Pretty Tough - for Girls who Kick Butt! » A PRETTY TOUGH Harescrambler

A PRETTY TOUGH Harescrambler

by Becki Wheeler
July 27, 2008 - So, I know it’s been a while since I wrote in about my quad racing….between moving from TN to NY, work, practice riding and actual racing, I’ve been super busy this summer…

All excuses aside, I’ve had a pretty good season so far (knock on wood for me now!!). Round 8 of the 14 race series just passed and I’m currently sitting 2^nd in points. Not bad for my first year right??

To catch everyone up on me, I’m currently in my second year of riding, I started racing about 4 months after starting to ride. Way to dive right on in huh? Anywho, all last summer/winter I focused on racing the motocross/super cross tracks …I liked them better. People were able to see me, I was able to practice before the race, and I really liked the whole flying through the air off the jumps thing. That was in Tennessee.

Now we’ve moved to NY and my husband is an avid hare scramble racer. A hare scramble race, for those of you who don’t know, consists of usually a 6-12 mile course going through woods, field tracks, creeks, up hills, off camber sections and rock gardens. The racer does as many laps as they can in a certain amount of time. For the series I race, WNYOA Harescrambles, our length is an 1 ½ hours unless it’s a national event or GNCC.

So, motocross series race primarily Sundays, the same days the hare scramble series race. Since I’m fairly new to the sport and my husband has been racing hare scrambles for nearly 5 years, I decided to give it a whirl. Keep in mind, I’m in my second year of even riding, and all my experience in Tennessee was on the mx/sx tracks…..you could say I was quite nervous to start the series in May. Especially when I found out the main girls I’d be racing against all had atleast 3 race seasons under their belts…

So, with three other girls showing up to nearly every race, we have a pretty decent women’s quad class…of course sometimes there’s more than the four of us with day riders and such…but, I’m sooo proud to say that of the four of us, I am the only one to show up and finish all 8 races. Now that’s Pretty Tough hard work and dedication right there J

This season has not been easy for me, by any means. These girls I race are fast, a lot faster than me at certain races for sure. But, I don’t let that get me down, I CAN’T let that get me down. People count on me at these races. Sponsors count on me at these races. I count on me at these races. Everyone says I’m learning so fast, and at times I really believe them. Every chance on the track means a new opportunity to learn more about me, the quad, the woods, the….everything.

This season I’ve come to realize I don’t race just for fun like so many others do….I don’t race just for me, I don’t race just for the friends, or just for the sponsors that come with being at the track every weekend promoting their brand. I race because, aside from the list above, I’m paving a way for younger girls….for other girls that want to be like me. I’m racing for those girls that have dreams of going far on motorcycles and quads. I’m racing to prove that girls are no different than guys on these tracks, and trails. That we can be just as fast as the other sex, and with the right equipment, we can be even faster than them.

I love riding and racing. I love being an inspiration to the girls on the sidelines watching their boyfriends and husbands race. There’s nothing better than seeing a group of women on the side of the track jumping, hootin’ and hollering for you as you go by just cause you’re a girl. A girl who doesn’t let the typical stereotypes stand in her way of becoming the racer she dreams of being. A girl who is and always will be…Pretty Tough.