First Woman (UK) to ride a motorcycle around the world
May 2015, at home in Surrey
b.1959, London
Architect and motorcyclist. At 23 years old Elspeth Beard was the first Englishwoman to ride a motorcycle around the world from 1982 to 1984 (pre SatNav and internet). In the 1980s it was very rare for women to ride motorcycles long distances, let alone to circumnavigate the globe on one. The first male to ride a motorcycle around the world was in 1912. Elspeth is now an award-winning architect.