The Adventure Zone, whilst compact, offers some great advice in the stages of touring and booking your next adventure. Try your hand at off-roading for the first time with our taster sessions in conjunction with MotoJunkies! We also have wonderful intrepid women bikers who will be hanging out here to answer your questions over the weekend.
Off-Roading for Beginners with MotoJunkies
Something we have wanted to do at the show for a few years but logistically it’s proved a little tricky, is to offer a safe place to try off-roading for the first time. It’s always been a bit difficult to find providers that offer a suitable experience for someone who hasn’t been off-roading before. Well, we have you covered!
In conjunction with the formidable Steph Jeavons of Motojunkies, we are so pleased to offer off-road try rides! These, like everything else at our event, are included with your ticket on a first-come, first-served basis.
Covering:
-Body Positioning both standing and seated.
-Throttle & Clutch Control: smooth acceleration and braking, covering the controls.
-Balance & Low-Speed Exercises: figure-eights, tight turns, small obstacles.
-Picking up the bike
15-20 mins practical session with a 10 minute introduction.
There’s then the opportunity to book further training with Steph at MotoCamp!
Off-Road Test Rides with Zero Motorcycles
Zero Motorcycles is heading to the Women in Moto Show with an exciting offer — off-road rides on our all-new X Line models! These fun, user-friendly electric motorcycles are perfect for both seasoned riders and complete beginners. No gears. No clutch. Just effortless, pure riding fun.
Swing by the Zero Motorcycles stand to book your test ride — we can’t wait to see you there!
Fern Hume
Planning 2 week Trips (Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th)- ADVENTURE ZONE
This talk from Fern from the TRF focuses on planning two week trips to fit within your annual leave within the UK and Europe, and fly-rides far away..
It’s amazing what you can achieve in two weeks..!
“We are all inspired by inspirational speakers who go on once in a lifetime around the world adventures. However these are not possible for many at various points due to commitments such as jobs, mortgages, children and funding. So what can we do in the mean time?
I rode overland to Nepal in 2012, however on returning to the UK and settling back into the routine of a mundane office job, I needed to escape again, and in the space of 2 years I went on several 2 week adventures to Nepal, Morocco, Thailand, Peru, and two UK to Slovenia and Spain trips. It is possible to spice up regular life with adventurous trips!”
Marianne Walford
Starting Motorcycle Competition (as a Woman) – Breaking Down Barriers (Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th)- ADVENTURE ZONE
“It seems a lot of women riders think of competition as road racing, but there are four off road disciplines. So it will cover road racing briefly, and the less well known off road competitions in a bit more detail: trials, enduro, motocross and grass track with flat-track. Solo and sidecar.
My first competitive outing was in 1978 as a grass track passenger, but I was not very good so only did three or four meetings. Then I attempted trials on a 200cc Tiger Cub. This led to three-stage trials, which are a cross between a trial and a “hare and hounds” enduro; and subsequently to enduro. In 1983 I started organising charity trials for girls and women, with a course for those who already competed, a course for those who were beginners on trials bikes and a course for riders on trail bikes. This ran for 3 or 4 years until we lost use of the land. In 1988 I took part in the Monte Carlo Rally for motorcycles, and won the Ladies Award as the others did not finish. The event included road race circuits, and as I intended to do it again, I began road racing to improve. Sadly the event only ran the once.
In 1991 I became the first woman qualified as an ACU Coach. For about 15 years I organised many training days, for riders who could supply their own (or borrowed) bike and with some trail bikes supplied by us. With Gloria Perrin (then Clarke) who got the ban on women riding in the Manx Grand Prix lifted, and a car racer named Vivienne, we started Motorsport For Women. In the 2000s the car ladies went their own way, and MFW became the Diamonds MCC, running beginner enduro events, sidecar try-out days and training days.
I swapped from solo enduro to sidecars around 1996. Karen Clarke was also a driver, and there were plenty of women passengers in the sidecars. In 2010 I had the opportunity to buy a road race sidecar, and from 2011 to 2021 I raced, always with lady passengers. The pre-injection championship began in 2014 (I think) and I competed in this until I stopped after covid. I thought that grass track sidecars looked fun, and scary! My daughter became my passenger and we did 2022 on a 500cc continental sidecar, but it was very stressful because we could not start it and we missed at least one race every meeting. So for 2023 we got “an old and new” sidecar with electric start, and we are slowly improving.”
Fern Hume & Rachel Lawson
Navigating Navigation (Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th)- ADVENTURE ZONE
This workshop is about getting your head around the basics of navigating by bike… Maps, apps, phones, gadgets and finding your way!
Fern and Rachel will be explaining the principles of navigation, what gadgets or phones to use, how to mount your gadgets, benefits of using digital navigation, and planning trips. Fern works with the TRF and the Trans Euro Trail to promote responsible trail riding, lane conservation and helps develop rider networks.
Fern Hume
Introduction to Trail Riding (Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th)- ADVENTURE ZONE
Have you wanted to get into trail riding and don’t know where to start or would like to know more about it?
“I have a trail bike. Can I just ride anywhere off road?”
Trail riding in England in Wales is an immensely rewarding countryside pursuit, bringing adventure and exploration together with technical riding skills, orienteering and land access knowledge.
It is enjoyed in sunshine, wind, rain and snow throughout the year in some of the countries most striking landscapes, from the wild moorlands of Northumberland, over the rocky mountains of North Wales to the flat farm plains of Lincolnshire and down to the furthest reaches of Devon and Cornwall.
This session will cover topics such as:
-What bike do I need?
-What training is out there?
-How do I plan a route?
– Navigation devices, Green Roads Map, Byways, UCRs, GPX Files
-What to wear- gearing up for the ride
-Finding riding groups around the country
Tiffany Coates
Wild Camping – The Dirty Truth (Saturday 16th) ADVENTURE ZONE
Tiffany Coates, famous for her intrepid solo biking adventures around the world, wild camping along the way, is going to share her top tips. Come and find out the Do’s and Don’ts for wild camping, what to take and where to pitch your tent. Whether it’s in the back of beyond on a remote mountainside, the middle of a desert, the deck of a ferry or the carpark of a customs office – she’s camped there.
Sharing stories about animals, people and extremes of weather from Africa to Alaska, Siberia to Sydney and Madagascar to Mongolia.
