JOANNA

Meet Joanna!

1. What is your name (or your nick name)?  Joanna

2. What are your pronouns?  She/Her

3. When did you become a member?  January 2026

4. What bike do you ride?  Royal Enfield Himalayan 450

5. How long have you been riding? And what got you interested?  I have been riding on and off for the past 30ish years. I hadn't ridden for about 10 years but I have always longed to have a bike again. Last year I wrote off my car and I decided that this time I would go for it and I bought myself a brand new bike.

6. What is the most important thing you have learnt so far being a part of Dykes on Bikes Melbourne?  That DoB has worked hard to be an inclusive club, opening up to all folks that identify as a woman. I was so grateful that I could find other girls that wanted to ride and that I would be welcome.

7. What is your favourite song and why?  Ok. Incredibly hard choice. Would it be the height of hubris to nominate one of my own songs? I think my favourite song is one that hasn't been released yet. It's a song called Lullaby of Home. However, I will do the humble thing and nominate my favourite song of the moment is Last To Know by Melbourne singer songwriter Bec Sykes.

8. Where’s your favourite place in the world?  Daylesford. I is my dream to own a small cottage out there, surrounded by fellow queers with an edible garden and my own strawbale Recording Studio in the back yard.

9. What is so empowering to you about riding a motorcycle? And how has riding transformed other areas of your life?  The most unexpected gift that riding has given me is a rest from the distracted mind chatter of being AuADHD. I find when I am one the bike, my thoughts drop away and there is a focus calm that descends over me.

10. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?  Listen to the voice of your inner child with compassion and patience. Your inner person is the source of life and as an adult it is our job to create and nurture a safe and supported internal place.

11. What gets you out of bed on a Sunday morning?  Usually my alarm clock and coffee but what gets me out of bed existentially is the joy of seeing what the day is about to bring.

12. What’s your life motto?  Live this life. Wherever you are and whoever you are with.

13. Which pride parade would you love to ride in?  Any of them.

14. What is your dream bike? Make/Model/Year and why?  My dream bike has always been a BMW R100 GS DAkar. Ever since I saw one on the TV when I was a kid, it captured my attention like nothing else. There was a visceral sense of freedom and adventure that this bike projected.

15. What do you wish other people knew about DoBM?  That it is inclusive and welcoming of trans women.