one in England - newspapers, biking magazine and even her family and friends - was interested in her story, Elspeth said. “So few women rode motorbikes those days and very very few women travelled" The author of Lone Rider, Elspeth Beard, is an avid motorcyclist and award-winning architect living in a converted water tower in southeast England. To this day, she still rides her trusty BMW R 60/6.

It was a bit like if Neil Armstrong came here and was talking about what it’s like to walk on the moon, you can’t relate to it because it’s so far away from your reference.”

On returning to Europe

Elspeth: My GS Basic. I’m really, really happy with it. I like a bike I can fix and I understand. All these modern bikes are just too complicated for their own good. I owned a BMW 1150 and it was just too big and complicated.

Travelling through India was the toughest part of the trip, but having some company made things a little bit easier. There were a few delays in getting through the Punjab and into Pakistan, but they managed it in the end, but she was dreading crossing into Iran as she hadn’t ever got the correct paperwork because of the cost; she would have to try and blag her way in somehow. They made it, but she was wary of travelling through a country that had just had an Islamic Revolution and was at war with its neighbour. Before long they were in Turkey. The book has been translated into Spanish and Italian and is published by La Mala Suerte Ediciones [ www.lamalasuerte.es]. reis ise... muidugi polnud sel viga, aga eks neid mootorratturite ümbermaailmareisilugusid ole ennegi raamatutest loetud ja telekast nähtud ja sotsiaalmeedias jälgitud, ja kuna maailm on sama, siis on nad ikkagi üksjagu sarnased omavahel. maailm aastal 1982 oli... ka ikkagi sama, kuigi internetti oli vähem ja arveldada tuli reisitšekkidega (ok, ausalt öeldes ma ei ole kunagi päriselt teadnud/aru saanud, misasjad need reisitšekid olid ja kuidas töötasid). aga muidu ikka... Austraalias kehvad treppisõidetud teed, kängurud ja aegajalt üleujutused, Aasias räpasus ja ahistamine ja varastamine ja ka üleujutused, Ameerikat lihtsalt liiga palju ja igal pool maailmas suur hämming selle üle, et OMG NAINE MOOTORRATTAL KUIDAS ON SEE VÕIMALIK. It was interesting to learn what it was that made a young aspiring architect want to get in the saddle and head off into the unknown. Often we hear tales of how broken hearts are the catalyst for adventure, but Elspeth had slightly different reasons. A great read and a terrific story, documenting Elspeth Beard's trek on a motorcycle across the USA, Australia, Indonesia, Malayasia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the brisk finish home to London through Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany and Holland. Along the way she learns how to cope with incredible challenges and understands how adaptable and strong she can be in a range of situations: her trek, her motorcycle, her relationships, her parents – and her life after the trip.Reading this book made me angry, sad, furious and disappointed in the world. The author did something not many people did in the beginning of the 80, something not many people do even today when they have mobile phones, gps and all possible comfort to make travelling around the world easier and it took 30 YEARS for anyone to recognise it, to take any notice that wasn't drown in sexism. A wonderful read and if you are in any way an adventurer, motorcyclist or traveller (or for that matter - all three) then this book is a must for you. The whole biking industry hadn’t really woken up to the fact that women wanted to ride motorbikes, so you couldn’t buy the clothes, they didn’t make it for women. I was always wearing boots that were too big for me. By 1979, she had her first motorcycle—a second-hand Yamaha YB100. Soon, the Yamaha was sold and she moved up to a 250cc Honda. By age 17, she had discovered the range and freedom a motorcycle provides on the open road and she began to think about touring Europe, and eventually, the world. When she mentioned the idea to her friends, it was met with disbelief—then laughter.

In the mid-eighties Elspeth Beard became the second British woman to ride a motorcycle around the world (the first being Mary Sievier). Her trip started in the US after she had shipped her bike over from the UK. ostsin selle raamatu autori enda käest pärast seda, kui ühel motomessil ta esinemisele sattusin - ta rääkis väga hoogsalt ja meeleolukalt ära selle loo, kuidas ta 22-aastaselt endale (tolle aja kohta) võimsa mootorratta ostis, seda parandama ja hooldama õppis ja sellega siis ümber maailma sõitis. nagu raamatu pealkirigi ütleb, esimese briti naisena. She rode her 1975 BMW R 60/6 flat-twin into Canada before heading south to Mexico where she sent the bike to New Zealand and later Australia.The journey itself took place in 1982 when Beard was still studying to become the successful architect she is today. That it took another 30-odd years to write and publish is down to the pig-ignorance of motorcycle magazine editors at the time, who treated her request to write her story, even just in article form, with disdain. Their loss. Last year Elspeth did come out with her book, which documents her two years and three months long journey around the world. The book is timely, in an era where women are vocalizing our strength: a documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the #metoo movement, a woman presidential candidate. Add it to the list of strong women who pave the way for the rest of us, going against the social grain, calling on inner strength to overcome obstacles many will never face, creating new paths that didn’t exist before them. As a women rider, I have to thank her, because if it weren’t for women like her, tough enough to brave the misogyny, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. Today, Elspeth Beard is an award-winning architect based in the U.K. We had the opportunity to do an e-interview with her, posing a dozen questions in follow-up to her book. Here’s what she had to say: