First Timer at a Rally... The Impala Rally 2012

My parents and I attended our very first Impally Rally at the end of February. We didn’t really now what to expect but we were excited! Now bear in mind, I still had to work till 12 and after work I sat for 2 hours at Jaded Ink in Fourways to get my new tattoo!

We headed out to Harties that afternoon (bandaged and all) and after sitting in the traffic for about an hour to get into the resort we started making our way through all the people.

First look at all the bikers and all the different clubs, we decided to stick together and just keep our heads down. We tried to avoid eye contact with any person wearing colors or sitting on a Harley Davidson, with tattoos coming out of their ears!



Helicopter view! People had gazebos and braai's up in the street too....



I still don’t know why everyone stared at my bandaged arm… did they think I fell of a bike or gotten into a fight? No… they thought I got a tattoo at the Impala Rally under some sort of gazebo! Didn’t think of that one before I went did I? haha!

We visited almost all of the stalls and between chowing biltong and having a few beers we realized that big scary biker guys are actually just a bunch of kids when it comes to their toys and that we have nothing to be scared of!

My parents hit the road and I spent the rest of the evening with the BikeSA crew helping them get ready for price giving. What a mission! Those guys really put HUGE efforts into making such a big rally a success.

I was lucky enough to be on stage with them and infront of me I just saw this huge huge crowd of people. One looking more big, rough and scarier than the other.



The view from the stage.... whoooole lot of people there!



The final 3were up on the stage for the lucky draw of a ZX 14. Wow, the excitement was pretty intense!

When Simon called out the winner, this “biker guy” fell to the floor with emotions I have never  seen before. Having goosies all the way down to my small toe I actually realized that all of them have these big hearts and that they are after all only human.

AND THAT MY FRIENDS, is what you call a priceless expression!

It was an awesome weekend and I learned a lot about motorcycle clubs. They pretend to be scary and dangerous but deep down inside they have a heart of gold!

Spent some good time with my very good friend Donovan and the rest of the Bike SA crew.

The legendary Don and I at dinner after an exciting night!

Definitely cannot wait for the next one!

One Stupidly busy weekend between Harties and Carousel!

So I was asked to go race at the Carousel on the 19th of Feb. 2 Days prior I was rushing around trying to get my licence sorted out! I was super super amped to go racing again especially because it was Supermoto and better yet, I had the chance to experience it on a National level!

Judy teaching us the RIGHT wat of getting on your bike!

It was also a stupidly busy weekend as Keryn and I still had to attend a Enduro Training day at the ADA Training Academy in Harties! Saturday morning we were out the house by 5:30am and headed out to joing 10+ other ladies to learn the BASICS of riding again! What an awesome day though! Judy Veith (who taught me how to ride a dirtbike 2 years ago) was Sergeant Major for the day! The thing I remember most is dont be the tree! HAHA!



DONT BE THE TREE!!!



Keryn looking very stylish!









So my day was cut really short as I had to rush to Carousel for Supermoto Qualifying! I was so tired but i love THAT kind of tired! Almost like you have achieved something! LOL!

We eventually managed to get to Carousel Casino and by that time the butterflies in my tummy have been doing multiple lazyboy backflips (my fav FMX trick by the way)...

I hopped on the #188 practise bike of Bianca Nortje and was fortunate enough to join the support class for their practise as I had already missed the ladies practise! Little did I know, the track was layed out very weird. I found myself "lost" on the first lap as I hadn't a clue which way to go! HAHA! I waited for a few riders and finally managed to get behind Graeme Waghorn for Bike Gear. I followed his lines until I couldnt keep up anymore and luckily knew the track by then!

 

 So, Ladies qualifying was next and i was confident that I would do well! I was very comfortable on the bike and super amped to get out on the track again... I was eventually stopped by the medics around lap 3, and to my surprize they had told me that I was cutting the course... WHAT? HOW? Ok, so somewhere alnog the line I had forgotten that Supermoto was all about 70% tar and 30% dirt... Apparently I was only doing 70% of the track! I eventually managed to pull myself towards myself and qualifying was over!

I was fortunate enough to have my parents there as they were attempting marshalling themselves. How cool are my parents :) !!! We finally managed to get ourselves to the chalet at about 7pm and in my life I have never been so thankfull for a shower! Myself and Craig (one of the marshals) stayed up and waited for the other marshals ro arrive as they were marshalling at a race in Midvaal! (You gotta love the passion) We FINALLY managed to get some shut eye!

7:00 am on race day I was out and about meeting marshals and saying hi to mates!

All 3 heats were over before I knew it and the "stares" from people reminded me why I stopped racing Motocross. I was just there to have fun! In order for the ladies to have a National Championship they need a certain amount of ladies... and that why I hd the chance to race Bianca's second bike! Ill never be as fast as the ladies and I also dont want to be :) Racing is fun for me... not serious and competitive... its a addictive! And I wasnt racing... I was really just rotating the track :)

HUGE THANKS TO BIANCA, BELINDA, GRAEME, BARRY and THE REST OF THE BIKE GEAR TEAM FOR AN AWESOME RACING WEEKEND!



A little more about me... 2004 - beginning of 2012

I was 16 when I came across this thing they call Motorsport. At the time i was still a Capetonian and I went to my very first stock car race at Tygerberg Raceway. Im not too sure what happened there, but I think my soul moved and I fell inlove like a mother does when she has a first child.

I learned how to drive in a 1275 Mini... on a Dirt Oval race track... Im sure I was the happiest chick out there... I was still in school, and working 2 jobs, I managed to pay my little car off in about 5 months. I got my first ever 2nd place trophy and little did I know it would be my 2nd last race in my little car! We had to move to Johannesburg and unfortunatley I had to sell my mini as there were no championships up here for mini's and the cost of racing was almost 10 times more. It was funny though... I used to have fire extinguisher for a feul tank and tyres lasted me the entire season. Here in JHB tyres last you one race, and you have so much more to pay... like entry fees, pit fees ect ect ect.

My Little 1275e Mini

I was in JHB for about a month when my dad took me to a race at Kyalami... soon after that I joined the Kyalami Marshals Association. It would be the closest I would ever get to a race seat again. My heart was broken for a long time but soon found a new love which was marshalling.





Kyalami Marshals Association



Me Again with the World Superbikes Races!



I was fortunate enough to be able to work for Zwartkops Raceway with Peter du Toit and Melanie Spurr but had to leave marshalling because 1) the politics and 2) I had to work at Zwartkops over weekends.

3 years later Honda Westrand gave me a little Honda CRF 150 to race Motocross/Supermoto with. Ofcourse, I had to resign from Zwartkops as I now had to race on weekends...
 I did 2 full motard races and 1 motocross race. I had a proper hollywood crash that had me off the bike for about 6 weeks. Ofcourse, Honda Westrand felt that I was not ready to race (aka not up to their standards) and took the little bike away from me. Needless to say my heart was in a million pieces. I had resinged from the best job ever to race and now can race anymore...

I was fortunate enough to have made awesome friends on the MX scene and Orlando and Elaine De Sa offered to lend me their spare bike which was a Honda CRF 230.  Now THAT was a whole lot of fun. I was still too short for the bike but managed :)

Me on the trusty 230

So.... middle 2011 I got my OWN CRF 150... that no-one could take away from me.
Along the lines somewhere I managed to pick up a new friend and house at the same time. Keryn Elhers (the ONLY lady FMX rider in SA to hit metal) took me under her wing and has been trying to teach me how to jump! I did my very first Freestyle Motocross Open day end of July 2011. Look, I still suck at it, but getting somewhere VERY very slowly! Watch my blogs for more information on the FMX Park called Jungle Rush! So, I now live with her, Ian (her boyfriend) and Nel and Lood. The craziest thing is that ALL of us ride bikes and work for some sort of bike shop. And yes, the cars sleep outside and the bikes are nice and snuggly (spelling?haha) in the garage!

First time at JRC and Keryn had my back!

First ever table top!

The 150 that is now MINE!

To bring you to the lastest chapter of my life, I resigned from the corporate world and took up the sales and desk position at ASAP Racing in Fourways. We are a dirtbike workshop and most probably have the most awesomest people working here!

ASAP Racing Team

So, you know a whole lot more about me in a few short paragraphs and I look forward to posting more blogs soon!

Cheers for now,

McFall

"Never ride faster than your angel can fly"



This me :)