Female superbikers go on Spanish camp
Former Boksburg superbiker Nicole van Aswegen, was one of 26 women who were part of the super bike Spanish camp, which took place during the first week of October.
The three-day camp, which was organised by Women In Motorsport (WIM), saw Spanish and American trainers teach the 26 trainees all-things-motorbikes, including how to handle and ride the two-wheeler.
The 26 riders were from 10 different countries, including South Africa and the host nation Spain.
Day one of the camp saw the riders meet each other and getting into terms with Spanish surroundings. The superbikers also met their different coaches including American rider Melissa Paris.
An exciting first day was capped-off with the group being introduced to the toys they were going to ride during camp – brand new BMW S1000RRs.
After familiarising themselves with the track they were going to use throughout the camp in day one, day two presented a different challenge where the riders were required to ride without supervision from their trainers.
They spent two hours on the track, putting into practice what they had learnt from a class lesson they had in the early hours of the day.
“Shelina gave us some very important tips on how to approach sponsors and how we should dress and smile at the track,” said van Aswegen (26), referring to one of the coaches, Shelina Moreda.
“I found this very interesting and useful and I will certainly be putting this to good use in attracting sponsors for 2014, and hopefully be able to return to Spain for a race in one of their series.”
The riders were then allowed to end day two by walking around the streets of Spain, which van Aswegen had mixed feelings about.
“The walking around was an amazing experience, as much as it was a hard one because of the language barrier,” she said.
“Even trying to to explain to them (the Spanish) the type of food you eat was a problem.”
Then came the third and last day of the camp.
On this day, the riders watched the 600 Race before having their last practice session on camp, which van Aswegen clearly enjoyed.
“Hopefully I impressed one or two people to be invited back.
“I am so grateful for being given the opportunity to have been part of this amazing experience.”
