THE VISIONARY
Hayley Bell
Photos courtesy of Hayley Bell / WRWR
Hayley Bell hails from the UK and grew up around bikes . Her dad rode , her brother rode and her cousins rode . But she didn ’ t . “ I was never allowed a bike when I was younger due to being a bit reckless as a kid ,” she laughed . “ Wasn ’ t to be trusted on two wheels – or four , either – so I didn ’ t pick up riding until I was 23 years old . My cousin had taken me to my first TT race when I was younger , but it wasn ’ t at the forefront of my mind until I settled back in the UK and my ex-boyfriend took me on the back of a bike and I just had to buy my Kawasaki ZX-6R .”
Once she started riding she never stopped . Bell was seeking a community of female riders and a bit frustrated with the industry , which led to the creation of something amazing – the Women Riders World Relay . “ I was at my office desk thinking , and I was pissed at seeing naked women in media on bikes all the time and the message that sends to female riders ,” she said . “ I wanted to connect with other female riders to see if they wanted to ride with me and enjoy bikes together . The idea came to me like a panty drop , really . I thought what about having a world relay to show how many of us there are , building an international community of women interested in the same hobbies as I am . It just clicked .”
By the time she got home from work that day the Women Riders World Relay already had 365 members . Four weeks later she had over 10,000 members from 80 different countries . “ It ’ s a real testament to female bikers ,” she told us , “ and that organic spread of word of mouth . I think it shows women wanted this … and they needed it !”
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THE IDEA CAME TO ME LIKE A PANTY DROP , REALLY . I THOUGHT WHAT ABOUT HAVING A WORLD RELAY ...
Women around the world banded together and did the relay in Olympic fashion , meeting up and passing the baton on , connecting with one another on a global scale and logging over 63,000 miles around the world as a whole . And Bell rode many of those miles herself , taking on the whole of the UK , all of the Americas , and more . And while the first relay came to an end in January 2020 , she plans to do another relay in about three years .
Beyond continuing her work with the World Relay with women around the world , she ’ s also working in her community within NW England where motorcycle meets are dying off . “ We ’ re working in the community to pull together a café ,” she said , “ a
Hayley and the Women Riders World Relay celebrate 63,000-plus miles around the world at Ace Cafe London .
32 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET