WIMA International Rallies started in 1958 with the inaugural rally at Scheveningen in the Netherlands. A version of the report of this first rally from Das Motorrad was printed in the original WIMA history booklet in 1980, but we’ve gone back to the original, which only came to light recently and we are including the whole article.
Thanks to painstaking research by several current WIMA members, we have managed to find information about most of the rallies. Full reports were sent by early participants such as Anke-Eve Goldmann and Ellen Pfeiffer to leading motorcycle magazines such as Das Motorrad in Germany, Moto Revue in France by Agnès Acker, Moto Sport Schweiz in Switzerland by Regula Rüttimann and The Motorcycle in England by WIMA members or visiting journalists. Male journalists even attended rallies in early days and their reports sometimes reflect the prejudice WIMA members endured. These first reports included all the names of the participants, names of who had won which event and even the points each “girl” (as they were styled) had achieved.
The early European division was called the Continental Division, so naturally, the early rallies were termed Continental Rallies. The name changed to The International Rally sometime in the 1980s. Over the years, they have been held all over Europe, from Sweden and Finland in the north, down to Spain in the south, from Wales in the west to Hungary and Czechoslovakia behind the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and again in Hungary and the Czech Republic since then.
In 1996, the first rally outside Europe was held in Japan. Rallies in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Curaçao followed, in the same years as the ones in Europe. Originally, when two rallies were held in one year, one of them was designated the official international rally – this was usually in Europe where more Presidents were likely to attend, and the Presidents’ annual meeting would be held. 2009 in USA was the exception to this rule, but it was not until 2018 when it was agreed that both rallies should have equal importance, and in 2019, WIMA hosted two International Rallies, organised by WIMA GB and WIMA Curaçao.
Rallies have been held every year since 1958, except for 1962 when so many members were pregnant or breastfeeding that nobody was available to organise one and, recently in 2020 in Germany and 2021 in the Netherlands, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We have included information about these two however, as so much work went into the preparation, and they deserve a mention.
In the very early days, there were few participants, but they were extremely competitive. Women had been banned from road racing since 1925. Following Beryl Swain’s ground- breaking ride in the 1962 TT race, her international licence was immediately revoked by the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme), and no women were allowed to participate again until 1978. Louise Scherbyn wrote many pleading and protesting letters to FIM over the years, most of which were ignored. Small wonder then that the first WIMA rallies placed such emphasis on intense competition. Read the reports of these early rallies to get a sense of the passion our early members had for the sport.
Agnès Acker, WIMA France founder, wrote this in the first history booklet, back in 1980:
“To help pass the time pleasantly, motorcycle events are organised, covering four different areas:
1. Trial. This is an event divided up into sections with observers and special tests. Particularly spectacular in the last three years: the Savoy (in the French Alps), in Wales and at Pisek in Czechoslovakia. Among the best was the French girl Maryvonne Rosso. Among the least enthusiastic, Agnès Acker! The Gymkhana, equally a test of dexterity and balance, brings together all the classics of the ‘genre’, slaloms between cones, on grass, under bars, in a brook, over tyres and a seesaw, etc.
2. Tests of Orientation and Time Trials of a hundred kilometres or so with official and secret controls. Particularly scenic in 1977 when it linked Meribel to the Col de l’Iseran, part of the route being between walls of snow some five metres high. Having a greater experience of this kind of terrain, the French
girls are happy in these events, where they usually shine. Some variations on this type of trial are: The Mini Rally where each girl makes up her own route through places whose name begins with the letter of a chosen word (eg the letters of the word WIMA), and where she must collect the stamp of a garage or office in each place to show her passage there. The winner is the one with the shortest route. The Chinese Rally is a kind of game where, with the help of a simplified diagram of all road junctions on the route, one must find one’s way over a couple of dozen miles across woods, through villages, farmyards etc.
3. Speed Tests. During the 1960s these used to take place on the Nürburgring, Hockenheim and Zandvoort circuits, and in 1970 a hill climb was organised at the Col des Croix. However, with the increasing number of women taking part, these road events have become too difficult to organise and have been replaced by hill climbs on dirt roads in Finland and England, or simply by acceleration tests over approximately 200 metres amidst the roar of engines and general excitement.
4. Tests of Applied and Theoretical Mechanical Knowledge where one needs to know the workings of the two-stroke and four-stroke engine, and the various technical characteristics of the different makes. Competitors came to a grinding halt when confronted by the Kreidler Korn-Westheim machine badge and the photographs of the Simplex, Ural and Vostok motorcycles. Another test is that of ‘Mystery Bags’ where one has to identify, by touch alone, the contents of twenty little sealed bags. They contain such items as split links, brake pads, cam followers, screws, piston rings etc. Particularly entertaining are the practical tests: in France the girls had to repair (amid much hilarity) the bikes which had been tampered with by their male friends. In Finland they had to remove and refit a tyre, take apart and rebuild a carburettor and check the brake shoes on a Panonia. This was all done against the clock.
The mechanical tests are much appreciated by the French girls who simply love theoretical questions where they always come amongst the top, in particular Agnès Walesa in Wales in 1978. One must say that, professionally speaking, the French represent the intellectual element of WIMA since many of them hold the noble profession of teacher, which, as everyone knows, means a lot of holidays!
It is noticeable that most of these events ignore tarmac roads and the headiness of 45-degree bends. A good empty road is too difficult to find, a real circuit is too expensive to hire and the draconian safety rules make even the most fervent organiser withdraw. So, they try to make up on sand, gravel, mud, in thunderstorms and lashing rain, all these conditions being classified under ‘virile’ and which do not deter the WIMA girls, however far they have to go.
After all the events and tests, the best in all categories is crowned ‘Madam WIMA’ for the year. As the German girls have the greatest number in WIMA this title has gone to a German in 1975, 78 and 79. In 1976 and 77 the English won it (rule Britannia) and in 1974 it was won by the French girl Maryvonne Rosso. However, the French girls regularly come between second and fifth place.
A Fantastic Atmosphere… audible, but also a psychological well-being, whatever evil tongues may say: no criticisms, no jealousies, no quarrels. Everyone knows that each of us practises her favourite sport to the maximum; time, money and temperament being taken into account. The lucky ones ride up and down the old and new continents clocking up over a hundred thousand kilometres. They take part in competitions (five of the members enter and do well in time trials). In Germany Ellen (Pfeiffer) attempted the Liège-Cannes-Liège endurance test in 1978, just like the mainstays of WIMA in the fifties and sixties. Juliette Steiner won a Gold Medal in the Cannes-Geneva-Cannes endurance trial. Lida Abrahamova, test rider for JAWA/CZ, won a gold medal in the International Six Days Trial. Helga Steuel, of East Germany, is a champion on her 125cc machine. Others use their bikes to go to work, take the kids to school, do the shopping, go across fields and woods. They would all defend to the last their motorcycles and the way of life they represent.”
This great description by Agnès Acker tells of the days leading up to 1980 when the first history was produced. In the first ten years, only up to about a dozen women attended the rallies. By 1980, the numbers had gone up to 100; the Czech rally in 1996 attracted 350 when only 250 had been expected – somehow the Czechs managed! Numbers declined slightly after this and they have settled generally to between 200- 300. It must be remembered that the rally organisers are for the most part just local members and not professionals, and it’s generally a new team organising each rally, even if it’s in a country where it’s been held before.
As time went by, the style of the rallies changed radically. Very basic campsites with minimal facilities (1985 – a pump, a lake and a wooden hut with drop toilets were the sanitary offerings in Sweden) gave way to campgrounds offering abundant hot showers, dormitories and even private rooms. One rally in Poland in 2014 was held entirely in a hotel with no camping though this has been the only one. All rallies now take care to accommodate disabled participants.
Food has always been important with a sumptuous welcome and farewell dinner. Local dignitaries have traditionally been invited to welcome rally-goers – sometimes this involves a long speech in a language nobody outside the host country understands, but on the odd occasion, a female motorcycle riding celebrity has been greeted with great excitement.
Entertainment was introduced early on; displays by local dancers or artists, performances by local musicians, discos and live, often female, bands are now very common. A bar on site has been de rigueur for well over two decades. And a campsite fire has been very popular since the early days (see the WIMA Songs section). In the very early days, for the final night, the women swapped their leathers and boots for long dresses, heels and make-up.
An entertaining description by Anke-Eve Goldmann in 1960 relates:
“Saturday saw probably the most incredible metamorphosis of this multi-coloured and so far, best and most beautiful WIMA meeting. Although, as all week long, the motorcycles were still in dense heaps around the guesthouse in the Badhuiskade, oily Amazons have disappeared. Instead, one could see lovely creatures in fragrant clothes coming in and going out. “Some of those who saw this claim to have recognized Gisela Battis in the lady in the cleverly simple summer dress and the Parisian mannequin hairstyle; another – the resemblance to Martha Frei in that well-built figure with the soft eyes and the high, extremely chic heels and still others even claimed that the striking lady with the artist’s mane and the clever, mischievous face was Jenny Steenbeeke, whose average in Zandvoort in 1958 was 105kph, and the graceful figure next to her in the dark cocktail dress and with the slender hands was none other than Jopy Deijs, who rides a huge, snarling motorcycle and presides over a motorcycle club. But all this is hard to believe and perhaps only to be blamed on the Genever, which is brewed so excellently in Holland…”
Some participants still dress up on the final night to this day – but generally, anything goes!
Activities have also changed. The focus on competition has diminished over the years and is now more on fun and games, but most rallies have some sort of timed ride-out, usually called ‘the treasure hunt’, where members, with the help of coordinates or a map, have to find their way through the local area and take part in different activities or answer questions at different locations. Each rally comes up with different ideas to challenge and entertain participants. Skills are still called for, whether slow riding by motorbike, obstacle courses by bicycles – even the silly games have a competitive edge.
Excursions to local places of interest were introduced as early as 1968 in Czechoslovakia when the rallyists took in a visit to Hluboká Castle and &eské Budějovice. Such visits have been a staple of every rally since. These activities contribute to making the rallies a great opportunity to get to know the area, as well as being an opportunity to make new friends. By tradition, many different awards are handed out at a rally, not just based on skills, but also on humorous categories.
Cultural evenings, now known as Trash Nights, have become a much-loved (by many, though not all!) part of the entertainment. First introduced in 2001, in Spain, different divisions at the rally present some sort of show – a song or a short comedy sketch – with dressing up optional.
An upsurge in the international women’s movement in the 1970s had a knock-on effect on WIMA. Husbands and male partners had always been welcome at rallies and indeed were often co-opted to help. However, as Irmgard (Floh) Petit recalled in 1980, “a number of women discovered motorcycling as an emancipation factor, appeared at WIMA and brutally tried to squeeze in new women’s political consciousness. Many comrades-in-arms from the beginning left at that time.”
However, tolerance prevailed over the years and men (attached to WIMA members) became welcome again, though unaccompanied men are still not admitted and there is no membership status available to men. Until relatively recently however, considerable caution was exercised in advance, about revealing the exact location of any rally, before it was underway, to avoid potential problems.
In the 1990s as numbers grew, it became more difficult to predict numbers as there was no real pre-booking system. Most women pre-booked (juggling currencies before the Euro made things easier), but certainly in mainland Europe, some just turned up on the day without booking; some even escaped paying at all, but just ate the food and spent time avoiding the organisers! It was also impossible to judge whether these were WIMA members or not! Organisers had to estimate numbers, based on the location, from year to year and hope for the best!
A pre-booking system was eventually set up via the National Presidents, with deadlines for deposits and final payments in advance to be sent from each country to the organising division. This made planning of increasingly complex events for large numbers considerably easier.
The number of international divisions waxed and waned; active rally-organising countries like Finland and France disappeared for years and then suddenly reappeared. Others, like the Czechs, have disappeared completely, but the International Rally has taken place annually with only three exceptions: 1962, 2020 and 2021.
These rallies have, right from the start, been the glue that binds the WIMA divisions together, bringing women from many different countries together for several days of celebrating what we have in common: fun, friendship and community.
A final word on the rally reports – our sources range widely from a few memories from current members to comprehensive articles in several languages in various European magazines. With no funding and time marching on, we have used Google Translate to get at the information. We took a deliberate decision to try and preserve the sometimes quirky writing in the originals, so we have not “cleaned” the translations beyond checking for obvious errors and ensuring the reports make sense in English.
Many of the photos used are identifiable only by the year and location of the rally. Often we are unable to identify individuals or specific events within a rally. Maybe future editions of the history will be able to help. All the source material will be preserved in the WIMA archives.
Grateful acknowledgement is due here to our team of Rally sub-editors: Elke Koepping in Berlin (WIMA Germany) and Caroline Lunnon, Jo Marlin and Tiffany Coates (WIMA GB) for taking on a decade each and producing the edited versions.
By Sheonagh Ravensdale, 2024
