Her Story. A series of blog posts telling the stories of 'women who ride' from all corners of the globe. We hope that by sharing these stories we can help encourage other women to build their confidence, learn from others and inspire others.
This month we have a story from Alexi Mara Fisk, an American living in Seoul, South Korea. Alexi is the founder of Danger Dames Seoul, one of the first all women's riding groups in South Korea, read on to learn about her journey.
We hope you enjoy her story.
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I’m Alexi Mara Fisk; an American living, working, and riding in South Korea. I have only been riding for 8 months, but have already toured most of South Korea on my Honda CB223s! I had always been slightly interested in, and a little intimidated by the coolness, of motorcycle culture. At the beginning of 2018 I was thumbing through Instagram and landed on Babes Ride Out. I was then brought to The Dream Roll and VC London. Groups like these really gave me the courage to ride. As soon as the weather warmed up a bit I got my motorcycle license and my first bike, a Honda CG125.
When I bought a motorcycle I didn’t realize exactly how it would change my life.
In order to understand my motorcycle journey, the story of Danger Dames Seoul is important. After getting my first bike I was able to make a lot of new friends to ride with. However, I felt lacking in female friendship. It was a little difficult for me to locate women riders and I thought - If I could be inspired by Babes Ride Out, The Dream Roll, and VCLondon- couldn’t I make something to inspire others? In April 2018 I started an all girls motorcycle community called Danger Dames in Seoul. At the beginning my goal was to build a community for women riders. I was selfishly trying to fill a hole for myself. I wanted to find like-minded women riders in Seoul to befriend for rides, as well as discussions about motorcycle lifestyle, bikes, gear, etc.
A majority of the people in my riding circle told me that they understood the idea of an all female riding community, but it wouldn’t work. Not in South Korea. I paid zero attention to them and kept my dream in the back of my mind. Riding and meeting new people daily. Low and behold within one month I had found two girls that were interested in riding with me. I don’t know that at that time they fully understood my mission, but they were willing to go along for the ride (pun intended). I was fully content with the three of us riding around. Just three Danger Dames in Seoul. The three quickly turned to 6, turned to 12, and now we are officially 49 members. About 20 members actively participate and have fostered amazing relationships with each other. I have found that there were quite a few women that just needed a little encouragement to upgrade their current bike, or to get their license and ride their own. I have been so lucky to watch these women connect with each other and inspire one another to ride as fast and as far as they want.
With these women I have toured the country, visited faraway beaches, and traveled through freezing mountain tunnels.
It is a sense of camaraderie that make the coldest night rides and endless oil changes worth it.
My advice for anyone that wants to ride is to be yourself and be safe.
Ride whatever bike you want, wherever you want, as fast or as slow as you feel comfortable - but do it safely and do it for you.
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Thank you to Alexi for sharing her story, you can follow her on Instagram at @aleximarafisk
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