Team TnW meets Ieva Baublyte, from United Kingdom. Ieva enjoys riding on tracks and has participated in motorcycle trackdays which according to her is the the most exciting, fun and effective way to improve your riding skills. She also adds, “I think a lot of people underestimate what we female are fragile, can’t handle big bikes but we can ride a motorcycle no matter how big or fast it may be. “

Q) Introduce yourself

A) My name is Ieva Baublyte and I am currently studying in college as well as working part time as an office manager of 1st Moto Solutions.

Q) How long have you been riding motorcycle?

A) I have been riding a 125cc on road for a year and 8 months and I have been riding on track since March of 2015. To be more specific I have done around 10 trackdays.

Q) Any specific reason you ride for?

A) I ride because I have a huge passion for it, which can’t be compared to anything else that I enjoy doing. Throughout my whole life I have tried different sports and different hobbies but I never felt like I was born to do them. From dancing to ice skating, from playing the piano for 7 years to joining different sports clubs in school that I never went to more than twice.

Q) Describe on how you got to where you are with motorcycling today.

A) I am actually the only person in my family to ride motorcycles. My Dad used to ride them when he was young but was never serious about it. He was more into cars and rally racing therefore I wanted to drive myself more than anything so that I could be as good as him or my Mum who is also one of the best drivers I have ever known. I always had a thing for two wheels.

Spent my whole childhood cycling around town where I was brought up and enjoyed every second of it. But having a motorcycle of my own was a dream that I thought would never come true.

Also read ‘World Women Riders: Ana María Lema Vélez from Colombia, South America’

At the age of 17, I was introduced to a few bikers who were more than happy to take me on the back of a 1000cc. It was the first time ever being on a motorcycle and having someone take me at 120mph for the first time was the best feeling that I have ever felt. I knew straight away that it’s what I want. So I booked my CBT test (Compulsory Basic Training ) shortly after that and after 2 days of passing I bought my first ever bike, which I rode home for 60miles.

Bear in mind I only had 2 hours of practice on a motorcycle before that. So when I was picking the bike up the first 15 minutes was absolutely horrible. I was in an area where you had to go through so many roundabouts before you get to the dual carriage way and I ended up stalling the bike on every single one of them. It was a nightmare and I felt so embarrassed. But you always have to start somewhere right? After that I took my bike to work everyday until I had a crash 3 weeks later where a car pulled out on me and I ended up going into a shop window. Luckily I was fully geared up so I was completely fine, but the bike wasn’t. It was horrible then but now it’s a story that I can easily laugh about. Everyone asked me if I will get another bike and so many people told me not to as it was dangerous.

But after not riding for 2 months I was beginning to get desperate to get back on two wheels. It’s like I got addicted to it. So in summer I got yet another Yamaha YZF R125, which I rode throughout the last bit of summer, whole of autumn and whole of winter as well as spring. Whether it was raining or not I would be out there no matter what. Being on the bike allowed me to be independent as well as meet so many amazing people who I rode with and learnt so much about bikes from. It made me realise how friendly bikers are and the fact that you would nod your head at a stranger who is also on the bike that you see randomly across the street made the whole experience so fun.

Also read ‘World Women Riders: Viktoria from Kiev, Ukraine’

The people that I met would show me many different places and I ended up going to central London so many times that I could quite easily find my way around it now if I was alone. Most importantly I met people who would take me to the next step, which is trackdays. I joined a biker’s forum where I met a guy that was doing a trackday in Donington in March 2015 and he invited me to join him so I thought yeah why not.

So I had my first trackday and my first time riding a 600 properly where there are no speed limits. You can only imagine how much I enjoyed it. It was one of the most amazing days I have ever had. Since then I have just been doing trackdays throughout the whole summer on many different 600cc bikes and some on 1000cc bikes.

Q) Why preferred motorcycle over scooter?

A) I never liked scooters, as they are slow and boring. I would choose a sports bike over anything else. I wouldn’t mind having a motocross but that’s only fun in the fields.

Q) Tell us about your motorcycle.

A) I currently have 3 bikes. My Yamaha YZF R125 which I ride on the road, my Suzuki SFV650 race bike which I will be racing next year in the Minitwins with Bemsee and I have an SV650 which I will be riding on road as soon as I pass my test when I turn 19 which will be in a few months time. None of them are my dream bikes but there are too many restrictions in the UK when it comes to motorcycles so I legally can’t ride anything bigger than that.

Q) Do you maintain and repair motorcycles on your own?

A) Yes I do maintain and repair my motorcycles but always with some help from others, mainly my dad. We recently bought a new engine for my race bike which we changed ourselves meaning we had to take the whole bike apart all the way to its frame and then put it all back together. I have never done this before and now being able to know exactly where everything goes inside the bike makes me feel quite good.