Wheeling her way to the front of the pack

 Rose Lantaigne may be a small woman, but that hasn't stopped her from riding with the big boys in the province's off-road dirt-bike racing circuit.

In fact, her small stature has given her the extra drive to work harder, drive faster and be better than all her competitors.

The 24-year-old developed an instant passion for the off-road lifestyle after her boyfriend took her for a ride on his ATV. However, after a couple of years of riding the four-wheeler, the couple's interest veered more toward dirt bikes.

"He ended up buying a dirt bike and I said 'It's not fair that you have one, I want one, too,' so within a couple weeks, I had one, and we've been riding two wheels since that time."

That was about five years ago.

However, merely riding didn't satisfy Lantaigne's competitive edge, she wanted to race. This summer will be her second year in the race circuit. Last year, the Garson resident took the overall championship for the World Enduro Canada (WEC) Ontario cross-country series in the women's class. This year, she's upping her game.

"This year I wanted to challenge myself," she said. "Instead of racing the women's class, I decided to race the men's entry-level class and see where I placed and move up from there."

Not only does the men's class offer more competition, it also offers more competitors on par with Lantaigne's abilities.

"If there aren't enough women, they're just all put in the same group," she explained. "You have these extremely fast girls, then you have these girls that are just getting into the sport, and it's just not fair. The spectrum, the skill level, there's no true class. There's no competition that way."

Racing against the men is a welcome "challenge."

"The guys are totally different from the women. They're much more aggressive and generally, just a lot faster. I have a lot more competition ahead of me and I have a lot more work to do now if I want to be at the top of the class."

In her first official race against the men, held at the Moto Park in Chatsworth May 13, Lantaigne proved she could compete, placing eighth overall out of the 13 competitors.

Round 2 of the circuit is June 3 and Lantaigne said she will be going all out on her training until that time.

"One thing I definitely need to work on is my upper body," she said. "That's something I'm at a bit of a disadvantage being a female rider racing in the men's class."

Tipping the scales at only 130 pounds, the tiny gal is competing with men weighing anywhere from 30 to 90 pounds more than her, but she's riding the same machine.

Lantaigne rides a KTM 200 EXC — a 200 CC, two-stroke cross-country enduro model.

"Generally, the women tend to ride 85s or 105s, because they're a smaller frame bike. As soon as you move up to a 125, then you're into a full-sized bike. The seat is pretty high. It's a little intimidating to ride such a big machine, and if you can't touch the ground, it's kind of scary."

But Lantaigne has pushed that fear aside and has set her sights sharply on reaching the podium by the end of this season.

"For me to get up there on the podium requires a lot of work — I would say probably a lot more work than a guy trying to get up there," she said. "I've got about seven or eight races ... I've got some work to do, but I'm looking forward to it."

As for any questions about the safety of dirt biking, Lantaigne has no qualms there, either.

"Just like any other sport, you train for it, you wear the proper gear, you work out ... there are risks involved, but I've got hurt playing badminton," she said with a laugh.

The risks are more than worth the rush she gets out of competing.

"It's very physically demanding, but it's just as mentally challenging because you're going over obstacles and sometimes you doubt if you'll be able to make it," she said. "You push yourself over your limits and it's such a great feeling and it's very rewarding."

While Lantaigne has high goals for herself in the sport, what she really wants is for more people to get involved.

"The sport is still young in Ontario," she said. "I've met a couple women riding around Garson and it's pretty cool to see other girls out there ripping. I'm sure if they'd get into racing, they'd be really good competition."

And it's the heightened competition that Lantaigne truly seeks.

Posted by Laurel Myers