Tag: people

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2023

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA France: 

Margrit has been a member of WIMA for nearly 50 years and she was one of the founders of WIMA Switzerland, back in 1984. She was president of WIMA Switzerland from 1990-1996. Margrit is a distinguished motorcyclist who has travelled more than 600,000 km around Europe on a wide variety of bikes and participated in 37 international rallies starting with France in 1977, and including Japan, New Zealand and Curaçao. She organised three international rallies in Switzerland in 1980, 1984 and 1991 and several smaller events. Together with Chantal Hertrich, she also organised several ‘Drei Länder’ (or three-country) meetings between WIMA Switzerland, WIMA France and WIMA Germany in the Alsace region. Margrit was a close friend of Ellen Pfeiffer’s and together with two other Swiss women, rode to Frankfurt for Ellen’s funeral.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2021

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA Estonia: 

Kaija has played the major role in founding WIMA Estonia. She was the one who contacted WIMA International in 1999 and together with fellow Finnish female riders, made WIMA Estonia come into existence. After 22 years she is still a valuable member of WIMA Estonia, and we are proud and lucky to have her. Kaija was also the very first president of WIMA Estonia and held this responsibility for many years.

Kaija is an adventurer discovering new ways to ride and new ways to do things. With this attitude, she paves a road for other riders to explore new places and encourages others trying something that they couldn’t even think of. With this attitude, she keeps surprising us in WIMA Estonia, and we are so thankful she does it.

Kaija is also a wonderful networker. It’s amazing which people she knows, what events she finds out and especially in the field of music. The WIMA International rally in Estonia in 2017 entertainment programme was built up fully with joint forces from Kaija and Maris. Thanks to Kaija’s network, WIMA Estonia was able to bring in such a variety of live musicians with high quality and masters in their own field. And it is so easy to work with her as she is always looking for an opportunity instead of the problem … and she always finds an opportunity. Her passion and joyous spirit are an inspiration for all WIMA Estonia members.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2019

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA France: 

Without Chantal, WIMA France would probably not be where it is today! Chantal went to her first WIMA rally in 1974, as pillion, because she had just failed her motorcycle driving licence. The following years, on motorbikes never too large to fit her tiny size, she crossed France, several European countries and even Australia, to join every WIMA rally she could go to. She knew many of the pioneers such as Ellen Pfeiffer, Agnès Acker (WIMA France founder), Juliette Steiner, Lida Abrahamova…

In 1985, at the Swedish international rally, she was declared captain of WIMA France by other WIMA division captains as she was the most regular French participant at WIMA gatherings. Chantal remained captain of WIMA France for 22 years. During that time, she organised many ‘Drei Länder Treffen’ (rallies between the three neighbouring countries of Germany, Switzerland and France), mostly together with Margrit Podesser, as well as the international rally of 1990 in Alsace and was very active in promoting the association everywhere she went. 

Having a business to run and a teenager to raise, WIMA France captainship was handed over to Sophie Vignon sometime around 2007. Though Chantal was still participating in regional WIMA gatherings as much as she could. In 2017, when Aline, Marie and Anne took over WIMA France, Chantal, freshly retired from her beauty institute, took part with them in the new WIMA France board. During two long afternoons, many phone calls, and over many photo albums, Chantal told many stories from the early WIMA times, explained in detail the convivial and familial spirit of WIMA and its sorority. Oh! And she handed over quite a good amount of money left from the 1990’s rally, a sum of money added to what Sophie transferred and helped WIMA France to be revived greatly. By this nomination, we, WIMA France members, believe that ‘our mom’ has earned the Ellen Pfeiffer award.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2017

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA Switzerland: 

This year, Margrith has become 68 years old. In 1984, she joined WIMA Switzerland and has been a member for over 33 years! She has hardly ever left WIMA, she is and has always been a very active member. For many years she was our cashier, she managed the finances with care and accuracy. She has helped to organise every international rally in Switzerland and brought the rally to work with joy and power. She has hardly ever missed a WIMA, everybody knows Margrith! Especially the ‘older’ of the WIMA scene.

Despite many misfortunes she has remained faithful to the WIMA, many friendships have emerged, which she still maintains until today. Already many WIMA women have gotten shelter on their way through the world in her house, for all she has an open door.

WIMA Switzerland would not be here and like this without Margith’s commitment! We find Margith has earned this award.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2015

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA Austria:

Let me tell you a story about a woman. She does not walk on the world’s stage; she does not speak to or influence the ‘big’ people in this world. But she has made a difference. Without her actions and persistence, there would be no WIMA Austria and none of our members would have had all those great experiences that WIMA gives us.

Uli started her motorcycling as a pillion passenger in the 1980s and then moved to riding herself – and has never looked back. She was a member of a mixed traditional motorcycle club, but always interested in and looking for connections to women motorcyclists. In the early 1990s, she and others founded a women motorcyclists’ ‘Stammtisch’ – a monthly get-together.

In 1995, she went to her first WIMA in Sweden. After discovering that there had been a WIMA in Austria in the 1950s, she decided to re-establish WIMA Austria and for years she was our National President.

She organised group rides, trial riding and would speak to any woman motorcyclist she met, giving them a card with our group meeting details. For many of us, her steady leading of rides gave us the practice and confidence we needed as new motorcycle riders. It must have been very boring at times, dragging us along bendy roads that are just begging for a bit more speed.

As you know, we are a pretty consistent membership group of WIMA and since her first WIMA was 20 years ago, it is time we showed her our appreciation.

So this is our ‘Thank You’ to Uli, by proposing her for the Ellen Pfeiffer award – we know it will mean a lot to her and be cherished. Thank you for making WIMA Austria happen.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2013

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA GB:

Anna has been riding since the mid 1970s; she still commutes to work by bike, despite having free senior citizens travel on public transport. She rides two GS500Es and an FJ1200. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, she was a fixture at WIMA International rallies.  She is still an active WIMA GB member.

Contribution to Motorcycling: Anna organised the Women’s Motorcycle Workshop in London in the late 1970s and early 1980s, teaching basic mechanical skills to women bikers when women were not expected to ride, and especially not to get their hands dirty!

Anna was also, at the same time, a committee member of AMADL (Association of Motorcyclists Against Discriminatory Legislation), an early UK motorcycling/political lobbying organisation.

During the 1990’s, Anna became increasingly involved in the activities of the BMF (The British Motorcyclists Federation), the largest UK bike membership organisation. She was elected to the post of PTS (Political and Technical Services Director) of the BMF in the late 1990s, a role she continued to play through to the early 2000s. Anna was responsible for the direction and policy of the two BMF Government Relations Executives during a time of pressure on motorcycling in the UK and especially in the EU.

Anna was then elected as the Chairman of the BMF during a very difficult period of inner organisational politics within the BMF. Anna managed to steer the BMF through this period, when it seemed possible that the entire organisation might collapse, to a position where it is now recovering. Anna was chairman for over 5 years.

Having guided the BMF organisation to survival, Anna has recently reverted to the PTS director role, where she has been instrumental in supporting FEMA (Federation of European Motorcycle Associations) to an effective future.

During the BMF’s extended financial problems, she has always prioritised European lobbying at the expense of narrow national organisational interests. The future of European motorcycling will always be heavily influenced by the EU Commission and FEMA remains the front-line lobbying organisation in Brussels.

Anna has given a huge amount of her time and personal support to a future for motorcycling in Europe and says: ‘Support your own biker organisation, whether it is BMF (UK), BDU (Germany), MAG (Netherlands) etc. FEMA will represent us all! And let us not forget that European policies on motorcycling influence other governmental organisations in other parts of the world.’   

Sheonagh adds: It is because of Anna that I came to the Women’s Motorcycle Workshop, where I met Jennifer Killen who was a member of WIMA. The rest as they say is history…

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2013

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA Germany:

Brigitte Döhler, maiden name Walther, was an active member of the motorcycle sport in the former DDR (East Germany). She also did street racing, was a touring rider and she rode with her MZ all through the states of the Eastern bloc. The difficult political situation between East and West Germany didn’t allow crossing the border from East to West. Even so we had a lot of WIMA rallies in the former Czechoslovakia (1967, 1972, 1979) and Hungary (1988).

WIMA was founded in Europe in the year 1958. In 1967 Brigitte met the German captain, Ellen Pfeiffer, and they became friends. Brigitte became an (unofficial) WIMA member and in the year 1990 her membership became official. Brigitte has now been a member for 46 years and she still rides. Her engagement for WIMA all over the years is applaudable, particularly in the first years. Brigitte is like a founding member.

Ellen Pfeiffer Award recipient in 2011

This is the nomination that was submitted by WIMA Germany: Monika Greiderer has been an active German WIMA member since around 1978 and she was the main organiser of two international WIMA rallies: 1999 WIMA Fantastica in Austria and 2009 WIMA Italia in Italy.

But she is much more than this. She is the founder of the ‘South Germany Women Motorbike Meeting.’ In 1994, she had the idea of a special national meeting for motorcycling women just to shorten the time between two international WIMA meetings. Other women were infected by her great idea and started to organise national meetings for motorcycling women all over Germany. Organisers were the different women’s groups in Oberbayern, Niederbayern, Franken and Baden-Württemberg. It was rotating in springtime each year between these four areas. 

Verena Reindl added this information more recently: Above all, Monika is owed praise for her endurance through 45 long years to build up and conserve the regular meeting of ‘Münchner Frauen Motorrad Stammtisch’ which has around 40 members. Patiently and bravely she has been meeting twice a month since 1979 with the various members, organising riding weekends at the start and the end of the motorcycling season. Outside this period she organises a Christmas dinner and a skiing weekend in January.  

In 1979 she was also the co-founder of Hexenring, an organisation for motorbike-riding women to have contact all over Germany. The idea is simple: A woman is riding through Germany, she needs a sleeping place, a cup of coffee or some technical help; if she is a member of Hexenring, she can ask the other members about this. Hexenring still exists and is run by a handful of women including WIMA Germany member Elke Geier.

Every time she met a woman she asked her: ‘Have you ever heard about WIMA? No? Come and join us, it is like a whole family all over the world and we all like motorbike-riding, having fun, talking about the difference between the countries, and more.’

Throughout these years, Monika has become an admirable model of a women-focused and very engaged motorcyclist. She continues to do a lot for women’s motorbike riding and, last but not least, she has ridden more than a million kilometres on her different motorbikes.