KIWI RIDER 01 2019 VOL.2 | Page 24

OUR MISSION IS TO PROMOTE DIRT BIKING TO GIRLS AND WOMEN OF ALL AGES TO ENCOURAGE SELF-IMPROVEMENT AND CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES AND OTHERS -NATASHA CAIRNES he Queens of Dirt is a small group of women from New Zealand’s dirt biking community who share a passion for riding bikes. Their aim is to connect like-minded women and girls of all abilities and skill levels, and to support them to empower each other, build confidence and develop a sense of community for women in New Zealand’s dirt biking scene. Natasha Cairns, a committee member, said, “Our mission is to promote dirt biking to girls and women of all ages to encourage self-improvement and confidence in themselves and others. We want to facilitate the continued improvement of riding skills and confidence of all levels of participants by offering annual skills and maintenance clinics to improve knowledge of bike handling skills and equipment. We’ll be organising an inaugural event, which will hopefully become annual, to help form connections between like-minded women – good vibes, high energy an great people will join forces to make this day not to be missed!” The Queens Of Dirt committee invited women and girls from across New Zealand 24 KIWI RIDER to participate in a short survey. It was designed to gather demographic and behavioural information about females who ride dirt bikes and reside in New Zealand so they can better understand, and thus better service, the female dirt biking community. 224 participants took part in the survey – you can see the survey results on the Queens of Dirt Facebook page. All those who participated went into the draw to win ‘a day in the dirt’ with Natasha Cairns - Hayley Evis was the lucky winner. Natasha said, “It was a fun day hanging out with Hayley at the Honda Park Trail Ride in Maramarua. Hayley has been riding for four years. We tackled all the expert tracks no worries, and also took on the mighty Everest hill climb. This track has some nasty ruts that caught Hayley off guard half way up, but we got her going again so she could eventually conquer it. I hope to see Hayley out on the trails again soon!” Queens of Dirt will be hosting some smaller events during 2019, with their first event on May 11, 2019. Head over to https://www. facebook.com/queensofdirtnz/ to get involved.