It could have gone either way for Auckland racer Tawny Floyd. Had the parental units not smartly declined the horse venture, she might have ended up full time in Jodhpurs! Luckily for us, bikes don’t cost anything when they are chilling in the shed, and Tawny discovered the wonderful world of the dirt bike life.

Name: Tawny Floyd
Location: Stanmore Bay, Auckland
Bike: KTM 150XC-W
Been riding for: Since I was 8, 15 years ago

TD: How did you get into riding dirt bikes? Who encouraged you (if anyone)?

TF: used to live next door to a pony club and I loooveed horses and would go over every Saturday for their club days. I always begged for my own horse but was always told they were too expensive and I was too young to make such a big commitment to look after one.

My Dad was really into electronics and gadgets so he had a lot of cool things lying around the garage such as electric scooters, go karts, and a little petrol bike we called The Thingy-ma-jig. I used to hoon up and down the street so my parents decided to get my brother and I a Suzuki DS80 to try out and my Dad bought a 1986 XR200.

We went to Muriwai beach with the DS80, XR, and the Thingy-ma-jig. The DS80 wasn’t meant to be that day, with the kickstart breaking off whilst trying to get it going, just after we pushed it down through the dunes to the hard packed sand!

So, my first ride on a bike was on the front of Dad’s XR along Muriwai Beach. I loved it so much that I kicked Dad’s feet off the pegs, and took over the handlebars so I was fully in control, with Dad hanging off the back, but encouraging me, teaching me how to change the gears and use the brakes.

A little while later we went to one of the Woodhill trail rides where there was a Honda demo tent set up, so it was then when I raced around the peewee track on a little CRF50 that I finally admitted that I enjoyed riding bikes more than horse riding. And the rest is history!

Tell me all about your first bike - what it was and why?

Apart from the shared DS80 with my brother, my first bike was actually a 1988 XR100. It was cheap, reliable and had a clutch. There was plenty of power and it was so plush to ride. With me being like 9 years old on like a 75kg bike, it was far, far too heavy for me. I could only just touch the ground so I would need help getting through the soft sand in the Sandpit carpark to the learner track. I would just keep going round and round so I didn’t need to put my feet down! If I ever dropped the bike, I’d have to wait for Dad to come pick it up for me, haha. Which would become a recurring theme for many years to come.

Starting on the XR made me learn to use the clutch straight away, learn to balance and not put my feet down everywhere, and with the power and height, gave me confidence to get up or over any hill climb.

What was the first thing you learned when you started riding?

The clutch and changing gears, but they weren’t good clutch skills, it was more just to get me going and then to stop without stalling hahah.

What was the first thing you wish you knew before you started riding?

Start with a smaller bike. I’m 5’4, so not the shortest on the track but also not particularly tall. I have been through many bikes - when I moved down to a PW80 and then onto a KX60, I gained a lot more confidence riding as I felt like I wasn’t going to tip over each time I lost my balance. This happened again when I grew a bit and moved up from a CR80 to a WR250F and then onto a couple RMZ250s - they were all too heavy and tall for me.

I have always been a cautious, confidence-based rider so being on the bigger bikes I lost some of my confidence which held me back a lot. It wasn’t until I jumped onto the smaller and lighter KTM Freeride 250 that my riding life changed forever. My confidence just tripled, I went faster than ever, tried things I wouldn’t have done before, and actually for the first time in my life, I really wanted to go faster and improve my skills! Before my Freeride, riding was just a hobby to do on the weekends with Dad. It then became a passion and my life! It was actually Dad’s bike first, but he saw my potential once I got on it, so he let me ride it and improve! It kinda feels like I actually really only started riding when I got the Freeride 7 years ago, it was that significant.

What did you initially find easy about riding dirt bikes?

Being able to balance and stay upright - I hate falling off, it really knocks my confidence.

What do you still struggle with when out on the Track/ trail?

I’m trying to break old habits, learning to stand on the balls of my feet rather than my heels, using my front brake more, gripping the bike with my legs, and damn ruts and bogs! Growing up pretty much only riding in Woodhill Forest, I never had much exposure to any other terrain than sand so racing the GNCCs and Dirt Guide XCs last year was a huge learning curve for me!

Who else in the family rides dirt bikes? (if you haven't already explained this)

My Dad rides just as much as me still, except I haven’t been able to convince him to travel to some of the XC races yet! He’ll be at pretty much every trail ride with me. Before starting to get more into racing last year, Dad and Mark Pogson (basically my uncle) had taught me everything I knew!

Where/who do you get your inspiration/advice/tips/ tricks from right now? (websites/social/friends etc)

YouTube and Google! I also ask my faster friends a lot of questions whenever I can hahah. The hard part is to then transfer the knowledge onto my bike!

What is the best tip/trick/piece of advice you have had over your riding career?

Keep up your momentum!! Momentum is everything, going up hills, over obstacles, through mud, bogs and ruts, losing balance, if you have momentum, you’ll most likely make it through.

Why are you riding the bike you are on right now, and what do you like most about it?

It’s very light, reliable as it has both an electric start and a kickstart, and has really good suspension for the type of riding I like to do. It feels really grounded and is so smooth to ride. It’s small enough that I feel like I’m always in control, rather than the bike taking me for a ride. Surprisingly, there’s quite a bit of power in the bottom end, but I’m trying to ride it more aggressively and in the right rev range and using the gears properly.

I’ve had my 150 for just over a year, and with branching out my riding last year on it and actively trying to improve now, I’ve gotten a lot faster and much more confident. I had fully outgrown my Freeride and I was ready to take the next step. I hope to next step up to a YZ250FX.

What would be the one thing you could change about your current bike - if anything?

Could do with some more power overall! I’ve found that it flattens out quickly in the high revs and could always do with some more bottom end power too in the tight stuff haha. I’ve tried changing the sprockets and power valve, and have got vforce reeds and a FMF fatty on it, but it still has a bit of a lag. So I’m going to play with the jetting next! A couple people have suggested I get a 250 but they’re a lot heavier and I know I won’t be able to hang on yet!

What kind of riding do you enjoy doing the most?

I love riding in the bush! I like the more single trail technical tracks than bulldozed wide open tracks because quite frankly, I’m a little scared of going full tit! I don’t want to come off at such a high speed! I’d really like to get more into hard enduro so I can learn to get over big obstacles and up steep cliffs etc - it seems so fun and would help a lot with bush riding. I’ve also been venturing into motocross a bit more too now that I have a full sized bike (rather than being limited on my Freeride) and learning to jump has been exhilarating! Crazy scary stuff.

What else do you get up to besides being a badass chick on a dirt bike? Any other hobbies etc?

If I’m not riding my bike or out with friends I’ll be doing something creative! Like designing my own graphics for my bike, editing our GoPro riding videos, making digital drawings, or even just painting our house haha, gotta be doing something fun!

Tell us a little bit about your work life?

I’m currently an in-house Web & Graphic Designer! I run four E-Commerce websites, which sell trophies and awards, so it’s pretty cool when I go to a race and win a trophy that we supply hahah!

Tell us a little bit about your home life?

My partner Dean and I live in Stanmore Bay with our two cats, Luna and Jag. We’re always either at work, out riding our bikes, or with friends. We’ll only be at home during the day on the weekend if we’re working on our bikes or we can’t ignore the chores any longer!

I heard you might have advocated for a dedicated Womans class in the 2-Man series - is that right? If so, tell me about that story and process. The how and why?

I’ve raced in the 2man series since 2012, starting with the junior races in Ladies Solo and then moving to the senior races in 2015. Growing up, there weren’t very many girls riding so there wasn’t often a very big turnout in the junior race’s Ladies Solo or Ladies Teams classes. When I felt like I was ready to race the senior (plus had enough of waking up so early for the 9am junior race start), I found that there was only one class for me - Mixed. And that meant I also would be racing with a male.

I have been racing in the Mixed class for 5 years in a row, and found that generally, the girls are all very similar in speed and that the placings were decided by whoever had the faster male in their team. So now that there are so many girls in the sport recently, I created a poll in the Kiwi Chicks on Dirt Bikes Facebook page to see how many would be interested in a dedicated Womens Teams and Womens Solo classes in the senior race. There was a good response, with over 30 votes in total (big for the womens community) so I asked the Endless Dirtbiking team if there was a possibility! So this year, we now have both womens classes in the senior race!

I thought it was time to have dedicated senior womens classes because…

A) with the growth of women in the sport, the difference in speed between us all has become quite significant so there definitely needed to be separate grades, otherwise novice women would never get a chance of getting a placing in a race.

B) definitely no reason why us girls can’t race the senior - why do we need to be racing with a male to be able to enter the only class suited to us? I had always mentioned the idea over my past 5 years racing in Mixed, but was always told ‘Oh you and another girl could enter Novice or Clubman as a team or just do Solo with the men’, which isn’t true competition.

C) to encourage more women to enter our sport, knowing that we are being catered for and that there is room for us girls to grow and challenge ourselves together.

What is one piece of advice that you would give other girls thinking about getting into dirt bikes?

Definitely give it a go! The community is so friendly and supportive, and the amount of girls that are riding now is insane, there’s been a huge increase in new girl riders at the moment.

My one piece of advice would be to get either a small bike or a light bike to start off with. Gain confidence on that and don’t be put off by a few tumbles.

You can follow Tawny and all her riding escapades over on her Instagram - @tawnyfloyd or on Facebook facebook.com/tawny.floyd/

Images supplied by Tawyn and the always helpful Click n Shoot Photography