I'm still coming down from the high of a long weekend away at Camp VC in the Brecon Beacons a couple of weekends ago. Four fantastic days spent out in the sun, riding dirt bikes, learning to kick turn on a mini ramp, screen printing, sign writing and basically just hanging out with an incredible group of inspiring women. I also feel so lucky that Billy got to experience the event with me and feel really happy that starting Yonder means that he will get to spend more time with strong, passionate and adventurous women as he grows up.

If you haven't heard of Camp VC in a nut shell it's a womens' outdoor motorcycle and adventure weekend but in reality it is so much more. Camp VC was set up by three incredibly humble but talented women with the aim of supporting and inspiring women to get into new activities, predominantly riding motorcycles but the crossover with bikes and other activities means that the weekend has loads else on offer. There was a Vans skate ramp, adventure film making workshops, bouldering wall, trials riding workshops, an enduro workshops, sign writing and loads else going on, all of the workshops were run by talented, supportive and passionate women, like Tamsin Jones, Leah Tokelove and Lucia Aucott, Sophie Allen, Amy Shore, Rachel Joy and Mai Storni. It was awesome to see a huge range of women trying things for the very first time. The safe and supportive environment provided by the event meant that women were confident to get involved and take a few risks, no judgements made or experience necessary.

Before the event I had been asked by Gemma Harrison, Co founder of the event, if I would take part in a team talk. I was pretty apprehensive to be honest but Gemma is possibly the most encouraging lady I know and she convinced me that it would be great and that I'd be fine. Of course, I didn't believe her but she made me feel a lot better about it. A few weeks later she told me that Victoria Pendleton and Amy Shore would be talking too, I immediately wrote back and said that she had the wrong third person but again Gemma is ridiculously supportive and convinced me that she wanted me there. I think if Billy had given me the time beforehand to worry I would have, but it was all a bit of a rush before the event and I ended up loving being a part of the team talk. The topics that we discussed were important and diverse and Gemma hosted the discussion with a real expertise. I feel really proud to have been a part of it and would like to thank the girls for putting their trust in me.

I have no idea how those ladies pulled it off but I do know that it took a lot of hard work and dedication to the cause. I'm already excited for next years event, we have a great crew of awesome North East ladies who are excited about going for the first time.

Thank you ladies for putting in the time to create something wonderful!

All photos courtesy of Amanda Fordyce and Tom Bing.

@amandafordycephoto
@tombingphoto

Huge thanks to Vicky, Leah & Lucia and everyone else who helped out with Billy. Huge thanks to Tamsin and Craig of Black Desert Enduro for having a magical place and letting everyone in and of course a huge thanks to Gemma, Namin, Mai and the rest of the team at @vc_london and @camp_vc.