1612 DT final

Words: Kim Birkby Pics: Adrian Bowen
CROSSING
OVER…
TO THE
RIDE SIDE
LEARNING HOW TO RIDE AT RSR
I am a forty something year old mother of 2 teenagers
and have been with Zenon for the last 8 years. In this time I
have been the mom and wife who packs the snacks, runs
around filling jerry cans and washing mx gear, cleaning
helmets and boots, powdering leathers, attending both
race days and outrides, but have always been the just the
spectator or pit crew to my husband and son.
Even though I am a hectic #99 fan and absolutely love
MotoGP and Moto 3, I have never really felt the want or
need to ride a bike, but both my husband and son have
egged me on to try learn, this I am sure was all done in
the hope that I would be bitten by the bug and give in to
buying a bike.
So I eventually agreed to give it a try, but made hubby
promise that he would be nowhere in sight when I was
in training (just in case I was absolutely useless). My
daughter Siobhan Bowen also attended the training as she
had only ever ridden a pee wee 50 and was also very keen
to learn so that she could ride with the boys.
We arrived at Redstar Raceway at 08h30am. It was a
very chilly overcast morning, and I was almost praying that
they would cancel the training. Alas – Aunty Sue was ready
for us and we filled in the necessary registration forms.
We were then invited in to the rider briefing hall, where
all the guys who were riding on the track that day, were
addressed by Jacques (the owner of the facility). The
riders briefing was very in detail and I noticed that there was
a lot of emphasis on paying attention to the flags. I glanced
across at the poster on the wall and thought “how the heck
am I going to remember all of this?”. Jacques was very cool
and welcomed all the lady riders who were there to learn
and assured us that we would be well taken care of.
We were guided through to a classroom and we were
introduced to Davian Barnard and Ruan van Wyngaard,
our instructors for the day.
Davian was thorough and worked through a
comprehensive presentation which dealt with important
information such as what the correct gear is to wear when
riding, the importance of paying close attention to what
both he and Ruan were saying, keeping well hydrated, but
mostly that we were there to learn and have fun.
Good Luck I thought…..I have NEVER ridden a bike -
you guys are going to spend your afternoon either pulling
your hair out, or loading me in the ambulance!
So after we had completed the classroom coaching,
we were taken outside and were told to get onto the
36 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2016