Origins / Chapter 01
Origin of Litas Manila
Tracing the rides and friendships that brought Litas Manila together.
Images via Litas Manila/Facebook
Litas Manila did not begin with everyone already knowing one another. It began with connections: one rider finding another, introductions passing between women, and a global network giving them a reason to meet.
01
A network before it was local
Women riding together was already common elsewhere. Karthe had seen it in Europe and the United States, where women gathered for large rides and weeklong events.
“You can always find a community where women will be riding with women,” she said.
“They have huge annual rides in the desert, where everybody will show up for a week, and it’s like a festival, and it’s all women.”
Carol Karthe
The Litas offered that community through chapters locally run but connected under one global network. Joining it came with structure: chapters followed an agreement, sourced official gear through the United States, and reported their activities to the organization abroad.
“Since this is a franchise, it’s also very regular. It’s very regulated,” Karthe said. “There’s a contract… that we always need to inform the main office in the U.S. about our activities and representation.”
Manila, then, was not starting from scratch. It was bringing an existing network home. Motorcycle vlogger Gaki led that effort, securing The Litas affiliation in the United States and helping establish the group in the Philippines, Karthe said.
02
One Rider to the Next
Fernandez entered the picture through Gaki. After deciding to buy a motorcycle, she met the vlogger, who invited her to ride. Soon, the invitation grew into something larger.
“Then later on, she was like, ‘Let’s form the Litas,’” Fernandez said. Through Gaki, Fernandez met Karthe, and the three began looking for other women to join them.
How the circle formed
Gaki
secured the affiliation
→
Fernandez
newest rider of the three
→
Karthe
experience to lean on
→
Kennedy
met while shopping for gear
Those introductions formed the group’s early core. Fernandez, the newest rider among the three, leaned on Gaki and Karthe’s experience as they began finding other women to ride with and building what she called “a safe space for women to ride.”
Karen Kennedy found the group through another chance meeting. She had already bought a motorcycle and enrolled in riding lessons when she met Gaki while shopping for motorcycle gear. Gaki invited her to join Litas Manila
“I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And here we are.”
Karen Kennedy
The group remained small for its first year. “We only had four members for a long time,” Fernandez said. When more women eventually joined, the circle began to take shape.
What Fernandez remembers most about those early members was how quickly they became close. “We were just so bonded,” she expressed.
03
From club to collective
What began as a small circle of riders became one chapter in a much larger network. The Litas has chapters in cities around the world, with Manila connected to them under the same name. But Fernandez and Kennedy emphasize the word “collective” over “club.” For Fernandez, the distinction means less hierarchy and fewer pressures such as dues, ride quotas, or rank.
“It’s a very inclusive and safe society.”
Erika Fernandez
Gaki has since moved to Houston and stepped back from the group’s day-to-day activities, but the connections that built Litas Manila remain at its core. The chapter now holds safety clinics with motorcycle gear suppliers, joins disaster relief efforts during typhoon season, and continues to grow much as it began: one introduction at a time.
The magazine
Bisikleta is a magzine about Filipino motorcycle riders. It was made to break the stereotypes that follow motorcyclists in the Philippines starting with the women who ride.
The team
Gwen Cabinbin
Justine Petilla
Jyor So