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.

You just had these people in their BMWs, their Porches, being really aggressive and angry. Really miserable. Two wheels, that is, and by herself. This was a time when women riders were extremely rare, the internet didn’t exist, and the world was a much larger place. There was no one to look to for inspiration or guidance, because, unlike now, there weren’t thousands of motorcyclists riding around the world. Foxe, Ken (25 July 2017). "First woman to travel the world on a motorbike". Lonely Planet News. Lonely Planet . Retrieved 9 February 2019. Certainly in the last three or four years, there's been a big change and I think women have realised they have a voice. I feel that they have a presence and they can do things, and they are taking on many more challenges and pushing themselves more and more.

This book read like a spoiled rich girl doing something to annoy her mom whom she seemed to resent. Case in point, when she met up with her parents, she dragged them out of the "nice part of town" and showed her the slums in an effort to show her how tough and brave she was for enduring such conditions. From her journal of the trip, her photo archive and long-held memories, Elspeth Beard has recreated that incredible journey in her new book now featured in our Rider’s Library, Lone Rider the First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World.

It is a journey that will change you forever, traveling is so important to understand other cultures and this understanding helps make the world a safer place. I discovered strengths I didn’t know I had, taking yourself out of your comfort zone is never easy but very rewarding. The hardest thing is to leave but once you’re on the road you will discover so much about yourself and the world you will never be the same person again. The wall next to the front door is decorated with various architectural awards, and as I entered the building I could see that they were clearly deserved. There’s no lift in her seven story tower, and so after walking up four flights of stairs and running out of puff Elspeth showed me into the kitchen where she put the kettle on and we sat down. Surrounding us were mementos of her time on the road. A cup of tea with Elspeth Beard There were times when I certainly felt a little bit uncomfortable. Muslim countries were very difficult to travel through. Every country has its own difficulties though. India I didn’t like, but I never felt particularly threatened there. It was just constant staring of all the men and they would very rarely touch me. I just felt that sometimes the Muslim countries were a bit more aggressive and I never felt comfortable.Elspeth Beard has just published a book this summer, the one that we talked about in an interview with her last year. We'll remind you that it's the story of a 23 year old woman who in 1982 set off on a solo motorcycle trip around the world. Something relatively unheard of in those days, for both women and men. In fact, on her trip she only met two other motorcycle adventurers in the 2 1/2 years she was on the road. But when I was on my bike with my helmet, everybody assumed I was male anyway. It didn’t occur to anybody that I was a woman, especially in those days. The story of Elspeth Beard is legendary within the motorcycle community, in 1982 aged just 23 she set off on a round the world adventure with nothing more than a tent, some meagre savings from her job in a bar, and her trusty 1974 BMW R60/6.

All of which means, as well as our hero BMW, there is another heroine: Elspeth. Having not met her I cannot say if she sees this in herself. But to take on the world, at that time, on two wheels, is a brave move and it should inspire anyone, not just women, to try similar journeys in today’s much easier to navigate times. 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. The spring and summer of 1982 proved a turning point. An important relationship ended, a key step in her professional education in architecture was completed and she had prepared her BMW for long miles. Elspeth: No. I’d heard of Ted Simon and his book Jupiter’s Travels and I tried to read it. I got to chapter one and I just gave up. I think I was reading it for the wrong reasons. I was reading it to find out how to do it, Ted’s book was the only thing around about riding around the world at the time but, well, I’m not much of a reader anyway.

Forging documents

A young man, who I guessed was one of the sons of the woman who’d dressed my wounds, shrugged, handed me a dirty rag, then smiled. He seemed to be suggesting that this was all that was required to deal with the problem.