Born to ride: Emirati mother embarks on epic motorcycle journeys across Middle East

In 2022, mother-of-two Fatima Alloghani decided she was going to get a motorbike licence. It was the start of a journey that began with her learning to ride a bike with a Deliveroo driver in Dubai, before she headed off to explore northern Iraq.

“I didn't know how the streets would look while riding a bike,” the 46-year-old Emirati said of her earliest experiences as a motorcyclist, sparked into action by the boredom of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Back then, she had no idea that her emerging passion would take her to the Alps, across Scandinavia, the Himalayas and much of the Middle East.

She has managed her passion alongside being a mother to two daughters, aged 16 and 13, and has passed on her passion to them both, with her eldest due to turn 17 and attain her licence later this year.

Bruised but determined

As a learner, she started off with no ego. “I remember a funny moment where I had to hire a Deliveroo driver with his motorcycle to come on a Saturday and ride with me because I was afraid something was going to happen to the bike or something was going to happen to me,” she told The National.

Her first major trip came in the summer of 2023, when she joined a Spanish group going to the Alps. What she didn't realise is the crucial difference between street bikes and those designed for rough terrain and adventure.

“I was given a bike I'd never ridden before and suddenly I was on a trip for eight days, riding 2,500km, climbing different passes and mountains in the Alps.”

Despite falling as soon as she got on the bike, Ms Alloghani was determined not to give up.

“I really, really did not want to fail,” she said. “I was falling all the time in these mountains, sometimes getting hurt, sometimes not, sometimes coming back with bruises, sometimes not, but I kept going and I eventually got through the eight days.”

Ms Alloghani said this trip became a crucial confidence-builder and the catalyst for the rest of her adventures.

Challenging stereotypes

The following year, Ms Alloghani managed to reach the peak of Khardung La, 5,400 metres up in the Himalayas. Getting there by bike was not without its challenges, but the main hurdle she faced was the fact she made the trip alone – something she is now immensely proud of.

“I was a little bit terrified and there was water, rain and fog, so I could not see at times. I was also hyperventilating because of the high altitude,” she said.

“I fell [off my bike] at the summit, so I had bikers coming around me, helping me. They asked what group I was with and I said I was alone and they all laughed.”

When Ms Alloghani first started her motorcycle journeys, she feared she would be stigmatised as an Arab woman travelling in groups that were 90 per cent male.

“At the beginning 90 per cent, if not 95 per cent, of the riders were men,” she said. “The space for a woman to enter that kind of hobby is not huge but I wanted to change that.”

Her next step was to join motorcycle groups made up of GCC nationals, which mainly travelled across the Gulf region.

“I feel more safe and more happy being with my own people, which is something I hesitated to do in the first two years because I did not know how these Arab men would accept a woman riding with them,” she said.

Staying optimistic

Ms Alloghani enjoyed travelling with groups but said she found that the peace and quiet of travelling alone was valuable to her.

“You build a relationship with your motorbike where it's you, your bike, the road and your helmet, and then silence,” she said. “You do a lot of soul-searching. [Before,] I never had the chance to cut the noise and just start analysing me, learning more about who I am and what I am. There's a certain beauty in doing that while riding a bike.”

Her biggest solo trip was from Dubai to northern Iraq, in which she travelled for six days and passed through Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Ms Alloghani said young adventurers should always be optimistic and believe that wherever they are, and whatever happens, they will recover and someone will be there to help.

“I was leaving from Erbil, Iraq, to Zagreb, Croatia, and I had a pretty severe accident where the front visor of the bike broke and my helmet cracked. On the street, the bike fell and there was metres between me and a lorry. I almost thought the trip was over.

“A Kurdish family helped me up. They didn't let me just get up and leave. They took me to the hospital and, when I was done, they had me stay at their house for a couple of days and had my visor and helmet fixed.”

Ms Alloghani said this incident reinforced her belief that good people are everywhere and they will stand by you.

“If you want to do something, don't wait, just do it. It will change your life. If you just wait, time will pass and age will catch up,” she said. “The freedom to live and tradition don't have to be two different things, we can export our traditions by travelling and keep them at heart while doing so.”

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