Page 24 - Lady Rider June.cdr

'Riding a motorbike is like therapy
on two wheels’
'Such a feeling of freedom'
Michelle Griffin has had her full
motorbike licence for two years
Unusually, Michelle Griffin's
Parkinson's diagnosis was the
incentive she needed to learn how to
ride a motorbike.
She had a bike when she left school
and had been pillion on her husband
John's bike for 10 years, travelling to
places including Ireland and Wales,
but she never got her own full licence. wheels. I wish I had done it years
Mrs Griffin, from Capel St Andrew in
Suffolk, has now been qualified for
two years.
"After I was diagnosed with
Parkinson's, it gives you a different
perspective," says the 51-year-old.
"I've become more impulsive since
being diagnosed. I've done a skydive
and I do things now that I wouldn't
have even considered before."
She says she went to a bike show at
Stonham Barns and was encouraged
to do her tests, which she passed first
time, and swiftly bought herself a
motorbike.
Mrs Griffin says riding a motorbike is
good for mental health
By law, Mrs Griffin has to report her
Parkinson's to the DVLA and
insurance company and she is on a
medical licence, which her doctor has
Lady Rider Magazine
to review every three years.
While she is out on her motorbike, it is
a time for her to forget about the
condition.
"It's the only time where I don't feel
like I've got anything wrong with me.
Sometimes I'm so stiff I can't get on it,
so I have days where I don't get to ride,
but the days that I can, I love it," she
says.
"You're in your own little world, it's
amazing, it's such a feeling of
freedom. You can't describe it until
you do it."
"I would encourage anybody to give it
a go," she adds.
"I think it's good for anyone's mental
health, to just get out on your own or
in a group. It's like therapy on two
ago."
She is planning to keep riding until
she feels she no longer can, or the
doctors tell her otherwise.
'There are a lot of benefits’
Karina Artun decided to learn to ride a
motorbike during one of the Covid
lockdowns
It was a coronavirus lockdown that
prompted Karina Artun to reconnect
with her roots and learn to ride a
motorbike.
The married mum-of-two, from
Ipswich, says she grew up around
bikes, and her dad and grandad were
both Harley Davidson riders and
"very much central members of the
community".
There is even a photo of her at her
christening on her grandad's bike, she
24
says, and she would go out on
adventures with her dad as a child.
But despite thinking it would be
something she would learn herself,
her grandad and dad passed away and
"life happened" so she never got her
own licence - until recently.
"I had a moment last year when I was
like, it's time, I wanted to feel
connected to them [her family] and
let's go for it, there's no time like the
present," says the 34-year-old.
She shares her adventures on
Instagram, which she says helped
connect her with other women into
bikes, as she did not know any locally.
"The Instagram community around
bikes is a phenomenal place where
you feel so welcomed," she says.
"It's difficult to just turn up
somewhere. It's a nerve-wracking,
daunting thing, especially as a
woman, to walk into a room of bikers
at a meet or something like that, so
social media is a great way to ease
yourself in."
"It's difficult to put into words the
feeling that it gives you," says
motorcyclist Karina Artun
Mrs Artun, who has got her
compulsory basic training (CBT) and
plans to do the courses for her full
motorbike licence, says she also
wanted to highlight some of the
mental health benefits.
"It's difficult to put into words the
feeling that it [motorcycling] gives
you," she says.
"Motorcycles don't appeal to
everyone. There is that danger
element and the risks involved, but
there are a lot of benefits to it, for your
mental health especially.
"I'm a huge advocate for trying to find
that life balance we're all striving for,
and that comes down to hobbies and
juggling that with work.”
'Passion is a joy to see’
June 2025