Tiia Riihiluoma of WIMA Finland provided the following information about the rally.
This 2000 international rally took place on the first week of August at Iisalmi, Finland. The venue was Koljonvirta Camping. It was the second time that Finland hosted, and it was a WIMA 50th Anniversary Rally. Luckily for all the participants, the Finnish summer weather was at its best – the sun shone all week and there wasn’t a drop of rain.
The rally programme was:
- Sunday – arrivals. • Monday – evening welcome dinner, with a folk-dance group and an Irish band.
- Tuesday – gymkhana. There was also wood carving, guided by Jennifer Rung.
- Wednesday – parade. Kyykkä (squats), which is a popular
- Finnish outdoor sport. The squats are small cylindrical wooden blocks. The objective of the game is to get the squats out of the opponent’s 5m2 playing square by throwing a wooden club at them.
- Thursday – riding day to Jyrkkä. There was a fireplace and sausage frying as well as soot pan coffee.
- Friday – riding day to Runni. In the evening, the 50th Anniversary dinner and band.
- Saturday – departures.
A Finnish newspaper reported the following about the parade ride.
A parade of female motorists glittered in lisalmi
Nearly two hundred female motorcyclists rode in a parade through the centre of Iisalmi around noon on Wednesday. Motorists gathered after the parade in the parking lot of Timosaurus and Agrimarket, and in no time the area was full of little boys and other motorcycle fans. Even if you weren’t quite a fan, it was a thrilling experience to see 200 motorcycles at a time and ridden by female riders.
The low steady roar of the engines thrilled, and the rain kept away for the duration of the parade. There are participants from Europe, Australia and even Japan, but most of all from Germany. The parade went smoothly, with the support of the police.
A documentary film was made by Inari Uusimäki of the rally, ‘Women and Motorbike’. It was partly filmed before the rally and partly at the rally.
The WIMA Finland Ladies Bike Club history book lists the following prize winners:
- Longest time in the sauna – Maki Kofuji from Japan – almost four hours!
- Longest ride – Sabine Böhm from Germany – 4870 km
- Most exciting ride to Iisalmi – Trui Hanoulle and Iris Heiremans from Belgium who came overland through the Baltic states and Russia
- Most beautiful bike – Susanne Flieri HD Fat Boy
This postcard was produced for the rally
