I’m a huge user of Compex products in the management of my on going pain and it was a an honour when Compex asked to talk to me about my journey, here’s what they wrote:
Extract from Compex:
With a world facing some unprecedented times, here at Compex we’re determined to share good news and with International Women’s day, what more fitting topic than celebrating women’s achievements. There are countless women out there, particularly those who enjoy the benefits of our products, but today we would like to introduce Vanessa Ruck.
Vanessa Ruck aka TheGirlOnABike After being hit by a car while cycling in 2014, Vanessa’s world was turned upside down. Enduring an ongoing rollercoaster of recovery, with 7 surgeries including a reconstructed hip and shoulder, life as she knew it changed. However, while some might have given up on a life of extreme sport, Vanessa discovered a new love for motorcycles. Having tackled the fear of the road, she’s an off road enduro, adventure and Harley rider, and is determined to make the most of every day. She’s out there in the mud getting sweaty doing off-road riding on a mission to prove than anyone, even slightly reconstructed people and females, can do it too.
With a body that will never quite be the same again Vanessa has used a range of Compex products throughout her journey. “With considerable surgical invasion, building muscle strength back, or even just maintaining some of what I still had, was really quite tricky.” Vanessa told us how any joint movement would exasperate the pain around the joint that needed to rest and heel, but she was determined not to face unnecessary muscle degeneration. She started to use the SP 4.0 to stimulate her muscles. Enabling her to lie still in bed, hip relaxed but muscles working. She next progressed to the SP 8.0 to give more flexibility to use it in life situation’s; “I use to walk around the office with it on under my clothes, switching it on for up to 6 sessions through the day. In an office based environment I didn’t want my rehabilitation to be impacted” and the 8.0 allowed Vanessa to stimulate healing, muscle strengthening and pain relief while working.
For the rest please head to Compex here and you can get Compex discount code “VRCOMPEX” 30% off more here:
U Perform blog: The month of March is a special one as not only do we take time to celebrate Mother’s Day here in the UK, but worldwide we all take a moment to celebrate International Women’s Day. And as luck would have it today is that day.
With a world facing some unprecedented times, here at U Perform we’re determined to share good news and with International Women’s day, what more fitting topic than celebrating women’s achievements.
We are going to be taking you through the history books old and new to share with you OUR inspirational sports women. Those who have inspired us, inspired change and demonstrated the true values of equality and sportsmanship on and off the court.
First to enter the U Perform Hall of Fame is perhaps a name you might not be familiar with…
Katherine Switzer
Katherine Switzer is most famous for in 1967, being the very first registered female competitor in the Boston Marathon. 1967? Really? Yes, really. Up until a few years later in the early 70s, women were discouraged and barred from competing in the most famous marathon event outside of the Olympic Games – the Boston Marathon.
The main battle Katherine faced was comments like “women aren’t strong enough” “you’ll never make it to the finish”. Medical professionals were adamant that long distance running of any distance, not least the marathon was too damaging to women’s health. Switzer’s battle from then on was simply to prove to people that women are just as suited, or even more suitable, for marathoning as men.
Images of 20 year old Katherine in 1967 being grappled and pushed off the course made headlines the following day and since then have become part of her legacy. Plain and simple, they showed the blatant inequality in athletics at the time. Not only was Katherine capable of running the distance, she did so in 4hrs 20mins despite the setbacks and resistance she faced from as early as mile 2.
At this time, and even in the Olympic Games, the longest competitive running even women had… was 200 metres! It wasn’t until 1979 that the very first recognised and sanctioned women’s marathon competition was held all the way in Tokyo, Japan.
Vanessa Ruck aka TheGirlOnABike and Amy Williams MBE OLY
As Ambassadors AND members of our U Perform Expert Team, we have had the genuine pleasure of working with both Vanessa and Amy on a variety of projects and they continue to inspire us day in day out. So let’s find out a little bit more about them shall we…
After being hit by a car while cycling in 2014, Vanessa’s world was turned upside down. Enduring an ongoing rollercoaster of recovery, with 7 surgeries including a reconstructed hip and shoulder, life as she knew it changed.
However, while some might have given up on a life of extreme sport, Vanessa discovered a new love for motorcycles. Having tackled the fear of the road, she’s an off road enduro, adventure and Harley rider, and is determined to make the most of every day. She’s out there in the mud getting sweaty doing off-road riding on a mission to prove that anyone, even slightly reconstructed people AND females, can do it too.
With a body that will never quite be the same again Vanessa uses Active Collagen in her daily routine, “the difference for my aches and pains has been really noticeable, as well as the improvement in my athletic recovery post riding.”
Vanessa is a huge social media force within the adventure motorcycling world, sharing her life changing story from accident to hard enduro motorcycles. We would highly recommend following her on social media and YouTube to find out more about her story and see what she gets up to!
Amy Williams MBE OLY
Known for her gold-medal-winning skeleton race at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 Amy stepped into the public view overnight. An Olympic Gold win took an incredible amount of discipline, determination and focus, but with Amy’s drive for a challenge she had it nailed.
As a student in Bath, and a track athlete in the local club, Amy took a rare opportunity in the summer of 2002 to try-out the newly-installed bobsleigh and skeleton push-start training facility at Bath University. Wanting a chance to represent her country in an Olympic sport, Amy readily accepted the invitation to join the British Skeleton development programme and began to learn the art of sliding.
This became the beginning of a triumphant career in professional sport, culminating in her historic Olympic triumph. Little did she realise it at the time, but this was actually not only the only medal for Great Britain in the Vancouver Games, but also Great Britain’s first Gold Medal in an individual event for 30 years, and the first by a woman for 58 years. AMAZING AMY indeed!
Following the Games, Amy was awarded her MBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours and was further honoured to become the first-ever female Freeman of the City of Bath, Somerset; her home-town and where she trained in preparation for her Olympic triumph I was short-listed for the 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and I received the Daily Mail’s Ian Wooldridge Award.
Moving on Amy has established herself as familiar face on national television presenting for the likes of the BBC on BBC Sport’s Ski Sunday and she also delivers incredible fitness support to the world through her personal social channels as personal trainer and fitness instructor.
As a mother of two Amy is proving that a healthy lifestyle, successful career and peak fitness is all possible with the right determination.
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.
Over the last four years, Vanessa Ruck, also known to her thousands of followers across the world as @TheGirlOnABike, has explored the world – both on and off-road – always equipped with her Cardo Systems PACKTALK Bold.
Following a life-changing accident in March 2014, after being hit by a red-light-jumping car while out cycling, the PACKTALK unit has played a vital role in her road to recovery and regaining her confidence on two-wheels. Taking the PACKTALK Bold to 18 countries – to date – and using it for cruising on her Harley, adventure and enduro riding, Vanessa now wouldn’t ride without it.
Vanessa comments: “After an accident, it’s very easy to lose your confidence. Having the ability to speak to my husband while riding has been a big support for me getting back out there. It’s given the freedom to try new things, knowing that I’m not alone. What I didn’t know was the level of the journey I would embark on!”
Having never used communications units before, research was key when Vanessa was choosing the best unit for her requirements, upgrading as the range and features developed – starting with the Q3 and now riding with the PACKTALK Bold.
“We needed a reliable system and wanted a good battery life and range. We also wanted something to face all the elements. Everything that Cardo Systems offers. Although, back then though, we didn’t think we were going to be using them for the hard enduro riding and off-road riding that we do now!”
The PACKTALK Bold units are used in a variety of ways by Vanessa while riding alone and with other riders – features such as the waterproofness, Dynamic Mesh Communication (DMC), natural voice operation and sound quality being key benefits over competitors.
“I’ve thrown everything at the units – from snow enduro riding in the Ukraine and falling head first in the snow, connecting with friends while green laning and to two-way comms with my husband while riding my Harley! They’ve stood up to every challenge whether that’s navigating this year’s Valley’s Xtreme hard enduro event in the UK or navigating London on two wheels…
“On a safety level it’s great – warning each other of rogue car drivers or patches of oil on the road or avoiding pile-ups off-road or telling others of debris on the lane. On the social-side it’s a hoot! It means you can enjoy the adventure together!
“It still blows my mind how streamlined the different functions are. Being able to chat, navigate and listen to music all in one space is just ace!”
Vanessa is currently taking part in the ACU Michelin British Enduro Championship and the British Extreme Enduro Championship in the UK on her 2020 Husqvarna 250i and has entered the Red Bull Romaniacs in the IRideWess hard enduro in July and the Hellas Rally in Greece in May.
For the rest of the Cardo Systems 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.
From Tour Enduro Sardegna website: In February 2020 we had the pleasure of hosting Vanessa Ruck (aka The Girl on a Bike) as a participant in a 3-day tour of Barbagia.In this video, Vanessa tells us about her experience and her impressions during the 3 days of tour.
Vanessa is probably the best “woman Rider” who took part in one of our tours, she showed excellent technical and physical qualities, as well as being an example of positivity.
For the rest of the Tour Enduro Sardegna 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.
Podcast appearance with Trials Australia: We have something a little different for you this week. Vanessa Ruck is the person behind the Girl on a Bike blog. As you will hear in the fascinating and inspiring story is how Vanessa has used motorcycling as a target to help her recover from some quit debilitating injuries.
After having a bicycle accident in March 2014 Vanessa has since been on a roller coaster with a 6.5 year recovery seeing 7 surgeries and two reconstructed body parts.
Throughout this time, Vanessa discovered motorcycles. Starting with cruising but rapidly ramping up to adventure, hard enduro and now…of particular interest to us…trials!.
We will hear how Vanessa used motorcycling as a goal to help her with her recovery and how she went from her first bike to the N+1 approach to bikes!
For the rest of the Trials Australia 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.
If you’ve ever scrolled through adventure biking photos on social media, chances are you’ve come across images of Vanessa Ruck, aka The Girl On A Bike, ripping up the trails on various mud-splattered motorcycles. But behind the action shots and infectious smile that she shares with her thousands of followers online is a story of grit, determination, and a refusal to give up on a motorcycling dream. Ollie Rooke caught up with Vanessa to discover the incredible story behind The Girl On A Bike and to find out how the Adventure Bike Rider Festival inspired her.
It was a bicycle accident of all things that got Vanessa Ruck into motorcycling. She was cycling home from work one night when a car ran a red light and knocked her flying. After being rushed to hospital, doctors failed to properly identify her injuries and sent her home. It was a fateful decision that would have painful repercussions and change the course of Vanessa’s life.
She says: “Back then I was fit, I was athletic, and I was healthy but that all changed when I got on my bicycle after work. If I fast-forward to now, I’ve had seven surgeries including a reconstructed shoulder and hip. They couldn’t have been more wrong that night at the hospital. I was actually sent home with bruising!
“When I finally got treatment, my recovery was a bit of a rollercoaster. They’d tell me I was doing alright but then I’d hurt and I knew it wasn’t right, so I’d go back and do more tests and they’d spot something else that they’d missed. Then I’d be back in for more surgery.”
Despite enduring several years of reconstructive surgeries and painful rehabilitation, Vanessa admits, perhaps surprisingly, that she wouldn’t change anything because it was that accident that led to her pursue her motorcycling dreams and the creation of The Girl On A Bike….
For the rest please head to Adventure Bike Rider here:
Vanessa Ruck in news with Adventure Bike Rider magazine
Here’s my dream garage as seen in the Teng Tools Magazine.
In 2017 we broke ground on a mission to build our dream garage. Living in a 2-bedroom end of terrace utilising all the available space was key to enabling us to fit a double garage…no more motorbikes in the dining room and conservatory! Six months later and we had the making of our new haven, soon to become the most used space in the house but it just wasn’t quite there… Then, 2020 saw us jump in and our dreams materialised. A full Teng Tools set up with eye catching red units and a comprehensive set-up of tools all housed in the EV foam. We got organised and lock-down gave us the perfect gift of time to get it all sorted.
the girl on a bike Teng tools Michelin rabaconda dream garage 3
As home hobby mechanics and motorcycle racers we’re always in the garage tinkering. Over the years we had built a sporadic collection of odd tools but it was always a hunt when we needed one. That darn 10 mm spanner…
Some call if OCD but I call it organised and the best way to get a job done.
When we’re doing a job, whether that’s a full two stroke rebuild or simple brake service, knowing exactly where the tools are makes things so much easier. We have everything organised with ergonomics in mind. The most used tools ready at arm’s reach, the mobile toolbox all set to deploy into the trailer for races and a set up of our dreams.
We knew our garage kit would be one for life, tools we would spend hours and hours of our lives using so we wanted the best. The thought in design, the precision in machining and quality of the finish. Going Teng Tools, it was a no-brainer.
The Girl On A Bike – The Dream Workshop – Teng Tools
Lock-down fun has included:
Getting those finishing touches organising the garage done, such as mounting the pit tool case on its own shelf, organising our enduro kits, creating a mobile island for working, getting the tools settled in the best draw configurations
Expanding the family with a new garage hoover, Charlie, to keep things tidy
U Perform Ambassador Spotlight – Vanessa aka @thegirlonabike
I am super honoured to say U Peform have featured me in their Ambassador Spotlight. Here’s waht they had to say:
For our first Ambassador Spotlight, we would like introduce to you Vanessa, aka @thegirlonabike, a hard enduro rider who’s battled through from a life changing accident.
Here’s Vanessa to tell her story:
Vanessa: 6 years ago, in a single moment, life as I knew it was taken away by the momentary lapse in judgement of a red-light-jumping car while I was cycling. As an incredibly fit athlete prior to this, the world as I knew it changed.
U Perform: What you experienced was a serious incident. Recovery must have been an equally challenging experience for you?
Vanessa: My recovery to fitness took a little over 5 years with 6 major surgeries and I’m now partly bionic with a reconstructed shoulder and hip. There is not a day that goes by where I’m not aware of the physical implications. From simple things like getting stuck in a tight jumper because my shoulder doesn’t function like it used to, to pushing on through pain picking up a 100kg motorcycle in the mud.
In many cases, pain is the body’s way of telling you to stop and rest, however once you’ve had significant injuries it’s possible that the pain just never really goes away. If I always listened to the pain and rested, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now.
U Perform: Can you sum up what you have you learnt from this experience? And what have you done to support your recovery and your body?
Vanessa: The body is a really darn complex thing but with the right love and attention it can do wonderful things. As part of my recovery, I decided to start taking U Perform Active Collagen. Most will think of gorgeous smooth skin and wonderful hair but that’s not why I’m on it…although I don’t complain for those benefits.
I’m on it because collagen contributes to the maintenance of ligaments and tendons, soft tissue repair, and protein synthesis, so recovery, healing and a smooth working body! My hip, something I battle with every day is ready feeling the benefits. I honestly, don’t think I will ever stop taking it and wished I had discovered it ten years ago!
U Perform: We know our products are fantastic. But what you made choose U Perform?
Vanessa: U Perform was the obvious choice for me! You get what you pay for and with U Perform Active Collagen I know I’m getting an athlete level dosage to give me the largest possible gains collagen can give.
U Perform: What are your goals for this year?
Vanessa: With my 5th hip surgery on June 6th my 2020 goals are to get back on the bike and then I’m going to be pushing by body hard to hit @redbullromaniacs and @hellasrally on my Husqvarna TE 250i motorcycle.
My body, my one home for life, is getting all the love I can give it and U Perform Active Collagen is fundamental to that journey.
To follow Vanessa on her journey and to find out more about how U Perform is supporting her, check out her social media and website.
BBC Radio Pause for thought – the power of a simple hello
As heard on BBC Radio Oxford
My pause for thought stems from a simple hello. I remember as a child growing up, we lived on a cul de sac, we knew all the neighbours, parents chatted, kids roamed from garden to garden. All happily bonding as a community. You’d walk to the local shop and say hello to people simply because you both lived there, not necessarily because you knew them. Fast forward 25 years, yes, I’m giving my age away, but the world feels really different. People busy going about their own business, no time to stop or even pause to smile. Head down, often with headphones or eyes glued to screens. An aerial video would probably look like the organised chaos of ants, all going about their own business, seamlessly passing and ignoring each other. But then something happened…
The power of smiles
Lock-down hit and the world was turned to four walls at home. Human contact was removed from our every day lives. Yes, video calling boomed but that animal instinct need for physical interactions was not taken away. I noticed something magical though, at least in Oxfordshire, when social distancing for walks in the park and essential trips started to pick up, interactions seemed to change. A once almost awkward hello from an over friendly stranger has now become something of the norm. I go out for a walk now and everyone seems to smile, people even use their voices and say hello. Hello to total strangers. It’s almost the total opposite, before the odd person who said hi was strange, now it’s the odd person who doesn’t say hi that comes across as strange! We’re all waving, nodding, smiling and actually acknowledging each other. It’s almost like the lack of connection has awoken a whole new appreciation for human interactions, even if it is with a stranger. It is lovely.
I like to think of it as the smile ripple. Just like a drop in the pod rippling across the surface of the water, so too can our smiles spread. My mum would tell me a smile costs nothing but can bring so much joy, so much so it can totally uplift a person’s day. And, smiling at one person, will most likely lead to them feeling a little warm glow, which leads to another smile, and another. And before you know it one smile has brightened up the lives of a whole handful of people, just from a friendly hello.
As life returns to a new form of normal, I hope this new energy for politeness and positive human interaction will continue. Let us all smile at the next person we see.
Thank you for reading my pause for thought as heard on BBC Radio Oxford
Pause for thought – do we really need so much stuff?
As heard on BBC Radio Oxford
My pause for thought is reflecting on all the things around me. Since life changed with the nation going into lock-down we have been living in a different world. Previously at the click of a button or quick pop to the shops we could get pretty much anything we could wish for. Whether that be toilet paper or something more exotic. However, with many business closing in quarantine, times changed. There is no longer this instant gratification and convenience to get your hands on ‘things’ and this has led me to a realisation on many occasions…a thought process where I went from ok I ‘need’ new thing, to…can I get it?, to…do I really need it, all the way to actually, I really can live without it and actually I already have that which would do just as well…or even a full realisation that I just didn’t need it. That is time not used, money not spent and energy saved just from having to really think about the need.
I’m appreciating the value in things around me to a new level. The things I already have. Last month I trimmed a small tree down in the front garden and without thinking threw it in the wheelie bin for the refuge team to take away. But then I realised. That wood, is valuable to me. If I take the time to cut it and store it, in a few weeks I’ll have wood to fuel our little chimenea in the garden. Unable to go out and buy wood we’ve since had cherished fire side evenings burning what I once saw as waste. In modern life it is sometimes too easy to just go out and buy ready to use things, disregarding the waste or whether we really need it.
Cherished fire side evenings burning what I once saw as waste
Maybe I’ve been running life at such a pace I’ve lost my grounding, but with lock-down I’m feeling a new energy from opening my eyes to what I really need. I’ve got by with less stuff but has my quality of life been impacted? If anything, it’s rather uplifting to see I don’t need so much.
It seems this can also relate to the ‘admin’ of life. Many are returning to reduced capacity working environments where the focus is on the essentials, and what is incredible is that in many places, this is not showing huge gaping holes opening up, but instead highlighting that in countless ways the world can go round with less energy. The efficiencies of a reduced team or the forced requirement to re-think how things are done, streamline processes, are leading to less admin and more productivity. The pointless emails or amount spent traveling for a meeting that could easily be done on a video call.
There’s so much inefficiency in the world. So much stuff. So much waste. Chasing things, where actually, lock-down as proven to me that things don’t bring happiness. Experiences and time, connections and friendships, they bring happiness.
A precious commodity in manic modern life.
Experiences and time, connections and friendships, they bring happiness.
Thank you for reading my pause for thought as heard on BBC Radio Oxford
