As seen in The XLMoto: XLMOTO product expert Vanessa Ruck gives her best tips on what to look for when buying a new helmet. Helmet buying guide by Vanessa Ruck!
It’s a great honour to have been selected by XLMoto to be the face of their YouTube channel. The channels a range of areas from kit reviews, to how-to and knowledge sharing on selected XLMoto products. Here is an example video discussing things to think about when buying a motorcycle helmet.
For the rest of the XLMoto YouTube videos see 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.
As seen in The Web Bike World: Vanessa Ruck – and she had just come out of the Tunisia Desert Challenge as the first woman to have ever competed in the competition (35th out of 55 bikes, no less).
What does a woman like Vanessa do after a french kiss with a car, seven surgeries, and one of the more extensive rehabilitation therapy schedules I’ve ever seen? She buys a motorbike and signs herself up for THE hardest style of riding known to our kind. I’m itching to pick her noodle about anything and everything, so let’s dive in.
The accident that changed everything for you; tell us what happened.
So I was cycling. I was on the way to the wakeboarding lake to meet my husband and some friends – just a really normal Tuesday.
Traffic lights turned green, I carried on peddling through, and a car coming the other way decided not to stop.
I went straight into the side of the car, and life, in that moment, changed very dramatically.
Just to be clear; I was not a bleeding, scraped up mess on the side of the road – nothing like that. Obviously I was shaken up – I’d just been hit by a car – but the insane bit is that I was discharged later that night with a diagnosis of bruising…just bruising!
Since then I’ve had one surgery per year, spread across seven years. So it was just a constant kick in the face of going backwards, and it didn’t get easier.
With reoccurring surgeries, every time you go back into surgery, it gets harder. The expectation is all wrong – you think you get the hang of recovering, and then the old tissue is dug into again and the mental battle gets worse and worse.
My mental health recovery has always been harder than the physical, and I’m very open about that. I started with multiple health disorders and it took a lot of processing time to heal…there were some really dark days, and that’s the side of things that are normally invisible – even little things, like overcoming the trauma of fear of the road after an incident like that.
Seven surgeries in as many years. An insane testimony, given what you do today – but what blows my mind is that you had to convince the medical industry that you had more than bruising…?
It was ridiculous, and yeah, it was incredibly hard – because they’re telling you to trust the medical profession, They were being so inaccurate, messing me around and I was constantly being put in situations where that trust was being misplaced – but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta trust them because they’re the professionals.
So I’d just been hit by a car and I was being told I’d be ‘back to normal, back on my feet, boom, no problem,’ maybe just have a little bit of rest at home.
As I listened to their advice, though, I realized the pain wasn’t changing – the swelling wasn’t going down. So, I went to see my GP again.
There’s totally an element of ‘the squeaky wheel gets fixed first’ to all this, and the shoulder was really the worst part (even though the hip ended up having five of the seven surgeries, it was dormant so wasn’t picked up at first).
The doctors’ answer to my pain was that I had ‘a little bit of a sore shoulder’ and I needed some steroid injections to get better.
Three steroid injections later, and nothing was improving; that’s when he said the next option was surgery, and he told me the procedure.
In the fine print, I was gonna lose at least 25% of my range.
25%.
I didn’t like this.
I saw another shoulder specialist – the second opinion. Before I’d even sat down, he asked me why I would refuse surgery – and I’m like, “I haven’t refused surgery.”
So yeah, loads of stuff like that.
That first incision was apparently ‘a little cleanup thing,’ which did jack all. Then after that, the second opinion did the right scans and actually looked at my shoulder properly – and that’s when my arm was diagnosed as ‘not attached to my shoulder’.
After 13 months? Insane.
My column collarbone was like 3mm up and 10mm back and you could bounce it around.
What’s been the biggest factor in getting your health back on track?
The biggest part…definitely mindfulness.
It goes a long way with fear, anxiety, even stress – and I really emphasize mindfulness in the UK school programs I do as a way to give back.
When I talk about mindfulness, loads of people think about, you know, sitting on the floor and humming with your hands folded, knees crossed, whatever.
I’m not the sort of person that’s gonna just sit on the floor and try and think of nothing. That method just won’t work for me, haha.
To me, mindfulness is all about the realization that we are in control of our thoughts and that we can have far more control of our conscious selves than I ever imagined could be possible.
By having control over ourselves, we also have more control over our subconscious thoughts – and our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts.
To recover from everything I’ve been through, I’ve kind of trained my thought process around my pain, to recognize the trigger thoughts that come into my mind
I’ll just go, “S***, my hip is really hurting right now,” and if I start with that as my initial thought and I let that thought stay in my mind, I spiral.
I’ll start to focus on the fact that it hurts so much, and it hurts again today, and it hurt yesterday, and why does it have to keep hurting, why does my body have to be so s***, I’m useless… It’s a freaking mind game, and now I’m upset and there was no benefit in me letting that thought stay.
If I catch these thoughts and I’m mindful, I’ll be like, “let’s focus on something else” – the birds singing, calling a friend, focusing on anything else.
Ultimately, spiraling clouds judgement and judgement affects emotions – and when you’re in a scary situation, you can actually quite often rationalize the situation and work it out.
Can you tell us a bit about those two days of being stranded?
Well I was in the thick of things and I realized it was half past five, and it was going to be dark in about 45 minutes – pitch black.
I was completely on my own, in the middle of the sand dunes, kilometers after kilometers from anything – so I went right into survival mode.
The bogeyman is totally real for me, so I knew was gonna be terrified alone like that; I got my survival kit out and I took extra electrolytes, all my vitamin D things to help me physically.. I also worked out exactly what was gonna help me, how long everything was gonna last, figuring I could have something now and something about 1:00 AM and then something in the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t enough to what my body needed based on the fact that I’d been riding 11 and a half hours, but at least everything could be timed out.
I spent about half an hour collecting firewood, making sure that I never let my bike go out sight – it’s crazy out there, you can get disoriented so quickly. I also took everything off, down to my base layers and let them air dry in that last 45 minutes of sunlight so that I didn’t go into the evening wet with sweat.
A little fire pit was dug later with my head torch around my neck – knowing there was no way it was gonna last all night – and I had laid everything out exactly where it needed to be and shielded my little area a bit with the sand.
In the last 10, 15 minutes of light, I got the fire lit and then I basically just sat there and tried to stay calm, loaded the mindfulness on – just freaking out about being on the desert my own, haha.
Oh, it was pitch black; I could hear things – there was nothing there, but in a state like that when you’re just on high alert it’s another ballgame – but I knew the fire, it was a comfort.
I focused on the fact that I had a fire and animals weren’t gonna come near me cause animals don’t like fires.
After a bit the wind started to pick up, which I found really scary, cause the sand is blowing everywhere and it’s incredibly loud. I put my earplugs back in so I could just try and stay calm by not hearing the wind. It helped me kind of process that.
The whole thing that night was pretty routine; just sort of lay there and try to snooze and have a little nap and then throw more wood on and have a little nap again, trying to focus on how noisy the fire was , etc.
Closing my eyes cuz helped me in processing the fears, trying to rationalize. And you know what?I was okay; I was nice and warm. I was safe. I had a fire and the organization know where I was. My bike sat there pinging every 30 seconds and I got picked up in the middle of the night ( which was awesome) by the sweeper truck.
And they got me back to the bivouac at 3:30 in the morning, my mechanics immediately jumping on my bike and me heading to bed until the bike was fixed two and a half hours later.
For the rest of the Web Bike World article see 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.
As seen in The Web Bike World: Vanessa Ruck – and she had just come out of the Tunisia Desert Challenge as the first woman to have ever competed in the competition (35th out of 55 bikes, no less).
What does a woman like Vanessa do after a french kiss with a car, seven surgeries, and one of the more extensive rehabilitation therapy schedules I’ve ever seen? She buys a motorbike and signs herself up for THE hardest style of riding known to our kind. I’m itching to pick her noodle about anything and everything, so let’s dive in.
The accident that changed everything for you; tell us what happened.
So I was cycling. I was on the way to the wakeboarding lake to meet my husband and some friends – just a really normal Tuesday.
Traffic lights turned green, I carried on peddling through, and a car coming the other way decided not to stop.
I went straight into the side of the car, and life, in that moment, changed very dramatically.
Just to be clear; I was not a bleeding, scraped up mess on the side of the road – nothing like that. Obviously I was shaken up – I’d just been hit by a car – but the insane bit is that I was discharged later that night with a diagnosis of bruising…just bruising!
Since then I’ve had one surgery per year, spread across seven years. So it was just a constant kick in the face of going backwards, and it didn’t get easier.
With reoccurring surgeries, every time you go back into surgery, it gets harder. The expectation is all wrong – you think you get the hang of recovering, and then the old tissue is dug into again and the mental battle gets worse and worse.
My mental health recovery has always been harder than the physical, and I’m very open about that. I started with multiple health disorders and it took a lot of processing time to heal…there were some really dark days, and that’s the side of things that are normally invisible – even little things, like overcoming the trauma of fear of the road after an incident like that.
Seven surgeries in as many years. An insane testimony, given what you do today – but what blows my mind is that you had to convince the medical industry that you had more than bruising…?
It was ridiculous, and yeah, it was incredibly hard – because they’re telling you to trust the medical profession, They were being so inaccurate, messing me around and I was constantly being put in situations where that trust was being misplaced – but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta trust them because they’re the professionals.
So I’d just been hit by a car and I was being told I’d be ‘back to normal, back on my feet, boom, no problem,’ maybe just have a little bit of rest at home.
As I listened to their advice, though, I realized the pain wasn’t changing – the swelling wasn’t going down. So, I went to see my GP again.
There’s totally an element of ‘the squeaky wheel gets fixed first’ to all this, and the shoulder was really the worst part (even though the hip ended up having five of the seven surgeries, it was dormant so wasn’t picked up at first).
The doctors’ answer to my pain was that I had ‘a little bit of a sore shoulder’ and I needed some steroid injections to get better.
Three steroid injections later, and nothing was improving; that’s when he said the next option was surgery, and he told me the procedure.
In the fine print, I was gonna lose at least 25% of my range.
25%.
I didn’t like this.
I saw another shoulder specialist – the second opinion. Before I’d even sat down, he asked me why I would refuse surgery – and I’m like, “I haven’t refused surgery.”
So yeah, loads of stuff like that.
That first incision was apparently ‘a little cleanup thing,’ which did jack all. Then after that, the second opinion did the right scans and actually looked at my shoulder properly – and that’s when my arm was diagnosed as ‘not attached to my shoulder’.
After 13 months? Insane.
My column collarbone was like 3mm up and 10mm back and you could bounce it around.
What’s been the biggest factor in getting your health back on track?
The biggest part…definitely mindfulness.
It goes a long way with fear, anxiety, even stress – and I really emphasize mindfulness in the UK school programs I do as a way to give back.
When I talk about mindfulness, loads of people think about, you know, sitting on the floor and humming with your hands folded, knees crossed, whatever.
I’m not the sort of person that’s gonna just sit on the floor and try and think of nothing. That method just won’t work for me, haha.
To me, mindfulness is all about the realization that we are in control of our thoughts and that we can have far more control of our conscious selves than I ever imagined could be possible.
By having control over ourselves, we also have more control over our subconscious thoughts – and our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts.
To recover from everything I’ve been through, I’ve kind of trained my thought process around my pain, to recognize the trigger thoughts that come into my mind
I’ll just go, “S***, my hip is really hurting right now,” and if I start with that as my initial thought and I let that thought stay in my mind, I spiral.
I’ll start to focus on the fact that it hurts so much, and it hurts again today, and it hurt yesterday, and why does it have to keep hurting, why does my body have to be so s***, I’m useless… It’s a freaking mind game, and now I’m upset and there was no benefit in me letting that thought stay.
If I catch these thoughts and I’m mindful, I’ll be like, “let’s focus on something else” – the birds singing, calling a friend, focusing on anything else.
Ultimately, spiraling clouds judgement and judgement affects emotions – and when you’re in a scary situation, you can actually quite often rationalize the situation and work it out.
Can you tell us a bit about those two days of being stranded?
Well I was in the thick of things and I realized it was half past five, and it was going to be dark in about 45 minutes – pitch black.
I was completely on my own, in the middle of the sand dunes, kilometers after kilometers from anything – so I went right into survival mode.
The bogeyman is totally real for me, so I knew was gonna be terrified alone like that; I got my survival kit out and I took extra electrolytes, all my vitamin D things to help me physically.. I also worked out exactly what was gonna help me, how long everything was gonna last, figuring I could have something now and something about 1:00 AM and then something in the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t enough to what my body needed based on the fact that I’d been riding 11 and a half hours, but at least everything could be timed out.
I spent about half an hour collecting firewood, making sure that I never let my bike go out sight – it’s crazy out there, you can get disoriented so quickly. I also took everything off, down to my base layers and let them air dry in that last 45 minutes of sunlight so that I didn’t go into the evening wet with sweat.
A little fire pit was dug later with my head torch around my neck – knowing there was no way it was gonna last all night – and I had laid everything out exactly where it needed to be and shielded my little area a bit with the sand.
In the last 10, 15 minutes of light, I got the fire lit and then I basically just sat there and tried to stay calm, loaded the mindfulness on – just freaking out about being on the desert my own, haha.
Oh, it was pitch black; I could hear things – there was nothing there, but in a state like that when you’re just on high alert it’s another ballgame – but I knew the fire, it was a comfort.
I focused on the fact that I had a fire and animals weren’t gonna come near me cause animals don’t like fires.
After a bit the wind started to pick up, which I found really scary, cause the sand is blowing everywhere and it’s incredibly loud. I put my earplugs back in so I could just try and stay calm by not hearing the wind. It helped me kind of process that.
The whole thing that night was pretty routine; just sort of lay there and try to snooze and have a little nap and then throw more wood on and have a little nap again, trying to focus on how noisy the fire was , etc.
Closing my eyes cuz helped me in processing the fears, trying to rationalize. And you know what?I was okay; I was nice and warm. I was safe. I had a fire and the organization know where I was. My bike sat there pinging every 30 seconds and I got picked up in the middle of the night ( which was awesome) by the sweeper truck.
And they got me back to the bivouac at 3:30 in the morning, my mechanics immediately jumping on my bike and me heading to bed until the bike was fixed two and a half hours later.
For the rest of the Web Bike World article see 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.
As seen in Motorcycle News [print]: After an epic adventure in Belize with Motourismo, Big Little Rides it was awesome being able to share the story in MCN. Here it is:
Waking up early in the morning, still a little jetlagged, we make our way to our breakfast spot. It’s a local eatery run by Raquel, a cheerful Garifuna lady always ready with a smile and a generous plate of eggs and bacon. Hopkins feels a lot Like Jamaica rather than Central America because of its vibrant Garifuna population: originally from West Africa, the Garifuna in Belize are famous for their hospitality, delicious cuisine, and drumming parties.
As we approach our first creek crossing. I’m a little worried about whether Alana and Mariska are going to make it across. It’s rocky and slippery, and neither have much experience off-road. Egle and Jurga wade into the creek, ready to help them across. I’m waiting on the other side in case they need a hand or stall – it’s a slight uphill after the water crossing, and I know just how intimidating wet rocks can be.
Belize is hot and humid, so we make a habit of stopping at waterfalls and swimming holes to cool down. Soon, I realize the best policy is to simply wear a bikini under the riding gear: we braap, then we swim-that, in a nutshell, is a Belize survival guide.
Mud, Bikes, and Coral
As we press on riding ever-deeper into the Belizean countryside, I’m starting to realise this trip is jampacked with off-bike activities I’d never have had the time to organise myself. On ride days, we stop to make traditional tortillas with local Mayan women, visit waterfalls and caves, explore incredible Mayan ruins and eat lunch with the locals. During the rest days, the gals opt for a snorkeling trip to an island, while Suzanne and I go for a diving expedition to explore the reefs.
As the trip draws to an end, I realize we’ve ridden across Belize’s most remote rainforest trails, savannah, and beaches. We’ve done long days in the saddle and covered some dusty miles, helping each other along the way. We’ve battled mud, bent gear shifters, and the limits of our own comfort zones. From jaguar sanctuaries and remote Mayan villages to Caribbean towns and spectacular landscapes, we’ve experienced Belize in the best way: on two wheels, and in the company of like-minded adventuresses.
Best of all, we’ve all learned a thing or two about pushing our own edge. For me, riding dirt and traveling on bikes is all about challenging myself and exploring places off the beaten path. Having survived a road accident that’s left me with a reconstructed body, I seek out adventures and physical and mental challenges – if I’m to grow as a rider and as a person, that’s the way to do it.
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.
As seen in The Female Lead: From worldwide politics and business, to sports and eyewatering physical challenges, we’ve put together a list of ten milestones in the gender equality sphere that will make you smile. There’s a long way to go, but we believe every step in the right direction is a step worth celebrating.
1) The first ever woman finishes an extreme endurance ride in the Tunisian desert
Vanessa Ruck – also known as The Girl on a Bike – recently battled sand dunes and blistering temperatures to complete the Tunisia Desert Challenge.
The 35-year-old motorcyclist went on to complete the gruelling eight-day endurance event, covering up to 469km each day and enduring sandstorms with up to 85km/hr winds. Vanessa told The Female Lead: “Tunisia really was brutal but such an adventure!”
2) The first woman wins UK’s Fisherman of the Year
Ashley Mullenger is a whelk fisherman who fishes off Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. She says she was determined to normalise the role of women in the industry, after becoming the first woman to land a Fisherman of the Year accolade.
“Men have worked hard to build this industry that I’m now part of. It is part of my honour and respect for them,” she told the BBC.
The under 10-metre award, which Ashley won, refers to the size of fishing vessel. Judges looked for an individual who has demonstrated skill, determination, leadership ability and adaptability to change.
3) Spain take the lead on menstrual leave for women
Women who suffer from severe period pain might be allowed to take leave from work for up to three days each month, which could be extended to five days in some circumstances.
If the bill passes, Spain would join Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Zambia in having a policy that grants. menstrual leave.
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.
As seen in The Glorious Sport: Pushing the sport to the extreme, Vanessa Ruck’s love of motorbikes and tough races is taking her all over the world. We chat to her about Harleys, happiness and where she’s off to next
Vanessa Ruck is @TheGirlOnABike, a rider who’s not only pushing sporting boundaries and winning awards* from the motorbiking community, she’s also inspiring a community of fans with her popular YouTube channel and social media accounts. And recently she added to her accolades, as the first – and only – woman to enter and finish the Tunisia Desert Challenge, an extreme rally raid over sand dunes and in blistering temperatures. The eight-day gruelling endurance venture was the toughest you could imagine.
Have a flick through Vanessa’s videos and you’ll get a feel for this wonder woman. See her riding a monster of a Harley Davidson Pan America in a recent Welsh Winter Warmer race for big bikes; despite being one of only two female competitors (out of 22), hers was one of the biggest bikes in the field and, during the gruelling two-hour battle, she negotiated extremely hard terrain in first gear, deep puddles, thick mud, climbs and slippery off-camber turns. And Vanessa has added some dramatic footage of that Tunisian adventure too, facing brutal conditions in the desert, coping with sandstorms, burning heat and getting stranded.
Scroll further and you’ll see her prepping her darling Buddy – a Husqvarna TE 250i – for a race, giving her the full works including oil change and filter, switching the tyres for a clean edge, and firing up Thug, her beloved Harley Davidson DYNA Street Bob.
Vanessa owns five bikes (Buddy, Thug, Bear, Big Red and Woody), has travelled to 21 countries on rides and has entered – to date – ten big races, including the British Extreme Championship, the British Hard Enduro Championship, Rallye du Maroc and Red Bull Romaniacs. She’s definitely making her mark in the biking community as one of the precious few women who ride – and you get the feeling she’s only just begun.
“However, I’ve now had seven surgeries on my hip and my shoulder. I didn’t have all of them in one go; it was more a case of one every year for seven years – when a previous op didn’t work, complications happened or things were missed. I’ve effectively got a reconstructed right shoulder and right hip involving bone work, ligaments, soft tissue, tendons and cartilage.” As well as hours and hours of rehab, loads of time on crutches and many days in bed, Vanessa’s mental health took a huge hit. “I’ve had some of the darkest days you can imagine; in fact, I’d say that the mental recovery has probably been harder than the physical and I’m quite open about that.” “Mindfulness is now a big part of my life. When my hip is hurting particularly badly, most of the time I can cope with it but there are moments when I get angry and can quickly spiral down into a toxic, negative mental state. Through mindfulness, I’ve learned to be conscious of my thought processes and recognise early triggers.”
MINDFULNESS
“We loved it so much we went through a bit of an early mid-life crisis and ordered two of our own as a result and it turns out they were the best purchase we made for my mental health recovery. My Harley DYNA Street Bob – yes, the beloved Thug – is like a sofa and to this day, riding it hurts me less than driving a car. Once you sit on it, your hip is in a pretty open position because it’s a cruiser and you don’t have to move your leg around.”
Ultimately, the Harley made Vanessa realise she could have some adventure, some adrenaline, some wind in her hair, without needing to do much physically. It was a real turning point and soon afterwards, while recovering from a surgery, Vanessa had another bike-shaped brainwave – this time she wanted an off-roader. Dirt bikes are specced to handle intense off-road landscapes; they have kicked suspension so they can handle rough terrain with big knobbly tyres for grip, they tend to be light and agile but they’re also rugged in order to handle the inevitable falls and drops.
“I did some research and got a little Yamaha WF 250 F which seemed like an ideal first dirt bike. Five months after buying it, though, I still hadn’t recovered enough to sit on it,” she explains. “But it was there as a reminder every single day of what I was working towards. Those days when I hurt too much, and I couldn’t find the energy to get out of bed, it sat there as a goal.”
Vanessa’s dirt bike purchase was six years ago and she’s now making a name for herself on trails, in rallies and races in the UK and abroad. “With an off-road bike,” she says, “there’s a lot of risk, and my body is more vulnerable than it used to be. I make sure I wear the right protection and I work hard on my skill, because the more skill you have, the less likely you are to have big offs and falls.”
EXTREME
She’s focused on the basics and trying to get as good as she can, using YouTube as her teacher and taking part in a few training days too. It’s the biking community and her new friends that have taught her the most though, she says. “My husband and I are quite social and happy. We go places and meet new people, end up riding with them, and a lot of the time they are much better than us so we learn from them. They give us tips, they’re able to look at me and tell me what level I’m ready for and I trust that they’re not going to put me into some suicide attempt race which I won’t be able to handle!
ENERGY
I had water as, thankfully, passing cars, trucks and buggies gave me some, but by 5pm I was bad. I called for an emergency evacuation and when they saw me, they were clearly scared,” Vanessa recalls. “I was terrified. I had been trying not to breathe in the hot sand but it felt like my head was going to explode. I was delirious and was put on a drip. One competitor sadly died due to the heat as they didn’t activate emergency support from the organisers, I’m glad I found the strength to hit the button.
Vanessa has lots of plans for the future: “I’m on a mission to achieve some big races and put myself into horrifically uncomfortable and unpleasant situations,” she says, “but I also have to manage my expectations and keep in mind what my body can cope with.” For her, it’s not about trying to be the best. She explains: “It’s about trying to prove to myself that I still can, and trying to give other people a bit of energy too. It’s about saying yes, bad things happen, and we all have horrible battles and challenges, and that’s okay, it’s normal. With the right attitude, and some determination, you can come through, and come out stronger.
Talking of strength and determination, Vanessa has picked one of the most male-dominated sports there is, involving some of the heaviest, most powerful machines. “Yes, it’s hugely male dominated,” Vanessa laughs, “In fact, I’m usually one of only three women in an event. At Red Bull Romaniacs, I think there were five women out of about 600 riders. On reflection, she says she understands why. “It’s brutal. The bike is heavy and your body to weight ratio is much smaller.
Also, it can feel quite intimidating, because there just aren’t many women.” But with the challenge comes the reward and The Girl On A Bike is happy to admit the taste of victory is slightly sweeter if you’re smashing it as a woman in a traditionally male sport. “I definitely get a buzz from competing with and beating men. They look at you and judge you, thinking you’re not going to be capable, so when you can actually get on a bike and ride pretty well, it’s really satisfying,” she smiles.
For the rest of the Glorious Sport article see 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.
As seen in Motorcycle News [print and online]: British rider Vanessa Ruck, who is more commonly known on social media as ‘TheGirlOnABike’, has become the first woman to start and finish the Tunisia Desert Challenge.
First run last year, the ‘TDC’ desert rally covers 2500km over eight days. With four different rider categories ranging from experienced racers to relative novices, it’s a ‘pay and play’ affair with bike entry fees ranging from £2800-£3500.
“It was a gruelling endurance event, covering up to 469km each day,” Ruck said. “But it wasn’t all sunshine! I slept in the dunes with a camp fire awaiting rescue, I had a medical close call after seven hours in 45°C sand dunes and a helicopter med evacuation and got lost in a sand storm with 65km winds… But I just kept going!”
A total of 398 vehicles – including cars, buggies, race trucks and 55 bikes – took part, although Vanessa was the only female rider.
She tackled the trip on her Beta 480 RR, riding with the Desert Rose Racing Academy, and finally came home 35th in the bike category as the first-ever female to finish.
The 35-year-old from Kent developed her social media platforms while undergoing numerous surgeries and extensive recovery after being hit by a car while cycling in 2014.
No longer able to cycle, motorcycling – particularly off road – became her favourite form of adventure and her accounts of her experiences all over the world in places such as Bolivia and Iceland have been featured in MCN before.
For the rest of the Motorcycle News article see 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.
As seen on Portsmouth: An international business studies graduate of the University of Portsmouth, uses her experiences to help inspire and empower her 260,000 followers on social media, in schools and through motivational speaking.
She collided with a red light-jumping car while on her bicycle, shattering her right shoulder and right hip in the process.
This led to reconstructive surgery and seven operations in as many years. It was while on her long road to recovery that this adrenaline-loving woman decided to take up off-road motorbike riding, and so The Girl on a Bike was born.
Most recently this included being the first woman to enter, and then complete the gruelling eight-stage Tunisia Desert Challenge – but not without another life-threatening incident.
During the fourth stage, her bike malfunctioned at around 10.30am, and at first Vanessa, 35, was fine. ‘I was pretty chilled out. It was almost peaceful – I was sat in the dunes, I could randomly see and hear other competitors in the distance and there were quite a few vehicles going through.
‘Now I feel like I’ve taken back control’
‘The organisation really is incredible. I can’t emphasise enough how good the organisation is far as safety. There’s no need to die of heat and dehydration – we have the emergency systems in place. The organisers were spot on.
‘Competitors were stopping to give me food and water, I didn’t have shade, but I had my emergency blanket.’ However the winds began to pick up – to 50mph – and Vanessa was unable to prop her bike up to create a shade – the sand was too soft to dig in. But another vehicle stopped and helped her prop the bike and use a cape to create a bit of shade for her while waiting for sweeper truck at the back of the race to collect her.
Even with nine 1.5l bottles of water and keeping her skin covered from the sun, with the temperature reaching 45 centigrade, as Vanessa says: ‘The body can’t handle that heat and intensity for that long. ‘It was when the wind picked up to the point that I couldn’t breathe that I was getting panic attacks. My headache was building and there was so much sand.
‘I lay in the foetal position in my little patch of shade and I wrapped this scarf double to make a little air pocket I could breathe in. ‘Through my accident recovery I’ve discovered a lot of mindfulness, and it’s one of the ways I manage the chronic ongoing pain I have with my hip.
‘Loads of people picture you sitting on the floor humming, I’m not a sitting on the floor humming kind of person – I get itchy feet, I’m not very good at sitting still. Mindfulness has made me more able and more aware to be in control of my conscious thoughts, which leads your subconscious and your emotions directly link to your thoughts.
‘I was lying in the dunes trying to do my mindfulness. I was lying there going: “Right, Vanessa, you’re fine”, and I’m like: “I’m not fine. I’m in the desert on my own, and my head feels like it’s going to implode”. And I could hardly breathe because of the sand. I knew they were coming for me but I didn’t know when.’
And she still convinced herself: ‘I wasn’t a medical emergency, I hadn’t called for help, I wasn’t bleeding, I wasn’t broken. I was just hot.’ But the panic attacks kept coming, and it was then that Vanessa decided to press the help button, bringing aid to her via GPS location, but even that wasn’t simple in her addled state.
‘I never realized it would help so many people’
Vanessa Ruck
‘I’m very often judged by my appearance. I’ve got naturally long eyelashes, I’m blonde, I obviously don’t know how to ride’, she says sarcastically, ‘and I’m just there to try and look pretty with a motorbike.
‘Seriously, when I’m riding, there’s nothing about trying to look pretty right now!
‘I think I have to work extra hard to be credible, to learn about the engines, to be able to have a conversation and an opinion, and I get people going: “Oh you know about that?” Well yes, I’m a motorbiker too.
‘I have a lot to learn still, but I’m getting that ability, and when I can overtake a guy who’s judged me before, it’s a little bit satisfying.’
For the rest of the Portsmouth News article see 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.
As seen on over 17 different websites: Vanessa Ruck, Also Known As The Girl On A Bike, Has Been The First Woman To Ever Enter Into The Tunisia Desert Challenge, An Extreme Rally Over Sand Dunes And In Blistering Temperatures.
The 35-year-old Portsmouth Graduate Went On To Complete The Gruelling Eightday Endurance Event, Covering Up To 469km Each Day, Enduring Sandstorms With Up To 85km-an-hour Winds, Bike Problems Leading To A Night In The Dunes, And Another Mechanical Failure Ending With The Rescue Helicopter Being Sent Out.
Despite Being On A Motorcycle, Only Able To Take What You Can Carry, Competitors Are Required To Carry Various Safety Items Such As Flares And Emergency Blankets.
On The Third Stage, Through The El Borma Dunes, Vanessa Suffered An Electrical Fault Miles From Anywhere. She Was The Furthest Bike Of 16 To Be Recovered. During The Fourth Stage, The Bad Luck Continued As Vanessa’s Bike Malfunctioned So She Was Stranded, Deep In The Dunes With The Temperature Peaking At 45 Degrees Centigrade.
Vanessa Said: ‘i Had Water As Thankfully Passing Cars, Trucks And Buggies Gave Me Some, But By 5pm I Was Bad. I Called For An Emergency Evacuation And When They Saw Me, They Were Clearly Scared. I Was Terrified. I Had Been Trying Not To Breathe In The Hot Sand But It Felt Like My Head Was Going To Explode. I Was Delirious And Was Put On A Drip. One Competitor Sadly Died Due To The Heat As They Didn’t Activate Emergency Support From The Organisers, I’m Glad I Found The Strength To Hit The Button’.
But Vanessa Went On To Complete The Gruelling Event, Becoming The First Ever Female To Enter And Finish It.
For the rest of the The Dirt Bike Academy article see 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.
As seen on AdvPulse: The Tunisia Desert Challenge is one of the toughest rally races in the world, covering eight days of racing with an average 325 km distance daily and taking competitors across some of the most demanding terrains in Africa.
This year, the extreme race conditions claimed the life of French competitor Matthieu de Saint-Exupery: during Stage Three Saint-Exupery tragically passed away as a result of heat and fatigue, despite the organizers’ best efforts to rescue him.
Known as an ‘extreme’ Rally Raid event, the Tunisia Desert Challenge 2022 was won by veteran Dakar racer and two-time Africa Eco Race champion Alessandro Botturi, who admitted this was one of the hardest rallies he has ever been in. However, there was another memorable victory at the race this year: that of Vanessa Ruck, the first female rider to ever enter and finish the TDC. The Brit came in 35th overall out of 55 riders who started in the race – just five places below the Extreme Enduro star Pol Tarres.
Vanessa Ruck is better known to her fans as The Girl On a Bike, and her obsession with motorcycles began after her recovery from a horrific car accident eight years ago. Having survived multiple surgeries and hip and shoulder reconstructions, Vanessa took up motorcycling and soon found her passion was riding dirt. Along with her husband Alex, Vanessa has progressed from adventure riding and traveling to taking on some of the world’s most extreme races such as Romaniacs, Rallye du Maroc and, most recently, the Tunisia Desert Challenge.
Riding a Beta 480 RR called “Sandy” with the Desert Rose Racing support team on her side, Vanessa was determined to complete the race. Out of 55 motorcycle racers starting on Day One, only 40 reached the finish line, and her 35th place overall didn’t go unnoticed by the race organizers. “Normally, for a category to exist, there need to be at least three competitors, however I am making an exception for this young lady as the first female to ever enter,” Gert Duson, the race director, announced at the prize-giving ceremony.
Although Vanessa was racing in the same main category as the other riders, she was awarded the winning trophy of the Female Riders category as she was the only woman to show up – and finish the extreme race.
Rescue in the Dunes
According to Vanessa, the Tunisia Desert Challenge more than lived up to its fame for brutal conditions. She had to endure 85km/h sandstorms, mechanical issues with the bike, searing heat, and a helicopter rescue – but she wasn’t the only one.
Stage Three in the El Borma dunes proved to be impossible for many riders. Due to extremely difficult terrain and sandstorms, sixteen riders (including Pol Tarres the following day) got hopelessly stuck in the dunes and had to be rescued. Vanessa was among them: having faced an electrical fault, she had just six kilometers left to the end of the dune section – and the one furthest from all the other riders stuck in the sand.
“In those conditions, however, a mere 500 meters is a grueling slog. I had no other choice – I made a campfire and waited for help to arrive. After a rescue in the dark of the night, I made it back to the bivouac at 3:30am, grabbing less than three hours of sleep while my Desert Rose Racing mechanic team frantically got Sandy back to life,” Vanessa recalls.
Because of the rescue, Vanessa, like fifteen other riders, got a hefty time penalty, but was allowed to start the next day. During Stage Four, however, the bad luck continued as Vanessa’s bike malfunctioned in the morning and she found herself stranded – again. Alone in the desert, miles from anywhere, deep in the dunes with the temperatures peaking at 45°C (113°F), Vanessa survived by taking water from other vehicles and using her bike as meager protection from the deadly desert sun.
“At these temperatures the body starts to shut down and even with water, severe dehydration and heat exhaustion is just a matter of time. I had water as thankfully passing cars, trucks and buggies gave me some, but by 5pm, I was bad. I called for an emergency evacuation and when they saw me, they were clearly scared. I had been trying not to breathe in the hot sand but it felt like my head was going to explode. I was delirious and was put on a drip. One competitor sadly died due to the heat as he didn’t activate emergency support from the organizers… I’m glad I found the strength to hit the SOS button,” Vanessa shares.
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.
