When you are out on the road, whether you are sitting in a bus or in your car, it is not uncommon to see women on motorcycles.
It is fast becoming a norm. In fact, since Saturday the 9th of August is National Women’s Day, the focus of this post is on yet another brave South African woman. Jolandi ‘Jo’ Rust is the first woman who rode around the African continent on a motorcycle, alone.
She had a dream and set out to achieve it. Jo Rust set herself a goal to be the first woman to ride around the African content on her motorcycle.
Her dreams were birthed in 2007 when all she could think about is just riding around our big African continent. She had been a cyclist before and ridden across South Africa for awareness. In 2004, she cycled through Israel; in 2008 she cycled from Cape Town to Johannesburg. This young lady had a mission, and she was ready to accomplish it.
From cycling to motorcycling
In 2011, Jo began her dream to circumnavigate the African continent, but unfortunately her journey was cut short when her bicycle was taken by a pack of thieves in Angola.
But this did not stop the determined Jo Rust. In 2012, she traded in her bike for a motorcycle, and fearless and willing, she set out to start her journey. From mid-April she started in Namibia, passed through the DRC and Angola (which sponsored her ride after her first attempt was cut short), until she made her way back to SA, Cape Town.
Her motorcycle, DAX as she calls it, took her all around Africa. It was a brave thing to do and she must be truly commended. On her website jorust.com, she has pictures and gets into detail about her journey and how she felt through it all and about finally accomplishing her goal.
Jo is not the only woman to have ridden around countries or continents on her motorcycle. There are many other women in the world that had the same goals and achieved it.
Such as Sherrie Wilkins who rode her Harley Davidson around the United States, and Danielle Murdoch on her Suzuki DR 350, journeying from Australia to Africa over approximately two years.
These woman are the reason why we still continue to celebrate Women’s Day, they are an inspiration and prove that if you have a dream, no matter how big, if you set yourself goals, you can achieve anything.
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