I was honoured to be invited to join Kat Orman on her mid morning programme, Stories to make you smile and Make A Difference. We talked about life in lock-down and how even now in this strange chapter we all have so much to be grateful for.
#bbcradio #lockdown #thegirlonabike
Listen to the interview here:
This one was an emotional one for me. ADV Pulse wanted to do a deep dive into the real implications of racing following my accident and it was a pretty emotional experience talking to Egle but I really hope my story helps others.I’d love to hear what you think about the article in the comments below. Do you battle on, can you relate?
Read the full article here: https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/vanessa-ruck-adventure-rider/
The Girl On A Bike recently contacted my local Oxfordshire news paper and was so tickled pink when they wanted to hear more about my story. I even made it into the print!
“A DISASTROUS incident that left Oxfordshire resident Vanessa Ruck with life-changing physical injuries is what inspired her to quit her job and enlist in one of the most challenging motorcycle races in the world.
Six years and 58,000 Instagram followers after the 33-year-old was hit by a red-light-jumping car, the adrenaline-lover is determined to push her body to its limits.”
Keep reading here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18288036.oxfordshire-daredevil-trains-motorbike-races-harley-davidson/
Guess who was live on the radio? BBC Radio and little me! It was such an honour, as The Girl On A Bike, to join BBC Oxford show and share my story. As the 6-year anniversary of my accident looms closer I hope that my struggles and story can help others find the energy to keep pushing on. Life can through us curve balls but it’s how we handle them that counts. Our of my accident grew The Girl On A Bike.
If you would like to listen to my BBC radio interview, please click on the link below and skip to 08.50 minutes in – that’s me! Two sections with a song in the middle. I’d love to hear what you think? Please do have a listen and comment below – I want to hear from you!
Here’s a quick summary of what we discussed:
You’ll need to register to listen, but it takes seconds.
The Girl On A Bike survived the British Enduro Championship round one! Here’s more on how I found it over on Motorradreporter. You can also read about how I got horrifically stuck and how Tom Sagar saved me… #hero
To read more please see Motor Rad Reporter article here
Riding Buddy my Husqvarna Motorcycles UK TE 250i and surviving the 6 hour race.
Honoured to be called a “daredevil” by Motor Rad Reporter 🤪 I’m just out there trying to make the most of life. A life changing accident really puts things in perspective and the terrifying reality is that tomorrow…might not come.
Seize the day 💪🏼
https://www.motorradreporter.com/artikel/girl-bike
When your favourite tool company, Teng Tools, ask if they can feature you in their quarterly magazine…you say yes!
FROM TRAGEDY TO POSITIVITY. VANESSA RUCK HAS OVERCOME SO MUCH AND IS NOW EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY AND HIT THE ROAD!
Born and raised in England. I’m a go-getter, a chase-your-dreams kind of girl. I grew up in the great outdoors, getting muddy and messing around keeping fit with horses and quad-bikes and always up to mischief.
But things took a life-changing turn on the 25th of March 2014. I was on my bicycle with the fresh feeling of spring in my stride and hit the road pedalling hard! Out of nowhere an oncoming car pulled across in front of me. I had a microsecond. Time seemed to go into slow motion. But there was nothing I could do. There was no route for avoidance. No hope to avoid impact. I felt my body crumple as I shattered into the rear passenger panel. My right shoulder took the full impact. My body screamed internally before collapsing to the ground on my right side.
I was feeling incredibly shaken up, as one would expect but my get-up-and-go attitude had me staying positive about the short-term implications.
Today, years since the accident; my body has been through so much. Over 13 months off work, 6 operations, full shoulder reconstruction [yes, I am now partly bionic], 4 hip surgeries, countless steroid injections, hydrotherapy, osteopath, shock wave treatment, acupuncture, red light therapy, spiritual healing, ice treatment, months and months of physiotherapy, and continued hip treatment.
My escapism has always been through sports, whether that’s kite surfing, snowboarding or mountain biking, it’s always been about getting physical, but the accident changed that, but then motorbikes came into my world. They’ve swiftly become my favourite form of adventure; the open road, the power, the ability to simply disappear into the unknown and travel the world. Some may wonder how I’ve been able to ride motorcycles during my recovery, given the injuries. But most of the people who ask are those who don’t ride!
I started @TheGirlOnABike when bed bound after my 3rd surgery following the accident, I needed something positive to channel my energy into. Since this day I have continued to share the ups and downs of my journey. Now as I discover new DIY techniques for my bike, I’m planning to help empower others to give it a go too, showing them that if someone like me can do it, they can do it too! I want to give people the confidence to get some tools, get their hands dirty and get working on their motorcycles. For me, DIY completely opens up new areas of knowledge, helping me learn and achieve things I didn’t realise were within my reaches.
I am passionate about so many things, but motorbikes are now so central to everything. There are few things as satisfying as a hard day’s graft working on your bike and seeing the results on the road. When I think of hand tools, I think Teng Tools! The tools are awesome, and I know I can rely on them to help me get the job done. Working on my motorcycle, my pride and joy, I only want to use the best. For me that is Teng Tools.
From Motocaina: Monmouth Youtube Vanessa loved sports activities, but in 2014 she had an accident that completely changed her life. It was then that her … motorcycle became the greatest support in her recovery.
Her sports and life activity has completely changed, because the injuries she suffered required a calm lifestyle. Cycling was out of the question, so Vanessa chose a motorcycle for her commute. She did not know then how it would affect her life …
The choice fell on the Harley-Davidson brand, the 2015 model – Dyna Street Bob, or “Thug”. Her love for the brand blossomed during her honeymoon, when she and her husband rented two HD motorbikes for a 5-day trip. And with the motorcycle and numerous trips, the joy of life has also returned. After some time, a small Cross KTM was delivered to the garage.
The website “The Girl On A Bike” was created in 2016 on a hospital bed, when Vanessa needed some positive momentum in her life after her third hip surgery. There, she showed her real life, motorcycle trips, but also days that were strewn with spikes, not roses.
Her story gave strength to many people in a similar situation, it became an inspiration. After such a positive response, the motorcyclist continues to share her life and run a blog. It is already after 6 operations and still requires rehabilitation. She did not regain her former life, but she gained a new one, also fully satisfying!
For the rest of the Motocaina 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.
You can find me Vanessa, The Girl On A Bike over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and www.thegirlonabike.com.
I was super honoured to be asked my HOG to write about my journey to becoming a Harley-Davidson rider. This was published in HOG Magazine – Harley Owners Group – Published in EMEA region (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish), as well as in Canada (English and French), Latin America (Spanish) and Brazil (Portuguese).
See below for the full story
My addiction to Harley-Davidson emerged following a few challenging twists in the road of life. It all started on our honeymoon, when we hired two Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Texas, exploring 1,000 miles around Route 66, Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo and the breathtaking scenery of the Palo Duro Canyon. It was an amazing adventure [read more on how we did Route 66 in 5 days here].
Back home, our lives were full of excitement; we lived for sport and the great outdoors. There was this constant underlying thirst for adrenaline. With a full-time job, I found my ways to shape life around these needs. Weekdays entailed a 16-mile daily cycling commute, lunchtime gym sessions and summer evening wakeboard sessions. Weekends were filled with road trips, kite surfing, mountain biking and climbing.
But things took a life-changing turn in March 2014 when, while cycling, I was hit by a car that jumped a red light. In that moment, life as I knew it was gone [more on the accident here]. As I write this nearly five years on, it’s three weeks since my sixth surgery, but I’m confident it’ll be the last operation. We’ve had to make a lot of changes in our lives following the injuries, and there have been ups and downs between surgeries. No sports, no adrenaline, my social life vanished, and I was unable to do my cycling commute. I decided to get a motorcycle to skip the traffic and save money, and this was the first catalyst to Harley ownership.
Later, my husband Alex was posted by the Royal Air Force to Afghanistan, which devastatingly was just one week prior to my full shoulder reconstruction surgery. On his return, for a belated wedding anniversary, I organised two Harleys for the afternoon – and that was it. It was immediately apparent that this thumping V-Twin was the key to a world of enjoyment that required minimal physical demand, something that would bring adventure to our worlds with my injuries.
Within weeks we were Harley owners and the adventures unfolded. In the three and a half years since, around my surgeries and rehabilitation, we’ve done 15,000 miles, countless weekend trips, wild camping, explored six National Parks, enjoyed sunrise rides over London’s Tower Bridge, and undertaken a 2,700-mile Alpine adventure [see more]. We have had a blast on two wheels.
I genuinely can’t begin to imagine how I would have made it through the last few years without ‘Thug’, my 2015 Dyna Street Bob. She’s given me a sense of adventure that went missing after the accident. I’ve also started The Girl On A Bike an Instagram blog, @TheGirlOnABike. While bed-bound following one of my surgeries, I decided that there must be other people out there facing similar struggles; maybe I could reach them through social media? I never imagined that so many people would find hope and encouragement in my story. There have been days when I didn’t want to get out of bed, but my followers helped me find strength, and there have been many days where my followers were struggling and my story has helped them.
When people say ‘recovery’, you typically think of returning to how you were before the accident. But there is no going back. You do not merely recover, you reinvent yourself. You learn so much as you fight through; it’s an irreversible journey. While my journey over the past five years has been brutal, I feel somehow lucky. I have friends now I would never have met, I have a Harley-Davidson I would never have bought, I have realised the importance of a work-life balance, I’ve become even closer to my husband and soulmate, and I have a fire in my soul only this type of recovery could light.
Make sure you’re following me The Girl On A Bike on Instagram and Facebook to hear more about my ongoing journey.
As published in HOG
Following at epic adventure covering 2,700 miles, 9 countries and over 25 mountain passes I was honoured to write about my Alps trip for HOG magazine. The adventure was with Tour1, an official Harley-Davidson tour operator and completed on the gorgeous 2018 Harley-Davidson Sport Glide [see my review here]
The article will be printed in the EMEA region (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish), as well as in Canada (English and French), Latin America (Spanish) and Brazil (Portuguese).
