Traverse 12 | Page 11

I'M NOT EXACTLY BUILT FOR RACING Peering from her mother’s front window, Stephanie Rowe would often glimpse a small road-based motorcy- cle parked roadside. Working up the courage for a closer look the 21-year-old soon asked herself, ‘Why don’t I have a motorcycle license?’, with it the seed had been sown. “The following week I booked a weeklong training course and got my license,” Stephanie grins. “I bought my first bike and got completely addicted.” The addiction took a greater hold, Stephanie was hooked and before long green laning, jumping at the chance to ‘play in the mud’. “It was the most exhilarating thing I’d ever done,” Stephanie grins again. “I remember falling off at the first little rut!” That first experience led to more, Stephanie was soon riding a TTR600 to Morocco with friends. Green laning was now a thing of the past, it offered little excitement. Needing more Stephanie entered a two-day rally. “It was a gruelling race, but I loved the challenge,” an enduro bike was purchased and the racing began. “The first enduro I entered … was a round of the Brit- ish Sprint Championship,” Stephanie laughs. “It didn’t Pic: Actiongraphers TRAVERSE 11