Rider: Wendy Kristen Leber
Age: 34
Occupation (the night job): RN - University of Washington
Medical Center
- Medical
Intensive
Care Unit (MICU)
Racing Organization: WMRRA (#104)
Race Bike: 2005 Suzuki GSXR600 ( for 2006-2008 seasons)
Street & Trackday Bike: 2006 Yamaha R1 (FOR SALE!)
Dirt: 2008 Honda CRF150R (New!)
Previous Race Bikes: 2001 Suzuki GSXR600, 1991 Honda CBR600F2
Racing Classes for 2005 - 2006: 600 Supersport, 600 Superbike, 750
Supersport (WMRRA)
Racing Classes in 2001: 600 TFS & Early Heavyweight GP (WMRRA),
600 Supersport Senior, 600 Superbike Senior,
750 Superbike Senior (OMRRA) - 1 round
Years Riding: 9 (started in 1999)
Years Racing: 3.25 (started Novice season in 2000)
A LITTLE HISTORY...AND SOME ADVICE FOR NEW RIDERS AND RACERS....
How did it all begin? I never had a chance to ride a motorcycle when I was young because nobody in
my immediate family had any sort of involvement in the sport. However, the need to be on two wheels started many years
ago. I used to race bicycles (roadracing & velodrome track racing), and my whole life practically revolved around
it! This included eating, breathing, working for bicycle retail companies, and living for everything that had to do
with two-wheeled non-motorized fun. However, I always had a secret curiousity with motorcycles, and I often wondered
what was behind the walls surrounding the Texas World Speedway on my journeys back & forth between Houston & Texas
A&M University.
Almost nine years later (January 1999), I found myself with the opportunity to scrummage up some money &
purchase my first bike - a Kawasaki Ninja EX250 (aka Ninjette). Though the EX250 was the perfect bike for buzzing
around the inner city, it was lacking in adequate accelleration for merging onto freeways (I found out the hard
way)! Five months later, I bought my first NEW bike - a 1998 Honda CBR600F3. For the rest of the riding season,
I learned a lot of riding tips and advice from joining a group of Honda Goldwing riders for their weekend trips
- so what if they were "old" guys! You should see what their Goldwing Drill Team can do with those monsterously
heavy machines!
During the summer of 1999, some riding friends invited me to a local track day at the Seattle Internation
Raceway (now Pacific Raceways). Despite getting my butt kicked by a talented 160cc Vintage bike racer (Cedric Smith),
I had an absolute blast! Furthermore, I was extremely humbled by his riding skills, and I was hungry to learn more.
After standing on the sidelines as a spectator at one of the local WMRRA race events, the desire
to try out motorcycle roadracing was sparked. In 2000, I applied for my WMRRA novice license & purchased
a clapped-out, beat up 1991 Honda CBR600F2 track bike.
My novice year was NOT an easy start! The first race at Spokane Raceway Park included running
off of Turn One with 5 other racers at over 140mph! The infield consisted of large boulders, gravel, thorny
bushes, and a literal graveyard of broken bike parts - the outcome was usually not pretty for those who ventured into
this wasteland. Strangely, I managed to keep the bike upright, and I stopped it before it rolled onto the track
in the middle of Turn Two - hmmm....must have been all those years of practice on the mechanical bull in Texas (just
kidding)....It didn't end there - I went off again in the Turn 6 (a hairpin left-hander). The rest of the
season (about 1/2 of it) was marked with coming in last place, getting lapped, and being "that slow girl." I did not
have the money to participate in all of the race weekends.
As a new racer, you find yourself wanting to soak up every bit of advice like a sponge - even the "bad" advice. However,
you hopefully don't let naivety & self-doubt get the best of you. Unfortunately, I did at the
beginning of my first expert year. I spent one race in Spokane (600TFS) in last place...all alone...after watching my
pit buddy crash & letting the field get away....I started to think that maybe this sport just isn't for me....maybe
I just can't get faster....that I don't have what it takes....the ride back to Seattle was the longest ride I had ever experienced.
However, something happened in my little head full of "low self-esteem." I WOKE UP.
I realized that motorcycle roadracing is a lot like any other sport, and it is a lot like LIFE in general. You
are what you believe you are...and you will be what you honestly believe you can be. This was a significant
life lesson learned. The very next race weekend, I dropped about 8 seconds off my lap times, and I eventually got
on the podium in 600TFS & Early Heavyweight GP.
The only reason why I bring this story up is to help other riders and new racers (not to "toot my own horn").
After becoming an instructor for Adrenaline Freaks, I've heard riders make comments such as, "oh, I'm so slow."
All I can say is STOP IT! See advice from the paragraph above! I'm hoping that other riders (men and women alike)
will gain some inspiration from reading about my riding history - that is, YOU can do it if I can! It just
takes time, practice, patience, and self-confidence.
