Women in Travel Interviews: Elspeth Beard

I first rode a bike when I was sixteen; a friend was taking his Husqvarna down to Salisbury Plain and asked me along. I can’t say I was instantly hooked but shortly after this I bought a Yamaha YB100 simply as a cheap and efficient way of getting around London. I started to find this limiting and a year later I upgraded to a 250cc Honda, and that was when I first realised the travelling potential of a motorbike. I soon got bored with the Honda and in 1979 I bought my second hand 600cc BMW R60/6 – a 1974 model with about 30,000 miles on the clock.

With my BMW I felt an immense sense of freedom and really felt that I could go anywhere. Over the next couple of years I gradually travelled further afield, building up my confidence, not only about travelling (much of it alone) but also how to look after myself and my bike. My first trip was a tour of Scotland, then Ireland, and then a two month trip around Europe in the summer of 1980. The following summer I persuaded my brother to meet me in Los Angeles where we bought an old 750cc BMW R75/5 and rode together across to Detroit. It was on this trip across America that the thought of riding around the world first came to me but I never imagined I would ever do it.

I wouldn’t say criticism more indifference, it was something most people couldn’t understand or relate to so it was simply never mentioned. I think people thought I was a bit odd.

I didn’t find this out until out until 2008, in those days people travelled for themselves not to try and break or make a record. There was no internet, social media, mobile phones or anything like that so my journey was a very personal one. The response I received from the bike press before I left did make me very angry and I responded with some fairly sarcastic replies but it was this attitude that partly spurred me on.

Interestingly the editor of Bike magazine who wrote a very condescending chauvinistic letter before I left has been in touch and apologised, took 35 years but we got there in the end!

I would like to think that attitudes have changed significantly and that the motorcycling industry has finally accepted that women can ride motorbikes. Sadly I think is probably more to do with the fact that the industry woke up and realised there was a large untapped market of women and we were now ‘welcome’ [call me a cynic!]. Whether or not our more recent acceptance is due to market forces, the end result is a good one in that more and more women are riding bikes, which only has to be a good thing. Long may this continue!

I found it extremely difficult when I returned as I had no one who I could talk to who understood what I had been through. It was a year after I got back before I returned to college to do my Diploma and the next two years studying was very difficult. I felt very restless and travelled as much as I could during this time.

Yes I think all the diffident architectural styles and buildings that I saw when I travelled the world definately influenced my work. The way that locals often had to ‘make do’ with whatever materials they could find to build with made for some very interesting houses! There was no set format, architecture can be whatever you want it to be and above all it should be fun.

After the Water Tower was finished I won several awards and it was on the strength of these I decided to set up my own practice. I had been working in London and commuting for seven years but I felt I had learnt as much as I was going to and wanted to work for myself instead of giving my ideas away all the time. For the first 2 years I worked from home, it was very difficult to start with and I had to take on any project just to pay the bills. But whatever the job, I always did it to the best of my ability. In 2000 I rented a small office and started take people on to help. In 2003 brought a old stable building in Godalming which I refurbished which is where I still work today.

I find it extraordinary that people are interested in something I did over thirty years ago when, at the time, no one wanted to know. If my story can now inspire other people, especially women to believe that there are no limits to what can be achieved with self-belief and determination then this would bring a whole new meaning to my trip. It’s important in life to face and overcome your fears and take yourself out of your comfort zone, you don’t know the person you are unless you are prepared to test yourself and find out. This gave me the confidence to take on anything life can throw at me without any fear.

I have always believed that if women want true equality we have to earn respect and that actions speak louder than any words, so I just went off around the world to prove them all wrong! Don’t get distracted by any negative comments, it’s important to stay focused. I never took much notice of what other people thought but it’s important to listen, understanding your opposition is key to finding the best way to deal with it. Believe in yourself and your abilities and try and enjoy the process. When I came up against prejudice I always considered it their problem not mine and just carried on doing my own thing.