When Maja met...Vanessa
Motorcycle Sport & Leisure|September 2022
Vanessa Ruck, aka The Girl on a Bike, talks to Maja about her recovery from a road accident, how motorcycling became a part of her life, and who she is now.
Maja Kenney
When Maja met...Vanessa

Vanessa is an inspiration and an embodiment of determination, fighting spirit and overcoming obstacles, all mixed with a healthy dose of stubbornness. From a road accident that has seen her bed-bound for weeks at a time, having to have parts of her body reconstructed and several big surgeries over the last few years, she’s never given up. Always an adrenaline junkie, and looking for that next fix with extreme sport, she had to adjust to a new life and learn what her body allowed her to do safely whilst still delivering that rush of adrenalin she craves so much.

MAJA: You started your motorcycling journey after the accident. Had you ridden a motorcycle before the accident?

VANESSA: I wasn’t an active motorcycle rider before the accident. I did have a bike when I was 20 years old, and I was doing my undergraduate degree and my work placement year in the Bahamas. Being a student on internship I didn’t have the money to buy a car, but I needed a way to go around the island. I figured a motorbike would be just perfect. I’d never ridden a bike before and thought, ‘How hard can it be?’. I ended up buying a bike online, a Lifan Enduro 250, and it arrived unassembled in a box. Thankfully, I managed to trade a bottle of rum with a local mechanic who put it all together and showed me how to use it. It was meant as a means of transport, but it was quite an adventure, lots of sand and track riding. I returned to the UK and passed my full access licence, but then years went by where I never even thought about the bikes. At the time having a car was more practical and I didn’t have the funds to run a second vehicle.

This story is from the September 2022 edition of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.

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This story is from the September 2022 edition of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.

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