And how even for first-timers of all ages and experience, the whole thing is a fantastic time.
Members of the group descended on Tourism Moose Jaw on Saturday morning for a massive photo at Mac the Moose, creating a cacophony of sound as the 70-plus participants from all over Canada arrived for the chance to document their trip enmasse.
Among those was Marianne Brown from Prince George, who had the distinction of travelling the farthest to be a part of the 2021 Women in the Wind gathering.
“It was actually really good,” Brown said her journey as riders milled around the parking lot on another beautiful morning in Moose Jaw. “We kind of went the long way, there’s a patch challenge with Women in the Wind called ‘Two Days 1K’, so in two days you do 1,000 miles and that works out to 1,609 kilometres. So we went towards Drayton Valley from Prince George, then down to Calgary, so we did over a thousand kilometres that day. Then the next day we road here to Moose Jaw.”
A long ride, for sure, and other than the windy conditions that made the trip a little harrowing for some, perfect weather.
“There was no rain, no hail, and even with the wind I have a pretty big bike so I was okay,” Brown said, describing her 2018 Harley Davidson Road Glide. “And it wasn’t snowing, which really isn’t fun.”
Brown is a long-time member of the club with multiple rallies under her belt, including the 2014 event that was held in Prince George. She feels the camaraderie and friendship the Women in the Wind bring to their club is a major attraction for everyone involved.
“We try and promote a positive image of women riders and they do a really good job, everyone is really friendly,” Brown said. “And I enjoy going to the Canadian rallies every year, because you get to see people and build friendships and Facebook friends. There are a lot of people who come every year, then you follow them on social media and their rides and what they’re doing.”
Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have all sorts of fun activities to take part in during their rallies. Moose Jaw, for example, included a scavenger hunt on Friday afternoon that Brown described as an “absolute blast”.
“We really enjoyed that, people were asking us if we were doing the scavenger hunt and talking to us, we got to see all the shops downtown and it was a lot of fun,” she added. “Those are the kinds of things that make this such a fun weekend.”
For Regina’s Betty Horacki, the trip wasn’t quite as long. And in fact, the rally was the first for the Women in the Wind Highway Hunnies member -- not a bad time at all for someone who turns 76 in a month and has been riding only since she turned 67.
“Instead of choosing the rocking chair I chose the bike,” Horacki said with a laugh. “I have 14 grandkids and one great-grandchild, so they’re pretty proud that grandma rides. I used to pick up one grandchild from school back when she was in grade school and it was like ‘I’m cool’.”
Horacki has found the Women in the Wind to be a perfect fit for a rider like herself, especially when it comes to instilling confidence on the roaring machines.
“It helps so much with riding when you have people like this around you, and it’s all shapes, all sizes and from all over,” she said. “When I started, there was a lot of encouragement and I look at it as ‘if they can do it, I can do it, too’.”
Horacki isn’t just a short-trip rider, either. She’s put 900 kilometres under her wheels in a single day in the past.
“I get off of it after a ride like that and nothing hurts, but I go across town in a car, it’s like it’s hard to get out,” she laughed. “But you have to concentrate every second on the road, you get in the zone and it’s like meditation and it’s almost relaxing.”
If everything goes according to play, this isn’t going to be Horacki’s only Women in the Wind rally, either. Not if she has anything to say about it.
“I have a sister in Kelowna, so I’m hoping I’ll have chance to make the trip out there for that one,” she said.
The Women in the Wind weekend continued Saturday with a long tour through southern Saskatchewan before things wrapped up in the evening with the Moose Jaw Trolley Company’s Ghost Tour.
