Weronika detailing one of her
trips at the Speedmaster launch
Photo: Geoff Osborne
kilometres by motorcycle. It originally started with
being pillion to her father, riding over 100,000k’s
together on weekends, and to jobs. Eventually
she bought her own bike, a BMW 650GS, which
she sold to finance both a smaller bike, and two
very large trips of her own. She purchased a 125cc
Suzuki Vanvan, used the rest of the money to
finance her travels and set off. Over 12,500k’s,
throughout Europe, completely alone – through
Romania, Macedonia, Albania, Italy, Gibraltar and
back to Poland. Later she completed another lone
trip from Iceland to Portugal, over 16,500km.
She has recently ridden solo over 20,000km
throughout the US and Canada. An astonishing
circular trip, completed on a Triumph Bonneville
called, unsurprisingly, “Bonnie”. From New York
to Washington, Nashville, New Orleans, Texas,
Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver,
Jasper, Yellowstone, Calgary and back to New
York. This is a truly remarkable ride for any
hardened biker, let alone this r ather delicate, 32
year old, strawberry-blonde woman. I have to
ask the question, “Are you brave or crazy?”
72 KIWI RIDER
She opts for crazy, but she is anything but. She’s
methodical, careful, and her usual travel speed is
around 80km/h and, for her, the road seems to be
the attraction. But she is brave, and I explain why
I think she is, when she looks at me quizzically. 1.
She rides a motorcycle. 2. On unfamiliar roads. 3.
Highways are optional - 20% of her riding is gravel. 4.
In foreign countries with differing laws and customs.
5. She has almost no money and almost never plans
for her accommodation. These, I explain, are all risk
factors, but she regards them as part of the joy.
She freely admits that she ‘couch-surfed’
her entire US trip. No motels or hotels. She
relied entirely on good folks hospitality,
sleeping wherever she laid her head.
For Weronika the experience is more
important than the stats, I asked her how
many US states she covered, but she had no
idea, and doesn’t ‘keep score’ like that.
For her, it is finding the way, getting local
knowledge, and using it to see things – to discover
the world of others, anew for herself. Perhaps this
best describes all motorcyclist’s love of adventure –