SFrancesca D’Alonzo dreamed of becoming a dancer. Then she bowed to her parents’ pressure and graduated in law. But both her tutu and her gown were too tight. And she discovered it at the right time, in 2020, when she got on a motorbike. Then everything changed. «I said to myself: “I’m never coming down from here”». In just three years she has become the first Italian motorcyclist (and motor traveller) in terms of numbers on social media, where it is known as The Velvet Snake. An icon, for Yahamaha and other companies in the sector that sponsor it. But also a symbol, for all women: a model of empowerment outside the box, a source of inspiration for those who are thinking of breaking away from the norm. On October 27th she will participate, the only Italian, in the Gottland Grand Nationalrally in Sweden where women aim to break through the ceiling of 10% of participants (out of 3500). Because yes, motorcycling is a country for men. But only for the moment.
“The motorbike? It’s a woman’s thing.” The story of Francesca D’Alonzo, globetrotting rider
Motorcycles aside, Francesca D’Alonzo is not just any girl. «Serial experimenter», as she describes herself, in search of her path she worked as an analyst in the City of London, backpacked alone in South East Asia and hitchhiked in Europe. She presented two editions of TedxBologna and, as if that wasn’t enough, she is about to graduate in Psychology. But she also “tried” with sky diving, canyoning, surfing, paragliding, skiing. However, it is on her sweetheart (a Yamaha Ténéré) that she has discovered herself.
On his motorbike, he has toured the world in the last two years. With her, almost always, his partner Amedeo Lovisoni («It’s thanks to him that I discovered motorbikes: before I thought I was just “the girlfriend who gets on the back”».
From Friuli to Georgia, to India, to Iran
AND went to Georgia, and then to India. She faced a series of rallies, including one in the Moroccan desert on the tracks of the old Dakar in which “I risked dying of dehydration”. And finally a journey from his Friuli to Iran and Iraq. He has covered over 50 thousand kilometers of races, but above all of travel. «I love doing it in countries far from mine, the really complex ones, of which the story we receive is always filtered by prejudice. I wanted to see them with my own eyes and tell them with my images.”
Francesca D’Alonzo riding her motorbike.
And if the question is why visit them on a motorbike, Francesca has the answer ready. «To be at the mercy of the landscape and the weather, without a window to close or air conditioning to turn on. To also be at the mercy of people. Like the women who, in Iran, couldn’t stop hugging me.” In Iran, Francesca “happened” on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. «I had made arrangements with a group of motorcyclists from there but organizing an appointment in those days would have been dangerous. The head on the shoulders, together with the delicacy of the story, is a fundamental ingredient of my work.”
Neither dancer nor lawyer. When I grow up I will be a motorcyclist
Yep, work. Because the winning move of this 35-year-old from Friuli was to be able to transform a suddenly born passion for two wheels, and for travel on two wheels, into a profession. After years bent by the expectations of others who wanted her to be a lawyer, married and mother, she became a centaur with a smartphone in her hand, like a notebook.
«I like the idea of be a source of inspiration for women», he admits, «But I also claim something else. For example, the right to fail: to fall, to suck and to try again. I like being someone who tries: I think this can inspire people too. On social media there were some who made fun of me: it’s difficult to accept a woman who races a motorbike. Patience, I believe in it and I’ll move forward.”
Where physical strength does not reach, there is mental strength
Because, she assures, there is nothing stopping a woman from becoming a great biker. «If you see it, you can do it: I hope that this happens to the girls who follow me. We can do everything.”
In the case of the motorcycle, women do not lack strength. «I weigh 52 kilos but with a bit of muscle strengthening I can hold the two hundred kilos of tenderella well too. But thereThe real strength that we really don’t lack is mental strength. The resistance that pushes us to move forward when we are tired, to grit our teeth when the situation seems complicated, and the destination is far away. We are rebellious little girls who dream big. And we will make it happen.”
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED