The story of a highly intelligent and very adventurous spirit who spreads good vibes and encouragement wherever she goes.

If you haven't learnt of Las Marias MC, the all women club gracing the streets of Mexico City, then let us enlighten you. Their catch cry is also a call for freedom where they feel stronger and safer on amongst the chaos of Mexico City roads when they're together but also, and perhaps more to the point of their pursuit for freedom is in the boldness in which they express themselves. Their club titles also come with alter egos that heighten their passion for riding and the individuality it affords. There is no specific bike type, for the Marias their club is about riding and standing stronger together.

Shelby saw that there was a need in her home town of Denver Colorado to create a safe and fun environment for other women to experience riding. There were no feminist reasons for it, just the simple acknowledgment that women are more comfortable sharing the experience with other women… and so was born The Scarlet Headers; an all female social riding group in Denver.

The emergence of all-women social groups (who aren't afraid of sharing their moto exploits) is not showing any signs of slowing down. Sydney locals The Throttle Dolls formalised their friendship-cum-riding posse less than eighteen months ago having been having a great time. IVV invited the Dolls to tell us, in their own words, the journey thus far and where it all started.  

Burn to shine. Diamonds start as coal. The light is darkest just before the dawn..... They’re common inspirational quotes used over and over the world over to remind us, that pushing through our hardest moments will make us better, beautiful and visible to more people. For Aileen, The Moto Quest is the conduit that got her through the difficult parts and into the person she is now... open, positive, grateful and free.

This past weekend at Aftershock, the second year of the event, was the first year we had enough ladies to make up a heat. Featuring Zaya, Carina, Nikki of the Foxy Fuelers, and yours truly. Four heats on the dirt track and four heats on the flat track, Carina took first place for the women's...

Kinga Tanajewska is the first Australian to be featured on Global Women Who Ride and upon seeing her featured I contacted her immediately and was thrilled with the woman on the other end of the phone. Kinga's pre and post communist Poland upbringing was punctuated by solo adventures out of the country, an existence that motorcycling played a large part in and reflected in her decision to travel around Australia, alone. 

Vicky and her machines are inseparable, they are one and the same. They are everything she is, energetic, fast, ready for anything and not to be messed with. She finds the yin in her perpetual motion yang when she can push her bikes to 120% to find that moment when time slows down and she is nowhere else.

Leticia is unassuming, a free spirit, passionate about riding and keenly supportive of women who ride. I came away from meeting Leticia, overwhelmingly inspired by her journey, as her passion for gasoline culture is both intrinsic to who she is and rooted in a strong connection to her father.

Riding a motorbike was always something Carina wanted to do, however in Germany it is an expensive undertaking. Since calling Sydney home, Carina decided to finally take matters in her own hands, much like many of the major decisions she’s made in life, she doesn’t really over-think it. If it sparks her interest, she goes for it.

From the new-babe-on-the-block to the driving force behind The Throttle Dolls in what she hopes will help inspire other women to ride and live their lives to the fullest, we learn about Maria's love for riding as heavily influenced growing up surrounded by people who rode motorcycles, her mum included.

Introducing the first five Petrolettes of IVV. Five very different women, riders, bikes and adventurists but all commonly want to see more women on the road, loving life and living in the moment. Every fortnight IVV will be taking a deeper look at the lives of each of these women further learning why they ride and what they love about it.