Sadly, Money Does Make the World Go Round

It's hard trying to pursue a career in motorsports when you started old.....at the age of 18. Yes. That's considered old. But it's especially hard as a woman pursuing a career in it.

A lot of people say I have that going to my advantage. I'm taking podiums, racing classes above my own, and I'm pretty. Getting sponsors and going pro should be easy right?! Wrong.

If there's one thing I've learned about the motorsports world is you could be the biggest hot shot in the world but if you don't have money. You don't get to go pro. And I'm not talking having a really good job, and making $80,000+ annually in a stable desk job. The logistics of the sport are insane. Every weekend is a 4 day weekend. Thursday nights is arrival, pit assembly, technical inspection, race registration, any last minute checks and tweaks that need to be done to the bike, rider conferences, press conferences, and more, by the time you're done, if it's just you and a friend, it's at least 9:30pm. Then you need to start thinking about food or if you'll just skip it to get some sleep.

Friday is an early start, typically around 5 or 6 am, in order to eat and have a decent amount of time to not be in a rush. Friday is all day practice, this is considered "testing" for the motorcycle. You test gear changes, adjust suspension and engine tuning according the track your running. Consider the geometry of the bike to improve handling. Every track is different, so the bike must be tuned to the track for optimum riding conditions. If there were minimal issues with the bike then your day could be done between 6-8pm. If there additional complications during testing, you could be working on the motorcycle late into the night. I've been up until 1 am before helping other racers attempt to diagnose engine troubles.

Saturday is the same early start but with Qualifying in the air. This is how the race starts are determined. If you turn the fastest lap in the qualifying session, you get to start at the head of the grid. The pressure on the racers could be considered more intense during qualifying than actual racing as this is where your spot on the starting grid is determined. Everyone is pushing themselves to the max. Similar to Friday, the evenings can get quite long. Depending on how you qualify you could be invited to press conferences, interviews, photoshoots and other media requirements. Then staying up late to work on the bike some more.

Sunday is the race day. It's not just the race though. Everyone sees the racers battle on track, the anticipation about how the racers sort themselves out when they go 7 wide into a turn. We all see the celebration and happiness the winners exude. But what we don't see is their sheer exhaustion from the work. The sore limbs, and mental fatigue while they smile through numerous autographs, interviews and televised celebrations in the winners circle. But after all the press, they need to go back and tear down their pit area, pack up and start heading to the next race across the country, or even in another country.

So having a stable job while racing a professional circuit is nearly impossible as you are constantly on the road, traveling with only your training and racing in mind. In order to get any proper rest as a racer, you need a mechanic who is willing to stay up those late hours working on your bike while you sleep. You need a driver, whose willing to get your stuff from circuit to circuit. You need a personal representative to help you organize your meetings and press conferences, and you need a team manager who is willing to go out and create contracts with sponsors to bring the team money.

So why do people continue to partake in this sport when it is so hard to fund? My passion for this sport comes from how I exist when I ride. It is the only time I have truly felt my brain go quite, when I ride or race for long enough, I can actually observe how my brain thinks. Discover things I might not necessarily want to know about myself. It's in this state that I think of it as "meditation", and it's in this state where I truly feel at home.

As of now, club racing is the only affordable racing option I have, using all of my designated vacation time for those five weekends a year. Dreaming of the day I find enough sponsors to afford to take on the professional circuit.

The track itself has always been a sort of home to me, the people I meet, both good and bad. The experiences I have, I wouldn't have any of it without the race track and I want to encourage and inspire other people to chase their own individual passions, so they can find something that makes them feel equally at home.

I have encountered a lot of challenges entering the world of motorsports, and I want to help and guide others in pursuing their dreams. My ultimate dream would be to get paid to produce content about my experiences, by vlog, blog, social media, podcasts. I want to do it all and create platforms where I can offer advice in a wide range of categories. Whether it's needing to hear a specific strain of encouragement to keep pushing like I did at one point, and still do sometimes. Or it's advice on how to find the best gear, and offering gear reviews. Or it's writing about my experiences and how I overcame them so that others can feel inspired to do the same.

I want to live in a world where people are okay with pursuing what terrifies them, whether it be as simple as hoping on a horse for the first time, learning what it is like to be self sustaining or pursuing a sport they feel like they can't be apart of but it intrigues them enough to want to try. I want to help people discover what makes them happy and inspire them to pursue it, then watch it unfold as they find their happiness too.