Luciana bought a motorcycle to use it as a means of transport but did not find anyone with enough patience to teach him to use it. Agustina wanted to have the license to work but a bad experience with both wheels led her not to try again. Milagros knew how to drive but after an accident he did not do it again. Today the three are part of a group of 17 women that thanks to the program “Alas in motion” They were able to break the wall and already have their card to drive motorcycles.
It was the first edition of an initiative organized by Honda Argentina and women behind the wheelwhich summoned more than 600 applicants. Of these, 20 were selected that carried out an intensive course in the plant that the Japanese brand has in Campana, province of Buenos Aires.
That there are more and more women who drive is not a novelty. That the motorcycle market in Argentina is expanding years ago, either. But incredibly these two variables are still far from crossing.
Today many women are seen driving cars and trucks but not so many do it on a motorcycle. Fear, cultural barriers and the lack of the family or known that teach are the obstacles that prevents them from getting the license.
Luciana González is 26 years old, she is a mother, nurse by profession and is currently unemployed. A motorcycle could be bought, however, I had never managed to learn to handle it. When he learned of the call for “Alas in motion”, which in this first edition was aimed at women domiciled in Campana (the exam was paid in that town), he scored. It was not among the 20 selected, but among the substitutes. And an absence on the first day of the course was what made her enter.
“I get very nervous, I freeze, I get around and I don’t know how to continue. And well, that happens once, twice and there comes a time when the other person is like, well, that’s it,” Luciana describes about what happened to him when he wanted to learn to drive.
And explain that his problem was that he could not Nobody with sufficient patience to teach him. “If you are not putting effort or does not get out we will not be like this all this time, you cannot“It was the answer I received.” Then I gave me. And here I found something completely different, ”he says.
Almendra Murillo is one of the three instructions in the department of Honda Safety and has been working in the company for eight years. Describes your role as the “Train and raise awareness among people to have a safer handling”. One of Honda’s objectives worldwide is to lower motorcycle accidents by 2030 and reduce deaths to zero by 2050.
“Our founder believed that even though we invest in technology on motorcycles, it was necessary to raise awareness among people and teach them to use them,” he defines and adds: “There are very few management schools in the country, so we have a large commitment to our clients and not customers to raise awareness and teach them.”
Almendra was in charge of the theoretical modules of the course, where he taught essential issues for safe driving, such as the knowledge of the motorcycle, first aid, breathalyzer control, adequate clothing and basic motorcycle mechanics.
He also supervised the practical part of the program on the Honda track in Campana, working with Navi and Wave models. Although she did it aboard an XR190, her favorite motorcycle, also as a sign that over time and experience you can go up cylindrated and size.
“He fear is always in all coursesboth feminine, masculine and mixed. Fear is a fundamental factor that obstructs us and hinders us when it comes to motorcycle, ”says Almendra. That is why the program has the workshop to“ handle your fears ”that gives women at the wheel.“ To open their heads, ”he emphasizes.
As for the exercises, the instructor tells that among the fundamentals are making “the eight”, curves, countercurvates and training the look. “We always emphasize all the exercises that The look determines the motorcycle direction. That is something that we are correcting it all the time. Because when one corrects that error that usually has to look at the board or wear a low look (asphalt), fixed, hard with the neck, as if he had orthopedic. Once he begins to turn his head towards the sides, the motorcycle begins to flow alone. And that is where evolution and changes begin to be seen, ”he details.
Almendra also says that it is precisely not to turn the head and observe what surrounds us in the transit that there are so many accidents.
“That is why we emphasize the most in the look, then the positioning of the motorcycle, because When you get nervous, get rigidstretch your arms, stretch your elbows. So, that tension is also transmitted to the hands and feet, ”he says.
In that sense, one of the anecdotes that counts is that many applicants put their feet so hard and do so much pressure on the pedalines that take them out. “And then we do a lot to stop, relax the body, inhale and exhale the air, cry if it is also necessary,” he says.
For Almendra it was “very exciting” to be able to chat and train the students who approached with “dreams and desires to achieve greater independence.”
That is precisely the idea of Agustina Fillol, another 26 -year -old participant, who finished high school last year and believes that the motorcycle could serve as Work tool When he wins a little more confidence.
Agustina thinks that the reasons why there are fewer women than men driving motorcycle are “fear” and negative comments that women sometimes listen towhich can inhibit them to try. By defining in a word what left him wings in motion, he does not doubt: “Trust”.
Luli Dietrich is the founder of Women behind the wheela community that has been providing women workshops, training and content safety for 15 years.
Dietrich explained that, although technical learning is important to handle a motorcycle, it is also crucial “to learn to handle mind and emotionsespecially fear ”, in order to obtain the license. Therefore, his team dedicated himself to“ giving tools to women for emotional management ”, accompanying them individually in their needs.
Another of the strategies they used was the “visualization” of the objective, in this case the card, to eliminate the thoughts that hinder the process. Also meditation and breathing techniques to relax the body and mind.
Dietrich pointed out that the fears that women face by learning to handle motorcycles are similar to those they have by learning to drive cars, from the protective sense, such as the fear of hurting others, first, and then themselves. And he argued that “knowledge generates security, security generates trust and trust generates enjoyment.”
Friday was the last day of the program. In the morning there were practices on the track with motorcycles, at noon a lunch and a talk with Paula Pareto2015 world champion and gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. “The little one” emphasized the nerve management in decisive situations and the importance of the process to achieve an objective.
Before going, there was meditation and breathing exercises. In the afternoon, the 17 participants who arrived on the last day gave their practical exams (this instance had to be arrived with the approved theorist) before officials of the National Road Safety Agency and the Municipality of Campana and They all passed the test.