INTERVIEW I OFF-ROAD RACER TARAH GIEGER
P58
been part of that there."
While women can often face
hurdles in many parts of life that
are dominated by men, Gieger
doesn't remember being par-
ticularly stymied in her racing
pursuits.
"I never really thought there
was ever really a hurdle, I guess.
I kind of took everything in stride.
I didn't really realize what I was
doing at the time; I was just
doing the best I could do, and
people would tell me, 'That's
huge! I would like to do that for
women's racing.'
"That was never the reason
why I did anything. Selfishly, I've
just always thought about what
I wanted and how I wanted to do
it. Luckily, from the outside, that
always was appealing to girls
and women, and they appreci
-
ated and looked up to it and,
hopefully, I inspired a bunch of
people. I'm not one of those
people who toot my horn and
say, 'I did this for women!' or
whatever because I didn't really—
I did it for myself. I knew the
side effects would help women
out, but it was a personal thing.
Motorcycle racing's dangerous,
so if you don't want to do it for
yourself, then you really shouldn't
be out there."
No racer can remain at a high
level forever, of course, but with
Gieger being a pro for nearly 20
years, many took it for granted
that she'd be a permanent fixture
in the sport.
But the affable and always
gracious moto icon explains
bluntly, "Well, I'm getting old. I'm
37 already. I don't know; I've just
been racing for a while and this
year was a year where I wanted
to come back after having my
kid, Mason.
"I planned always to race until
I was ready to have kids then I
had a kid and go, 'You know, I
want to race again and come
back from this.'
"That's kind of what this year
was. Then I've been racing the
"I ddn't rell
relze wht I
ws don t the
tme- I ws €ust
don the best
I could do, nd
people would
tell me, 'Tht's
hueƒ I would
le to do tht
for women's
rcn'"
Gieger quickly
adapted to
EnduroCross
racing after many
years racing
motocross.
