Vanessa Ruck is a self-proclaimed “go-getter, a chase-your-dreams kind of girl.” Her path to motorcycling came in a roundabout way: on the heels of a devastating bicycle accident that required seven surgeries and put the adventure-lover out of action for most of a decade. During her recovery, Ruck decided that life-changing event would not dictate her future.

In the eight years since Ruck began riding motorcycles, she has completed some of the most challenging off-road races in the world. “A lot of people see the sort of riding and racing that I’ve been doing and think I’ve been riding since I was a teeny tot,” she says. That late start aside, motorcycling has unlocked an all-new and often-unexpected world for “the girl on a bike.”

When she isn’t riding one of her several motorcycles, Ruck is a passionate and engaging motivational speaker, focusing on mental health and helping others make empowered decisions. “Life is really short,” she says, “and it’s absolutely incredible what we can achieve if we put our minds to it.” Want to know how to turn doom and gloom into drive and inspiration? Just ask Vanessa Ruck.

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Daniel Ritz stumbled upon motorcycling a dozen years ago while working as a newspaper editor in Southern California. “There was a small shop up the street from where I was living,” he tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long. “I started looking at Triumphs, and I saw the Scrambler as a good mix: heavy enough for big trips but light enough to still move around a bit.”

For three years, a Matte Khaki Green Scrambler (“To this day, it’s still the most beautiful bike I’ve ever seen”) was Ritz’s sole transportation. “I just really committed to being as light-footed as I could, to being mobile,” he says, noting that he interacted with more people commuting and running errands on his motorcycle than when driving his pickup truck.

Now living in Idaho, the conservation editor for “Swing The Fly” and founder of “Jack’s Experience Trading Co.” has traded Pacific Coast Highway for Forest Service roads. “Wild people enjoy wild places and wildlife,” says Ritz. “I feel very lucky to have access to a pretty remarkable landscape that is well-built, and sort of curated, for motorcycling.”

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Some might say Aussie Alana Baratto was destined to work in the motorcycle industry. Her father was a rider, both on- and off-road, and he shared that cherished pastime with his daughters. Alana was gifted a Yamaha PW50 at age four and attended her first Grand Prix a year later. “It was something that I grew to love,” she explains, “and then decided to make into a career.”

After a stint as a service advisor in a Sydney dealership, Baratto took a role with Aprilia. She went back to school and earned a marketing degree, ultimately leaving powersports for five years. “That passion doesn’t go away, I discovered, so I came back,” she says. Four years with KTM led to her current position, head of marketing for Ducati Australia and New Zealand.

“Having that understanding of the dealership floor is invaluable,” Baratto tells Mark Long on this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, “so there’s nothing about my career that I would change.” While she admits it can take a concerted effort to keep that passion burning, it’s definitely easier to get out of bed every morning when you do what you love.

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