Yukon blanket - @sarahemmasmith

VC London is a collective of like-minded individuals inspiring, encouraging and enabling others to try something new and do something they love. VC London began with 3 friends struggling to find others to ride with. They've since created a global community of events, talks, camps, workshops and an online platform, expanding from the roots of motorbike culture to skateboards, dirt bikes, automotive sport and inclusive of anything in-between. Camp VC is one event hosted by VC London, a womxn's motorcycle and outdoor adventure weekend set in the beautiful valleys of South Wales, UK.

Slowtide had the opportunity this summer to support Camp VC and help elevate and bring to life the experience of those attending the event. As a brand, we have built ourselves and our products on our inspiration of all bodies of water and a love for art - an ethos that we feel is shared by all those within the VC London community. We sat down with Gemma Harrison, one of the founders of VC, to find out more about the origin of the community and what to expect at Camp VC.

"In a world where everyone assumes they need to be an expert or have to be into something from childhood to be legit, Camp VC lets people feel like they can try something new and have a bunch of other people rooting for them" - Gemma Harrison (VC founder)

New Balance camp blanket, Yukon blanket & Sundown woven towel - @saskiadugon

Slowtide: Tell us a bit about how VC London came about and the story behind the start of Camp VC.

Gemma: "VC started by accident really with a few mates in a moto workshop in East London. We were struggling to find others to ride with and so we put a post out on Instagram saying that if any womxn wanted to learn to ride that we would give them ago on our bikes and teach them the basics and it basically blew up from there! A total happy accident turned into a community and now we’ve been going for almost 7 years! A couple of years in we teamed up with the awesome girls from Babes Ride Out from the US to put on a women’s moto camp out event here in Wales. Camp VC was then born from that. The first year we had 100 women and now we have over 500! It’s pretty crazy really."

Haven quick-dry park blanket - @sarahemmasmith

S: Who is Camp VC aimed towards?

G: "We created Camp VC to give womxn, non binary people and anyone who identifies as female a safe space to be themselves, get into new things like action sports and motorcycles and meet new friends. We think it’s rad to be a newbie! It’s the time you enjoy everything the most when you’re learning. That’s exactly what Camp VC is for.…all in the company of other amazing people doing the same. We have massive respect for anyone taking a step out of their comfort zone to try new things. Bottom line is that you can come to Camp VC and just be who you want to be without any pressure or judgement and find others who are like you."

S: What would somebody expect from a weekend at Camp VC?

G: "Motorcycles, camping, skate boarding, quad skating, dirt riding, good vibes, chilling, workshops, talks, likeminded people and one hell of a party every night! There’s something there for everyone, whether you ride already or not. We actually have tons of people that come to the event solo and also lots that have never ridden a motorcycle before as well as people who have been riding for years. It’s a great way to meet new friends and we get a lot of people come away from the event after making their own little groups and going on adventures together after the event. We also have tons to do for seasoned riders including wheelie classes, enduro and dirt schools and ride outs!"

Haven quick-dry park blanket - @sarahemmasmith

S: What do you love most about Camp VC?

G: "The people that come, the community and the overwhelming good vibes they all create! The event would be nothing without them. Something very special happens when people come together to welcome each other, share new experiences, have a few adventures and spread a few positive vibes. We get so many messages after the event from attendees who have met new friends, found a new passion and made some amazing memories at the event. It really fuels the fire to make 2022 even bigger and better (and believe us it will be!)."

S: What does the future look like for VC and are there any other exciting events to look out for?

G: "We’ve recently started our VC X Herald Motorcycles Beginners’ riding school where we give riding lessons to complete beginners’ to get more womxn into riding. We launched our 2021 dates and sold out within an hour! It was crazy! So far we’ve taught almost 100 new riders and have a waitlist of hundreds more so it looks like we won’t be stopping any time soon as it’s going amazingly well! It’s like mini Camp VC vibes every time we teach. It’s super special! We’ve also got some exciting new events in the works that we’ll be dropping details of soon hopefully. Other than that it’s full steam ahead into Camp VC 2022 and it’s already gonna be off the scale! Hopefully we’ll get a few moto road trips in there somewhere too, fingers crossed."