Being a female stunt rider myself, I know how tough things can get during the training process and build-up of your career, However, I am not alone. We spoke exclusively to Ewa Pieniakowska, Poland’s first female stunt rider, to find out exactly what it was like for her.
‘Despite financial obstacles and with head full of dreams, I gained the strength, will power and dedication I needed to become a stunt rider.’
After many unsuccessful attempts, lots of injuries and moments full of resignation, Ewa became the first Street bike Freestyle representative of females in Poland. She was the first female to take part in a stunt competition which was during the 2009 Street Fighter Festival in Bielawa. Due to the fact that there wasn’t any women's classification, she faced a very tough experience competing with a group of male stunt riders. Although Ewa faced a hard challenge to try and beat the men of the sport, she managed to score enough points in the standard class to move on to the final. She then carried on to several other important events following her previous success within the competition.
Ewa told us, ‘I was brought up in a driving family. As far as I can remember, I was fascinated by the possibility of using motorcycles in an unusual way. I have always wanted to do something in my life different from the others.’
Ewa admired her cousin’s achievements, who is also a stunt rider, as well as her uncle who had a hand in stunt riding in the past. Due to this, Ewa says that the desire to stunt was already planted in her mind and thus, the adventure with motorcycles soon begun!
The first bike she had was a Suzuki RG80 of which she rode around the grass in her grandmother's orchard. To gain more knowledge of riding a motorcycle, Ewa asked her cousin, Stunter 13, if she could take lessons from him. Of course he said yes and she used his Honda CBR 600 F3 bike across the fields and not on the road.
Soon after learning the basics on a motorcycle, she then realised that she had to raise enough money to buy her own. She still didn’t have the financial support, but at the same time felt so passionate about getting out there and learning to stunt!
Ewa Says, ‘I was searching through my cousins shed for a small, old, battered moped with a Simson's engine which was designed by JanekExtreme a long time ago. I restored it and used it for my initial training. One of my goals was to learn how to lift the front wheel from the ground. Unfortunately though, my moped began to fade away and it was very difficult to make it work again.’ Still, she didn't give up trying to put fix up her old vehicle, until one day she borrowed a small, marvellous 4 stroke Honda XR50R from her cousin of which she used for some time.
Ewa continued to dream about getting a bike of which was strong and capable enough to do the tricks she demands from it. She finally managed to make that dream a reality and got a Honda CBR 600 F3. This is the exact bike of which Ewa uses today and works so very hard to gain the knowledge and experience she needs to be a great stunt rider.
Like many of us, she feels as if she doesn't train enough. She said ‘I dream about the whole month full of training but instead I only get to train when I manage to wangle days off. Sometimes I don’t feel in the mood to go and lump around a 600, but then I think of all the hard working sports people who just don’t give up, despite their obstacles. This then becomes my driving force.’
Ewa lives and trains in a small town called Niemodlin in Opolskie district. She takes pride in looking after her machine – Just as any rider should, and cares about the technical side of the sport and mechanics too.
The competitions of which Ewa has taken part in are listed below:
- 2009 – Street Fighter Festival – The first woman in Poland and only female rep.
- 2010 – Moto Show, Bielawa – No women’s Classification, she competed only against men.
- 2010 – Extreme Moto, Warsaw – No women’s classification.
- 2010 – Stunt GP, Bydgoszcz – No women’s class, she competed only against men.
- 2010 – Vertical Trix, England – Only female representative, competed only against men.
So, we congratulate Ewa’s bravery and amazing talent as a female representative within the stunt scene and wish her every success within an international following.
You can visit Ewa’s website by following this link http://www.ewapieniakowska.pl/ and join her Facebook fan page here also - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ewa-Pieniakowska/109147639146709
