I am a woman, independent, early 30s, no children
or major responsibilities, I love riding dirt bikes and the
general thrill and freedom of two wheels. The situation
was that I was at home in the UK, with no motorbike and
no riding buddies … I grew up in Australia where I learnt
to ride motorbikes … My two wheeled activities since
being in the UK consisted of mountain biking, which
is great given the number of incredible trails we have
access to, but recently my urge to ride moto was so great,
that I began desperately to search for a way I could get
my fix.
I wanted to ride off road, preferably remotely, I want-
ed to challenge myself, and I wanted to do so in a sup-
ported environment, so that when I inevitably fell off my
bike I wouldn’t be stranded alone, stuck in a puddle or on
a mountainside somewhere.
Were there other women out there in the same posi-
tion as me? Wanting to get out and ride, but without a
‘crew’ to ride with? I scoured the internet, looking for
a ‘lady dirt bike scene’, when I stumbled across an ar-
ticle online written by another solo female rider about
the Bosnia Rally. She had been invited by the organiser
to participate and write about the event. Her post was
titled something like, "Getting ready for the Bosnia Rally,
who’s coming?" My reaction was, 'well if she’s doing it, I
bloody am!!' And it hit me that rally riding was perhaps
not just something I watched on television with my dad,
once a year, in admiration of the Dakar, but something I
could actually have a crack at.
A bunch of dirt bike riders let loose in the Bosnian
countryside with nothing but a paper set of directions to
guide them? Um, yes please!
I was curious, competitive, eager to get out and ride,
and busting for a serious adventure. I signed up almost
immediately.
Two weeks later I arrived at the hotel just outside of
Kupres, home base or ‘Biovac’ of the Rally. A 31 year
old, Australian country girl with a background in riding
cheap dirt bikes around the farm and local trails; mostly
sandy, and mostly flat.
I’d never ridden in Europe and I didn’t know a single
other person at the rally. It turned out that 95% of the
other riders were either German or Austrian. I later
learnt that both of those countries have strict rules
against riding off road … both countries closed to the dirt
rider/ 4x4 enthusiasts. Poor buggers!
There was one other native English speaker, a man
from Texas. The rest were from various other European
countries. There were a total of 10 other women riders;
most of them with their partners, just a couple were
riding solo, including Egle (Gerulaitye), who’d written the
piece which inspired me to go in the first place. Coin-
cidently, she ended up being my room mate and riding
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