By Melissa Berkoff

Ducati Motor SpA, in conjunction with Italian motorcycle magazine Motociclismo, is holding a series of five two-day schools this summer aimed at teaching women the basics of motorcycle riding. Ducati is providing six 750cc Monsters for the schools, which will be conducted on a makeshift road course in the parking lot of the Ducati factory outside of Bologna. Motociclismo is handling advertising and communications for the program, which is called “The Women’s Ducati School”, while Ducati is responsible for logistics.

Each school will include classroom theory sessions and three riding sessions, the first for 20 minutes, the other two 30 minutes each, for 30 women split into two groups. The cost is 200,000 Italian lira (approximately $100 U.S.) for the school, hotel accomodations and meals. After the announcement was made in Motociclissmo, 600 women applied for the 150 available spots.