Women in Motorcycling: Jordan Rand

Tue 24th February 2026

Experience

Model, racer and content creator. They’re the three pillars of what I do. I come from Colorado and was a competitive figure skater my entire childhood. There weren’t any college scholarships available for figure skating, so I switched to track and field, gaining a full-ride scholarship for long and triple jump. That saw me move to New York for college, and that’s where I got my first motorcycle.

I was living on the Upper West Side, and I had a part time job on the Upper East Side. If you've ever been to New York, you'll know that there is there isn’t an across-town subway system that goes across Central Park, only a bus. For some reason I really didn't want to take the bus, so the next logical decision was for me to get a motorcycle. I thought that'd be easier to get around on and so I marched myself down to the dealership, picked out one that I thought was pretty. I didn’t even have a licence at the time but the guy at the dealership showed me how to ride, how to shift gears and use the clutch, and followed me home in his car so that I didn't get in trouble on the way. 

For me that getting a motorcycle was a very impulsive decision. Once I like something I become addicted to it and I got the bug with motorcycles. I got bit, and I just became obsessed with it. I started doing track days, started doing racing schools and just really got stuck in. I got into it late in life, but it’s brilliant, I love it. So, if you’re thinking about two wheels, it’s never too late. 

I approach modelling and motorcycles and racing in the same way I approach anything which is with obsession and addiction, and soon as I like something I’m like a dog with a bone. I sink my teeth into it and it’s impossible to think about anything else. I want to be the best, as humanly possible. I did it with figure skating, with motorcycles, with modelling, with racing, and now with content creation. There’s a quote by Mario Testino who even though he turned out to not be the greatest guy ever, it’s quote that I really love, “Get obsessed, totally obsessed. There is no use just liking what you do. Get obsessed with it." 

I get this a lot, and I think it's pretty pervasive throughout racing and motor sport, and just any woman who's ever dabbled in two wheels or four wheels, we get underestimated a lot. Because people don't see us doing the sport very often, they automatically assume that we're going to be terrible at it. And then if we're not terrible at it, then you get a lot of like backhanded compliments like, ‘oh wow you're pretty good for a girl’, or ‘isn’t that bike isn't too much for you’, or ‘I didn't really expect that from you - most women are really bad at riding but good for you’. 

My most recent shoot I had with Ducati the video went viral. I'm on track on this beautiful cream coloured Panigale, and it was a super badass edit. I received so many comments from people being like ‘oh that's not really her riding, and ‘I think that's not her she must have had a stunt double’. And then I would get a lot of women commenting being like ‘oh it's actually a compliment that these guys don't think it's you as it means that you're riding much better than they expected.’ But to me that's not a compliment at all, it just means that they have vastly underestimated our entire gender. When there's one person who's good at it, they immediately think that you’re the exception, or that it just couldn't possibly be you. 

I feel like that has just become so common and I think it also speaks volumes about how deeply the misogyny kind of runs not just in the world, but also within the sport. It's just people just automatically assume that we're not capable of it, but then also that women take it as a compliment. I think that the way that I combat it is to firstly recognise that I was the same way. When someone said you’re pretty good for a girl or something along those lines I would be like ‘oh, gee thanks’ and I think now I can recognise those is microaggressions. I try to call them out and educate as best as I can, like ‘hey you know you don't have to tear down other women in order to give me a compliment’. I know a lot of women who can ride, and a lot of women who can ride very well, so just don't assume the worst. 

In social media it's been one of my favourite ways to make content. I’ll take some of those negative comments and show who we really are. I'll take the comment and I'll put it on screen, and if it's a comment where it underestimates us it can actually show us what we're capable of, and it's usually pretty powerful. 

I’m really inspired by Lewis Hamilton, especially for what he stands for and the representation that he provides people in racing, particularly people of colour and especially when he would wear the pride flag on his racing helmet. I know that that meant so much to me as a queer woman, but also so much to so many others. I'm an ambassador for Racing Pride which champions LGBTQ inclusion in motorsport so seeing the pride flags front and centre in the biggest motorsport championship in the world was just so powerful. 

More recently I've been inspired by Bianca Bustamante, Alba Larsen, and all of the women in the F1 Academy. I feel like this is this is how we get women into the sport earlier and earlier, by giving women an opportunity and showing what we can do. And by giving young girls a visual to latch onto, to imagine themselves being able to do it. I feel like the reason we don't have any women in the sport is because ‘you can't be what you can't see’. I love that quote because I think it's so true. If people are asking you young kids what they want to be when you grow up, well if you've never even seen a woman doing it, it's so hard to think that that's even an option for you. I really think what the F1 Academy is doing is just so powerful and I'm deeply inspired by these developments. And I think it will trickle down. It starts with the biggest and then I think it will trickle down into to all areas. Imagine if we have a MotoGP Academy, that would be amazing.

From starting out on that first 250cc bike of mine I had a dream to one day own a Ducati, and I did upgrade. I got a 959 Panigale, that was my first Ducati. But my first day on track ever was such a such a special experience. I was with the school, and they were they were teaching me and I guess I exceeded their expectations of the day. I remember my instructor was like, you’re pretty good at this would you want to consider racing? At the time I had started so late it just never I just never crossed my mind, I didn't even believe for myself as a possibility. But I just stuck with it and continued to fall in love with it. 

When the eSkootr Championship was starting they were looking for athletes from other sports to race electric scooters. And because I had been a figure skater and a track athlete, and had experience on motorcycles, it was a great fit. They were looking for athletes from other sports, especially balanced sports, because it was a new sport that didn’t exist yet! There was no such thing as professional eSkootr racers, there was no such thing as professional racers in that sport. We were invited to try out, we had Olympic speed skaters, we had BMXs, we had snowboarders, athletes from all different walks of life. And if you came to the trials and you were fast enough you got to compete in the championship. All my life experiences meshed to be the perfect combination to make for a good eSkootr racer! 

My favourite memory from that was watching my teammate Sara Cabrini win in the inaugural eSkootr championship. And one of my favourite things about this championship is that men and women compete together on an even playing field. Seeing women win was such a testament to what we're capable of when you give us a shot. 

The best thing about these scooters is that they were all the same speed. At the beginning of the championship the teams weren't allowed to modify them, so you really got to see what people are capable of. This wasn't about money, or who invested enough money to have the best scooter, it was just pure skill. And so, to see women winning that championship was really telling.

With so many other racing championships the racetracks are understandably far outside of the city because you need the space to race, but with eSkootr the bikes are small so the track could be small. We would race through the streets of towns, so people could come and easily watch. All of a sudden, they're witnessing a really cool race. Seeing how many young girls would come up and watch and ask for autographs and get inspired, that just filled my cup so much. You never really realise until you start something like this how many people you’re going to inspire.

That’s also the thing about content creation. When I started, I never knew I’d amass such a beautiful community and inspire so many people I’ve never met.

When I was younger, I used to I love cars and thought they were so cool, but then you then you get your first motorcycle, and get to the track it’s another level. You feel everything, the wind, the bike, you’re so intimately connected to this machine, you kind of become one with it in a way that you can never experience in a car.

Don’t get me wrong. I still like my cars. I did a track day at Silverstone on four wheels, but I kept thinking back to the Ducati DRE event I did at the same circuit and thinking they’re just not the same. To be on track there is such an honour. There’s so much history there and to take those corners that I had only seen on TV before just gave me chills.

I’ve got a few personal projects that I’ll be working on this year, aiming to combine fashion and motorcycles. I look forward to a women’s ride on the Ducati soon, but plan to take the year ahead as it comes. Watch this space…

Follow Jordan Rand on Instagram