Women riders urging motorcycle awareness

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on April 27, 2023.

Submitted photo Members of the Women In The Wind - WindSun Riders Chapter Lethbridge are urging motorists to be aware of motorcycles as the spring weather opens up the road.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Women In The Wind – WindSun Riders Chapter Lethbridge is urging residents to be aware of motorcycles on the road now that weather is favourable for riding.

The local women riders chapter has ten active members ranging in age from 40 to 70 years old, ready to welcome new members of any age who own a motorcycle and have a valid motorcycle licence.

Treasurer Dixie Fowler said they have weekly rides, day trips, weekend getaways and once a year they take a longer nine or 10-day-trip. Which is why road safety is so important this time of the year.

“Some of our riders have logged as many as 21,000 kilometres in a riding season, and that’s a testament to how much passion we have for motorcycles,” said Fowler.

She said motorists need to be aware of motorcycles on the road, be vigilant and always be watching for them.

“Teach your children to become accustomed to watching for motorcycles on the roads by playing a spy-the-bike game. They’ll grow up to be drivers who are more aware of motorcycles,” said Fowler.

She said within their riding group they have riding safety sessions because riding in a group is different than riding solo or with two motorcycles.

 “There are rules of the road and rules to follow to keep everybody in the group safe. Everybody has a riding position to maintain, and to understand their role in their riding position,” said Fowler.

 She said some riding positions include road captain and tail gunner or sweep

 “The tailgunner always rides at the back of the group and their role is to ensure that no bike is left behind, and also to block traffic coming up from behind, when necessary,” said Fowler.

She said they also have a number of hand signals to follow for their safety. Some of them include “hazard on the roadway” which is signal by pointing to the road with the index finger extended towards the side of the road where the hazard is.

“You can’t talk to every member in the group that’s riding down the highway, so there are certain hand signals that we use to notify everybody of what’s going on and what they’re expected to do,” said Fowler.

Another signs include the single and double file which involve the arm extended with either the index finger for single file, or the index finger accompanied by the middle finger to indicate double file. And slow down signal, which involves extending the arm straight out, palm facing down and swing arm down towards the rider’s side.

The hands signals are usually given by the road captain within a riding group.

“It’s important when you’re riding as a group, if there’s more than four bikes, that you split into more than one group. Large groups of five or more motorcyclists can be hard for other vehicles to pass on a highway, and they can cause congestion and confusion in intersections,” said Fowler.

 She said that when they have groups of 10 or more motorcyclists going to the same place at the same time, they split up into smaller groups so people can get past them if they need to.

This year the Women In The Wind – WindSun Riders Chapter Lethbridge is hosting their first charity event with proceeds going to the Jack Ady Cancer Centre. The event will take place on Jun. 3, with more details to come closer to the date.

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