For the past ten years, Babes Ride Out has been bringing women from all over the country together. It’s more than just a few weekends throughout the year dedicated to motorcycle riding, good company, and even better times, however. Babes Ride Out is a shining example of the magic that comes out of bringing both recent motorcycle enthusiasts and long-time riders together.
It all started a decade ago when two friends, Anya Violent and Ashmore Ellis set out with the crazy idea to start a ladies-only motorcycle meet-up in the middle of the desert. They hopped on their bikes and rode out to Borrego Desert just to see if it would work. Anya and Ashmore didn’t know what to expect, they just knew they wanted to work tirelessly to create an environment that is inclusive and a force for good in the motorcycle world. And that’s just what Babes Ride Out is today.
It’s about the best time you can have both on and off two wheels, and there’s a little something for everyone. Every Babes Ride Out event is characterized by winding country roads and coastal highways ridden during the day and camping, good company, and cold beers shared in the evening. The shared enthusiasm at a Babes Ride Out weekend is always palpable. It’s not uncommon to hear of riders hopping on their bikes and covering thousands of miles just so they can join in on the fun. And it doesn’t matter if you’re hitting black diamond trails and clicking your heels over the handlebars on each jump or have only ridden a street bike and just want to see what the dirt, or pavement, is all about. If you haven’t even ridden a motorcycle before and just want to see what the draw is in cruising a picturesque open road, though? Well, that’s actually fine, too. Beginners, experts, and everyone in between – all are welcome. So, whether you were coming from down the street or across the country, everyone shows up to one of Ashmore and Anya’s events ready to have an epic time, and they deliver. Add some icy beers at the end of each day into the mix, and you can see why it was impossible for anyone to not have a permanent smile under their riding helmet.
“When Ashmore and I first decided to plan a ride out to Borrego Springs for a weekend of camping and enjoying the winding roads, we had no idea what would manifest on that dry lakebed in the middle of nowhere,” Anya told us. “The feeling that weekend back in 2013 was incredible and inspiring. We could tell it was something special but could not quite tell what the something was. Here we are, nearly 10 years later, and we now know what that something is. It is a platform and community of an amazingly diverse group of riders from all over the world gathering in the spirit of adventure and the love of exploring the world on two wheels. Cheers to all the Babes that have made the past 10 years nothing short of epic.”
“It’s incredible to look back at the past 10 years of growing Babes Ride Out and Babes in the Dirt and see the monumental shift of women entering and staying in the v-twin and off-road culture,” said Ashmore. “Making our own space within the two-wheel culture and having the ability to explore it has been life-changing. I can’t help but think we played a role in helping that growth by providing experiences and showing diverse representation over the past decade across the globe. For me, the biggest driver of it all is to continue to cultivate the community to ensure the next generation always feels included, welcomed, and sees a part of themselves represented each time we take off our helmets.”
We can’t thank Anya and Ashmore enough for putting together killer events and letting us join along for the ride. We’re always more than happy to provide the drinks and share high-fives, laughs, and memories that’ll last a long, long time. Let’s keep it going for another ten years, and maybe even a decade after that.
