This is My Bike


This is My Bike. I wanted to show you a photograph of us, because we have a very special relationship. It’s not used for commuting or any practical use at all, despite that... I couldn’t live without it. I am a wedding dress designer and I have worked hard over the last couple of years to set up my business, and grow it. So much so that in November I won Scottish Bridal Designer of the year 2009 for my business “Freja Designer Dressmaking”. The day after I won I had the media asking for a photograph, and the most appropriate I thought, was to take a photograph of me, in one of my designs on my motorbike, as it’s my bike which has carried me through it all. I work a lot of hours designing and making the wedding dresses and in general the running of my business. It can be a very demanding job with endless deadlines, and all that goes with this. So when I have time off, I go out on my bike. It’s such a great release, I have no doubt that my bike keeps me sane in these really busy times. In my circle of bike-friends, there are lots of people with technical – practical jobs, like mechanics, engineers etc. I am really not any different, as making dresses is really architecture, designed to move.	Most people would think of a wedding dress designer to be one who wears tiaras and arrange flowers in her spare time. And that may be right for some, but I love to ride my motorbike. While out on my motorbike, I feel I use all the skills I don’t get to use during working hours. I also feel I get through a whole other range of emotions than those used at work. I use this as the most important thing to combat stress and to develop and become a more open and complete human being. Using our lives to challenge ourselves and become “better” in all ways of life. That is what makes us complete people. The VTR is a great bike. It has plenty torque, it’s so reliable and needs hardly any maintenance. It’s not great through town and I do find the slow controls difficult. But for my use it does not matter, as I use it on open roads and in the countryside, often riding up into The Highlands for an overnight run. I have had a lot of different bikes since passing my bike test in 1998. I started up on two-strokes, what brilliant fun I have had on my Yamaha TZR250. Next I got a Yamaha LC350, then I got a Kawasaki GPX600R. The GPX was a long serving bike for me, while I needed a stable bike for commuting. It was on this bike I passed my Institute Of Advanced Motorcyclists test on. I did a lot of miles on it, and it	was so brilliant.. .did exactly what it said on the tin. Then I had a few really long touring trips on a Ducati 900SS and that suited me down to the ground. After this, I tried a brand new Aprilla RSV1000 on the track.. and dropped it.. in the paddock, ooops, found it rather difficult being such a high, bike, and having the old problem with the jerky twin-engine in slow control. Then I had a short time riding a GSXR600, this was an amazing bike which Ian Lougher won the production 600 race at the Isle of Man in 2002. However... we didn’t really ever seem to bond. Perhaps I did not have the “stamina” to get it set up properly.. I was faffing about with it for a while, but I think my riding style was far from Ian Loughers... while racing at the TT. So it truly was love at first sight, when I saw the VTR1000, the guy I bought it from had kept in perfect condition, and despite living in Scotland, I seem to always have great weather when I go out on it. I hope to keep this bike for a long time and to keep developing my skills as rider, which I feel will help me achieve my goals at work and play.