My first ride out!

One of the best things about being on a bike is meeting new people. Another great thing about being on a bike is travelling around new places and old, using two wheels instead of four. Put these things together and you get an idea why so many motorcyclists love ride outs.

Seeing the world (or your city) on two wheels with loads of other bike fans is such an amazing experience and I was lucky enough to squeeze one in before the end of 2018.  

Charlotte is one of the women I’ve meet through VC London monthly events at the Bike Shed. She’s a pretty experienced rider who completed an envy inducing trip around the US in three weeks.

A few weeks ago, Charlotte mentioned she’d done a tunnel run before and how amazing it was. So once enough of us had expressed an interest in it, Charlotte started planning.

On Sunday 30 December, around 30 women (and a few men) met up in East London at the VC London workshop. After some tea and coffee and a quick briefing, we got on our bikes and started our tour of London.

It was amazing! Like I said, this was my first proper ride out (I did a test ride at Motorcycle Live 2017 but that doesn’t really count) so I didn’t really know what to expect, but as soon as we entered the first tunnel, I had a huge smile on my face which didn’t really leave until the end of the ride around two hours later.

I don’t commute on my bike in London, to be honest, I don’t get out on it as much as I’d like to at all. That and the fact that I live on the other side of the city means that I hardly ever experience the Blackwall or Rotherhithe tunnels. Following the event on Sunday though, I know that I probably won’t experience them in the same way again! The sound of 30+ motorbikes revving and roaring through tunnels is something I won’t forget in a hurry.

There were some pretty amazing bikes out on Sunday and the noise levels in some of the tunnels was intense (although not from my bike, it sounded like a hairdryer in comparison to some of the others!). With 20 mph restrictions around a lot of the areas we were riding, this was a pretty calm ride but we drew a lot of attention from drivers and curious pedestrians anyway. I know I’ve never seen 30 plus women killing it on motorbikes in London!

As well as taking us through tunnels, the ride included some cobbled streets and a pretty slow crossing of Tower Bridge. The crossing of Tower Bridge was one of my favourite parts of the whole ride. Not only is it a pretty iconic bridge, seeing so many people filming us and smiling made me feel all happy inside!

The tunnel run was a great way to end my first year owning a motorbike. I’m really looking forward to more events and more riding in 2019.  

Have you been on a group ride?

Special thanks to Charlotte, Bethany and Claire for keeping us all together, Holly, Albie and Bethany for the images and Hoda Vidz for the video!