Isa El-Ali

Hard Enduro Rider

I was 13 the first time I sat on a motorbike. My dad asked me if I wanted a motorbike or a regular bike, and of course I said a motorbike. All of my friends had Tomos motorcycles that we were constantly repairing, starting up and shutting off.

I hope I never grow up, as that would be the end of me. I love hard enduro, because it gives me freedom of movement. To put it simply, hard enduro is a huge exploration of nature. I jokingly call us hikers on two wheels. I ride several times a week. So I am always happy to check out new courses. I try to ride as often as I can, because it relaxes me. All my daily worries disappear when I'm riding.

It allows me to forget about all my troubles, since all I'm thinking about is how to ride the course technically as well as possible. Falling is part of racing and training, and you just have to get used to it. Nobody manages to ride a course for the first time without falling. I am currently racing in the veterans, or "hobby" class.

We have had races everywhere. We have travelled throughout almost all of former Yugoslavia. My favourite races are Lika, Tara and Visoko. In the future I would like to race in the professional class against real professional riders.

There are a lot of stories, including how many times we were enjoying riding so much that we lost our sense of time and got caught in the dark. We were in the forest, in the dark, with no navigation. We thought we would have to stay in the forest till morning or that we would have to carry our bikes to the nearest road.

My message to everyone is: don't forget to live your life and do what makes you happy; you might not even know it, but you will be giving off positive and good vibrations.