Extract from AdvRider on Rallye du Maroc: Vanessa Ruck, aka The Girl On a Bike, is a well-known enduro and hard enduro rider from Britain. After an epic comeback – Vanessa had experienced a horrific crash leading to several hip and shoulder reconstruction surgeries and years of physiotherapy – Vanessa got into dirt riding a few years ago, but it wasn’t long before a hobby turned into a full-blown racing mission. Just this year alone, Vanessa conquered the Romaniacs Iron Class, finished Qatar International Baja, and raced Rallye du Maroc, one of the toughest rally races in the world where participants battle it out for the chance to race Rally Dakar.

Vanessa, how was your Romaniacs debut earlier this year?

Romaniacs is absolute madness. It was tough riding on hard enduro-style terrain; I was incredibly apprehensive a first – prior to the prologue, I was so nervous I was almost sick. Romaniacs has a bit of a scary reputation, so I rode the prologue granny-slow expecting horrific gremlins and obstacles on the way. It turned out there were none, save a few steep climbs, and I could have ridden it much faster. I got insanely nervous about Day One again, so I just tried to keep it together and remain as calm as I could. Little by little, I rode with more and more confidence, the bike held up really well; my husband and I trained very hard beforehand, so we managed to pace ourselves well. It was very challenging, but we took it with confidence.

On the other hand, the finish line obstacles at Romaniacs were pretty evil. They’re crowd pleasers, they’re designed to give the spectators entertainment, so you’ve got monster boulders and logs ahead, but the energy of the crowd is really cool! The last wall before the finish was absolutely monstrous, but I gave it a go and just went for it, steady and smooth throttle, ready on the clutch, and I got over the thing just fine. So I think as long as you can conquer your own mind, you can do anything.

The finish line of the last day, you could choose a line of bollards and a deep bog – as in, handlebar deep – or you could go over a 6-foot ramp that kicked you into the air and landed you in mud. A friend suggested I choose the ramp; the crowd was going crazy, this was the finish line, so I went for it, but I landed nose-heavy which meant a heavy landing for my arms and shoulders, then whiskey-throttled it a bit and almost went into the crowd, so it was all a bit dramatic, but hey, I got to the finish line. I was so overwhelmed with emotions – I didn’t know whether to laugh, scream, or cry. I felt incredibly alive.

Why did you choose Rallye du Maroc?

On your journey to Dakar, this is the best race to do. Looking back, I could have done this more sensibly – I could have done more roadbook training and raced a few mid-level rallies like the Hellas Rally Raid before. But because of COVID and because of budget reasons, that just wasn’t possible, so I had to throe myself right into the deep end. Having done the Romaniacs, I felt that it was a bit of a confidence boost; I prepared myself as best as I could, and that was that.

How was the race?

Terrifying, brutal, incredible, emotional, tough, amazing…it’s hard to find words. I’m very grateful for the Qatar experience – I’m sure I would have had a much, much tougher time at Rallye du Maroc if it wasn’t for the lessons from Qatar. Then again, in Morocco, I learned that all sand is not created equal, and neither are the dunes – during the Rallye du Maroc, we had terrain that was relentlessly varied. You had huge rocks, stones, and lumps that would threaten to throw you off, and the dunes were never the same – sometimes you’d get these rapidly undulating dune sections, then all of a sudden, you’d be in the monster dunes with high faces, then rocky terrain again. It was just relentless.

My teammate Tim and I decided to race together – after all, two brains and two bodies in case of navigation mistakes or bike drops are better than one. I was leading with navigation, and Tim would watch out for me; one of the scariest things in a desert race are cars and trucks. I mean, you have collision warnings and beeps when someone is coming up behind you, and you try to move to the side, but you’ve no idea where and what’s behind and often, you’ve got nowhere to go. Sometimes, you’d be in a ravine or a riverbed, and you’d have no chance of getting out of the way, so there were moments that were absolutely terrifying- imagine a racing truck hurtling toward you at speed, and you’ve got nowhere to move. Your life is literally in danger, and you’re gunning it for survival.

For the rest of the Advrider article see here.

Check out other Vanessa Ruck media placements here.

If you’re new to my page – it’s more than just dirt bike riding, Harleys and racing, I’m on a mission to prove that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough. See more about my story plus read about my life changing accident, which started it all.

You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.