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Anita Yusof

  • Anita Yusof will begin her Global Dream Ride 2 (GDR2) in a few days’ time.

  • GDR2 will cover 70 countries.

  • She was given a grand send off last Sunday from GIVI Asia Sdn. Bhd’s headquarters in Bukit Beruntung.

Famed Malaysian globetrotter and explorer Anita Yusof will begin her Global Dream Ride 2 (GDR2) in a few days’ time. Also known as the Malaysian Iron Lady, Anita will cover 70 countries over 7 continents this time around, as a continuation of her first GDR three years ago.

She was given a grand send off last Sunday from GIVI Asia Sdn. Bhd’s headquarters in Bukit Beruntung. Datin Seri Paduka Marina Mahatir was present to express her admiration for Anita and wished the brave explorer a safe trip.

Also present was the GIVI staff headed by Managing Director Mr. On Hai Swee. GIVI is proud and happy to work with Anita as their Brand Ambassador as she embodies the company’s spirit of exploration. We would like to add that some of the products you and I use were tested by Anita during GDR1 and again in GDR2.

Bike groups such as GIVI BELLA lady riders and Lanun Bikers then escorted her to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

As of this writing, Anita told us that she’s currently in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s been reunited with her Yamaha FZ150i and getting it back to running condition after a year of hibernation. GDR2 will get rolling in a few days after she’s sorted out the necessary documents with the South African authorities.

Actually, Anita is about to embark on Phase 2 of her GDR2 tour, since she had covered Phase 1 last year when she rode around South Africa then to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho.

For Phase 2, she will travel from the south (Cape Town) to the north (Cario, Egypt) of the African continent.

Phase 3 will see her crossing over to the Arabian Peninsula to ride through Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Azerbajian, Georgia and Armenia.

Anita will then turn north toward Eastern Europe, the Scandinavians and Nordkapp in Phase 4. There, she will have to stop riding for 3 months during winter and plans to “hibernate” in her friend’s house in Macedonia.

She will continue riding after winter and head west to Central Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland in Phase 5.

She will cross the Atlantic Ocean to North America for Phase 6 and travel to Central America for Phase 7.

Phase 8 is allocated to South America and the Antartica.

From there, she will cross the Indian Ocean to Australia to being Phase 9.

The final Phase 10 will take place in Timor Leste and Indonesia before she heads home to Malaysia.

Anita added that she funds this trip herself and doesn’t see the reason why she needs to use the rakyat’s money for such a purpose. GIVI supplies the riding and adventure gear, while Yamaha sponsored her bike.

We hope to bring you constant updates of her ride from time to time. You may also follow her on her Facebook page >>> HERE <<<.

We wish Anita all the best during her ride.

 

  • Malaysian women bikers are set to Women Riders World Relay (WRWR).

  • Ladies of Harley and Anita Yusof (part of GIVI Bella) are involved.

  • GIVI Asia sponsored helmets and backpacks to some of the participants.

  • The ride begins on 27thApril 2019 led by Ladies of Harley from HDPJ.

It used to be that women bikers are a novelty among the motorcycling community. But the Women Riders World Relay (WRWR) is set to change that perception.

The “event” seeks to unite women riders the world over, as women riders from one country hand over a GPS “baton” to those in another. The relay also transcends the different cliques and types of motorcycles.

Tina Sharman, the Ripple Rally Ambassador clarified on a number of details:
  • The main WRWR is a worldwide event and will reach Malaysia in August.
  • In the the Global Relay, a baton is passed from woman to woman while travelling by motorcycle through 80 countries on a round-the-world route.
  • As such, the Global Relay consists of long day rides and the majority of them on highways to cover as much distance as possible. It is so to cover the entire globe within 1 year.
  • Therefore, the Global Relay requires registration, fees and signed waiver to participate.
  • In the Global Relay, men can join as companions but are not allowed to carry the baton. Conversely, it is up to the teams to invite male riders to the Ripple Relay.
  • On the other hand, the Ripple Relay is more leisurely and planned around the individual or team’s schedule. The only objective is to pass the flag around within 1 year.
  • No registration and fees are required for the Ripple Relays. Teams are only expected to communicate with other teams to pass the flag. The handover will be photographed and shared on social media.
  • Thereby, in support of the main relay, “Ripple Relays” are held in each country where rides are conducted throughout the year.
  • Consequently, instead of using the GPS baton, the Ripple Rally will hand over the Malaysian flag among various Team Leaders or Women Riding Clubs while travelling through the country.
  • The Malaysian flag will ultimately travel to London in February 2020 for the WRWR closing ceremony.

As such, Malaysian women bikers are set to join the event which begins on 27thApril 2019. The inaugural ride will be led by the Ladies of Harley from Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya. They will ride through Melaka, to highlight the attractions in the state.

A preview to the Malaysian ride was hosted recently by GIVI Asia Sdn. Bhd. GIVI Asia has been active in supporting women bikers in the country, having hosted a ladies-only ride and camp not too long ago. In fact, GIVI Asia’s brand ambassador is none other than Anita Yusof who rode her motorcycle around the world.

Present at the preview were Anita, the Ladies of Harley and ladies of other motorcycle groups. Sam Sharman, the Marketing Manager of GIVI Asia handed over GIVI helmets and backpacks to those present.

Nor Cillia (left) with Sam Sharman

BikesRepublic.com interviewed a number of the ladies including Tina Sharman (as Ambassador of the Ripple Rally), Sue Rahman and Nor Cillia Omar (of Ladies of Harley), plus Anita Yusof (representing GIVI Bella).

Tina Sharman

BikesRepublic.com:Can you tell us a little bit more about WRWR?
Tina Sharman:WRWR was set up by Hayley Bell in 2018 in the UK. It’s to highlight that there are more and more women bikers in the world. However, there’s still very little in terms of support for women bikers, especially when it comes to riding gear.

Sumai with Sam

You go into a shop and you’ll find the gear are all for men. Instead, there are maybe 2 pieces and invariably in pink!

WRWR is a relay but carried out on motorcycles. The batons are GPS trackers, but it isn’t a “linear” relay. Instead it’s a “ripple relay” (like how ripples in water propagate outwards) which covers all corners of the globe. Besides that, the different groups in Malaysia will hand over the Malaysian flag.

Sumai is now currently arranging the groups, there are close to 15 of them. As part of ripple relay, they will take their own routes on different dates so that the rides don’t overlap. The Malaysian ride covers both West and East Malaysia.

We want this unity among all women bikers. This is the best platform.

There are many different routes being planned to cover all states in Malaysia. For example, Sumai will lead the off-road group, while Anita leads the GIVI Bellas. In doing so, we will also highlight the beauty of Malaysia to the overseas riders.

BikesRepublic.com:How far will each group ride, at average?
Anita Yusof:We encourage ladies on all types of bikes and engine capacities, including those on kapchais. But they are still willing to ride long distance and camp. Some routes are over Labour Day weekend, so it depends.

The longest route will start from Ipoh – Kedah – Penang – Perlis – Kelantan – Terengganu – Cameron Highlands (Pahang).

BikesRepublic.com: Is there another underlying theme behind your participation in WRWR besides sisterhood?
Tina Sharman: It’s also to show what we can do. The women riding scene really started in 2016, so it shows how far we’ve come within three years.

We will also contribute towards charity during the WRWR rides.

BikesRepublic.com:As for you Anita, which group will you be heading?
Anita Yusof:I’ll be leading GIVI Bella. Sam (Sharman) of GIVI Asia had organized ride and camp trips for guys. After my ride in Africa I decided to approach him and propose ride and camp trips for ladies as well. He liked the idea, since we are GIVI Explorer. The theme is Explore, Enjoy. This is the way to promote the lifestyle of exploring and riding.

For the WRWR, GIVI Bella will ride to Pangkor Island to camp. GIVI Bella covers all ladies on all motorcycles.

Sue Rahman with Sam

BikesRepublic.com: Chilla (Nor Chilla Omar), can you tell us more about Ladies of Harley’s role in WRWR?
Nor Chilla Omar: We (Ladies of Harley) will be the first to start the ride and we are very excited. We are trying to gather as many women bikers as we can, regardless of what bike they ride. We would like this sisterhood to grow and that more ladies will start riding.

We plan to start the ride from Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) on 27th April. We will then ride to landmarks around Kuala Lumpur. We are planning to ride to the Sepang International Circuit, for the ladies to ride on the circuit itself. From there, we are going to ride along the trunk roads to Pantai Klebang and into Melaka.

It’s a great opportunity to show may we have in Malaysia including the gastronomical delights! We hope to draw the attention of the world to Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Malaysia.

Conclusion

So, ladies please block your calendars for the Women Riders World Relay! It’s going to be blast!

PICTURE GALLERY

  • Acara kali pertama Horizons Unlimited di Asia menyaksikan Anita Yusof diberi penghormatan sebagai salah seorang jemputan khas untuk berkongsi pengalaman dan juga tips yang diperolehinya ketika tunggangan solonya, “Global Dream Ride 2016”.
  • Duta produk GIVI itu telah mengacarakan beberapa sesi di Pulau Sumbawa, Indonesia bersama beberapa penunggang kembara wanita ternama iaitu Nicole Espinosa (USA) dan Maggie Magowan (England).
  • Horizons Unlimiteds adalah sebuah forum khusus yang didedikasikan bagi penunggang kembara yang telah dilhamkan oleh pasangan veteran Grant Johnson dan isterinya, Susan, pada tahun 1997.

(more…)

The very first Horizons Unlimited event held in Asia saw Anita Yusof being honoured as one of their special guest to share her experience and tips during her ‘Global Dream Ride 2016’.

The GIVI ambassador hosted a couple of sessions at Sumbawa Island, Indonesia together with a few renowned adventure riders Nicole Espinosa (USA) and Maggie Magowan (England).

Horizons Unlimited is actually a specialised forum dedicated to adventure riders which was inspired by the veteran couple Grant Johnson and his wife Susan back in 1997.

The ambassador of GIVI Anita Yusof again made history when she was invited as a special guest in the Horizons Unlimited (Indonesia) which ran its course from 18 to 21 May 2017. The event which was held at the Sumbawa Island, Indonesia gathered many adventure riders from around the world specially for this event. Anita Yusof was invited as the special guest to share her story and experience during the ‘Global Dream Ride 2016’ where she circled the globe solo on her Yamaha FZ150i. (more…)

Recently recognised by the Asia Book of Records as the first woman to ride around the world by herself, Anita Yusof has many interesting stories to share. Having met her in person, she does not seem the rough and tough type that could accomplish riding solo around the world. She is humble, gentle and polite, but calm waters run deep here as she is an extremely adventurous person. Having travelled the world by herself before, the backpacker and biker is also a lecturer at the Physical Education Department at a college in Perak.

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  • Kembara ‘Global Dream Ride’ dari 11.9.2015 hingga 16.9.2016

  • 65,639km merentasi 40 negara dengan Yamaha FZ150i dan kelengkapan GIVI

Duta GIVI, Anita Yusof sekali lagi membanggakan negara dengan menjadi personaliti pertama dari Malaysia untuk menerima anugerah dari ‘Asia Book of Records’ di dalam kategori ‘Tunggangan Solo Seluruh Dunia (Wanita)’. Bermula di Putrajaya pada 11 September 2015, Anita menamatkan pengembaraan solo ‘Global Dream Ride’ nya di Bukit Kayu Hitam pada Hari Malaysia 16 September 2016. Berjaya merentasi 40 negara dan 4 benua, beliau mencatat sejumlah 65,639km secara keseluruhan. (more…)

  • Anita hails from Ipoh and is a lecturer in the Physical Education Department. 
  • Narrowly missed an encounter with a bear in Alaska. 
  • Tough journey as some nights were spent camping in the middle of nowhere and going to sleep hungry. 

Givi Ambassador Anita Yusof has become the first Malaysian ever to be inducted into the Asia Book of Records. Anita, who hails from Ipoh, Perak, received the recognition after she completed her solo ride around the world as the first woman to ride around the world.

She was presented the award by GIVI Asia Managing Director, On Hai Swee (above, left) at the GIVI factory in Bukit Beruntung.

Anita, who works as a lecturer in the Physical Education Department at IPG Campus Ipoh, began her journey from Putrajaya on September 11, 2015, returning home a year later through Bukit Kayu Hiram on September 16, 2016. Her incredible feat includes riding through 40 countries on four continents, racking up a total distance of 65,639 kilometres.

Riding solo on a Yamaha FZ150i, Anita has been an avid traveller all her life. Preferring solo travelling to large groups, Anita says she has always travelled by herself, and had previously preferred backpacking, until she learned to ride motorcycles.

The mother of two grown up sons says Patagonia was one of the most beautiful places she has ever been. but also had a run in with a bear in Alaska, managing to avoid disaster by just 30 meters.

Naturally the ride was riddled with challenges, one that included her having to camp in the wild with no food, with the closest city being about 200km away. But she met some really nice people along the way too, including a mechanic that gave her a free oil change, did free bike maintenance, and even offered free tyres and such.

While in Costa Rica, she was also interviewed by a local tv station, you can watch the video below:

And another one from a local Malaysian station (jump to 1:27):

And this is the moment she came home:

Anita Yusuf had used only Givi accessories throughout the ride and put the equipment through the ultimate real world test. The result? Nothing broke, not the Givi products, not Anita’s spirit.

Anita is a biker we admire and respect. We will be inducting her into our own ‘Most Interesting Biker’ series soon. Watch this space.

Renowned local lady adventure rider Anita Yusof becomes new GIVI Brand Ambassador.

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Renowned Malaysian female distance rider Anita Yusof completes her Global Dream Ride 2016.

(more…)

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