Motorcycle tour showcases Jordan’s landscape

DEAD SEA — Motorcycle riders from across the Arab world travelled 290km around the Kingdom over the course of three days, to get a firsthand look at Jordan’s diverse landscapes.

The motorcycle tour, spanning 15 villages from the south to the north, concluded on Saturday.

Most of the 232 participants are businessmen from 11 countries who are members of the Riders Network.

The network, which consists of 12 countries, held its annual meeting in Jordan this year ahead of the motorcycle tour. After the “fruitful” results of this year’s meeting, the organisers said they plan to convene in Jordan every year.

The rally was only to test the riders’ skills, the organisers said late last week, adding that there were no winners or losers.

It took the government, in cooperation with the Public Security Department, Traffic Police, the Jordan Traffic Institute and the Civil Defence Department, four months to prepare for the event. 

“Riding motorcycles had been growing on me for 15 years, so I took lessons and silenced everyone who said I was ‘getting too old’ to starting a new adventure,” said Mariana Mirza, a 44 year old who is one of the few Jordanian female motorcyclists.

According to Riyadh Riders’ captain Ahmad Jan, 20 riders from the Saudi capital participated in the rally, with their ages ranging from 28 to almost 40. 

Meanwhile, only four participants out of 50 from the Lebanese team were “able to cross the Syrian border and enter Jordan to join the rally”, Lebanese participant Mohamed Mohn said.

Haroun Khajah, a Kuwaiti rider, said five of his compatriots participated, three of whom are women. 

“People in Kuwait encourage females in particular and males to be more involved in these types of activities to represent their country abroad,” Khajah said.

Egyptian team media spokesperson Hossam Sharaf said the event was well organised.

“Everyone is following the rules of the rally and the safety precautions were taken care of,” he told The Jordan Times last week.