On Wednesday, female motorcyclists from all over the country hopped on their hogs and hitched a ride to Athens to start the four-day-long Athena Ride for Women, hosted by Visit Athens County for the third year.
“Our office promotes and markets a campaign called Ohio Windy 9, it’s nine motorcycle routes that go in and out of Athens County,” said Boone Troyer, the executive director of the town’s tourism bureau. “It is extremely popular, during the pandemic it really is the only reason our doors stayed open.”
Part of the Ohio Windy 9 campaign is the Athena Ride For Women, an event for female motorcyclists to gather for keynote speeches, poker runs, self-guided rides and a parade through uptown.
“It’s such a fun, warm environment,” said Kelly Madewell, the executive director of the event’s beneficiary, My Sister's Place. “It’s starting to grow a little bit to the point where I recognize people from years past and I love thinking about how they’ve ridden their motorcycles from different places to come to this.”
Madewell described My Sister’s Place as a provider of “wraparound services for victims and survivors of domestic violence,” which includes emergency shelter, counseling, court advocacy, case management, transitional housing and other support. The proceeds from the event have been allocated to the organization’s emergency fund, which allows them to be more flexible with the type of support they can offer.
“Our office actually loses money on the event, it’s really just a community effort and we want it to impact our female motorcyclists and be a resource for My Sister’s Place,” Troyer said.
The event has grown not only in the number of attendees, which is anticipated to triple in size from the 50 riders of the first year, but also in the scope of the event’s program.
“In our third year, we’ve started to realize this event has kind of taken shape on its own,” Troyer said. “The four of us (Visit Athens County) created the event and we fostered it as it was young and now it’s getting big enough where the people that are attending are so excited about it that they want to do their own thing.”
According to Madewell, the individuality and dedication brought by each rider is one of the most rewarding aspects of the event, which she witnesses every year while speaking about the involvement of My Sister’s Place and mingling with other attendees.
“It’s not just that they’re there to have fun,” she said. “They truly seem interested in what we do and supportive; people tell their own stories about their own connection to domestic violence.”
A distinguishing trait of the Athens tourism bureau is the emphasis on the authenticity of the town and its inhabitants, in comparison to what Troyer refers to as the “NASCAR approach” of in-your-face and demanding advertising tactics.
“We are really focused and I would say very purposeful with the marketing that we do that none of it is commercialized,” he said. “I think the reason what we’re doing is successful … is because it’s genuine and heartfelt.”
The Visit Athens County office is composed of two men and two women, and Troyer believes his position as a male organizer gives him a unique perspective on the event.
“We hide in the shadows, but hearing the conversations that are going on about how good the event is and how the relationships between the riders have grown (is my favorite part),” he said.
Madewell expressed great appreciation for being involved in the Athena Ride for Women, especially since the choice of beneficiary was made entirely by the tourism bureau itself.
“We’re excited to see it grow, I’m excited to share with the participants how we’ve used the funding over the course of the year,” Madewell said.
