My story started when I was in the first year of college. One of my friends got his first Bike. The moment I saw it, my eyes started sparkling. Since that day, I started dreaming about having my own motorcycle. One day I decided to tell my mom – “jokingly” of course – that I wanted to get a motorcycle. No need to talk about her reaction. Years passed, still dreaming about it, when I passed by a scooter shop, and decided to take a look. The moment I went inside, I got attracted to a pink Scooter (I should have mentioned before that I’m crazy about pink). I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about it. At that moment I decided I’m going to do it. Early morning the next day, I went to the shop and I just bought it. This happened right after a breakup. So it was a way to cheer myself up. At that time I hadn’t learned how to ride it yet, so the scooter stayed there for a couple of days. In these days I kept thinking “where would I put it? Should I tell my parents? What should I do?” Then I decided to man up, I said, “mom, I bought a scooter”. Her reaction was priceless. She started laughing like crazy, saying, “my daughter is crazy!” Learning to ride was not as challenging as it sounds. It took me a couple of hours to learn the basics then a couple of weeks to learn practices and maneuvering.
And here goes my challenge, riding in Egyptian streets; the cars, the people, the crowded streets, and the fact that I’m a girl riding a pink scooter. I can’t say it’s easy, but the moment I ride that scooter, I feel so proud of myself that I actually did it. I don’t care about people staring at me. Sometimes they laugh, sometimes they try to take pictures, and sometimes cab drivers try to verbally harass me. As they say, “haters gonna hate”, but it’s nothing too dangerous. On the other hand you get the flying feeling with the wind in your face and body, more confidence riding between these cars not afraid of the consequences, and not to mention of course that you can park anywhere, and not really care about crowded streets, because you’re a tiny thing maneuvering in these streets.
I would say that getting this scooter was the first step for me towards following my dreams, getting more confidence, and not really caring about what people think. I got to experience that all of the things I was worried about passed by smoothly. I know the decision was right and I’m glad I did it. If you are into motorbikes, don’t let anything scare you. Try to stay in biker friendly places like 5th settlement, Zamalek and Maadi. You can also try Sokhna rides. I just hope in the future there would be test drives, biker schools for women, and bike renting services. Those things would make riding a lot easier.
I use my scooter for non-highway rides. I can go from 5th Settlement to Heliopolis. And although I love my pink scooter, in the future I might want to get a racing motorbike. Not only did it increase my self confidence, but getting my own bike made me respect other bikers. I now do my best to make sure they feel safe around.