This film is part of Free

Middlesex. Mere Males Not Wanted

Dozens of women riders let rip in a 1920s motorbike race through fields and tracks around Wood Green.

Non-Fiction 1927 1 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

It’s perhaps a little surprising to see so many women enthusiastically taking part in a motorbike race in the 1920s. The Topical Budget caption writer clearly thought so, asking “Where’s Adam?” over one scene, featuring a woman on her bike munching an apple and failing to suppress a snigger. The racers – there were 59, taking part in the “all ladies reliability trial” – are then shown driving through muddy fields and along tacks, solo and with sidecars.