CAMP VC 2018 X HUSQVARNA

 
TOM BING

TOM BING

 

We're so excited at VC London to have the amazing Husqvarna onboard for CAMP VC 2018 bringing their range of road & dirt bikes to site & supporting our enduro classes. 


After taking their new Vitpilen & Svartpilen 401s recently on a surfing road trip from London to Devon with Yonder surf school we absolutely fell in love with them! Slick, light & with awesome handing we loved blasting them around the coast, so we can’t wait to get back on them next week for a rip around the incredible countryside of the Brecon Beacons National park. 

Read all about our trip to Devon in the new Built Magazine with text & photos by the amazing Tom Bing out now & come find out about these incredible bikes f’real onsite at CAMP VC!
 

TOM BING

TOM BING

CAMP VC 2018 X SHEXTREME

Shextreme Film Workshop. 

Shextreme Film Workshop. 

We're very lucky at CAMP VC to have so many amazing female run organisations on board for this years event & no organisation is more inspiring than Shextreme - the pop up adventure film festival promoting women involved in adventure film making!

Founded in 2015 by Dr Ruth Farrar of Bristol University Shextreme run pop up film screenings & film festivals all around the UK  ... The next  of which were very lucky to have lined up for Friday evening at CAMP VC along with a live Q&A with guest speaker & film maker Elise Wicker.

If you were lucky enough to get signed up for the Shextreme film making workshop on Saturday you're in for a real treat!

Get to know all about Shextreme & its founder Ruth Farrar ahead of getting to site & check out Shextreme over at  www.shextreme-film-festival.com for more info on their next event!

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Name: Dr. Ruth Farrar 

Organisation: Shextreme 

 

What is your role at Shextreme? 

I am the founder and Director of Shextreme Film Festival and Shextreme Film School training up the next generation of female adventure filmmakers.

 

How did Shextreme come to be? What was the original idea behind it all?

Everywhere I go, I’m lucky enough to cross paths with inspiring wonderful women from my local climbing centre to out on the mountain. However, I noticed these real women’s stories were distinctly missing on the big screen at adventure film tours and festivals I attended…despite audiences comprising of 50/50 men/women. So I decided to be the change I want to see and proactively set up Shextreme Film Festival: the world’s first film festival dedicated to celebrating women in extreme sports and adventure.

In the early days, I was repeatedly told there wasn’t an interest or market for it. I’m delighted to report all our festivals have sold out in advance every year proving people really do want to champion gender equality in extreme sports and adventure films both on screen and behind the lens. 

My Big White Thighs & Me will be screened at our Shextreme pop up. Image credit: Maia Media

My Big White Thighs & Me will be screened at our Shextreme pop up. Image credit: Maia Media

How long has the Shextreme festival been running now? 

Our first fun festival took place back in 2015. This year, we are back bigger than ever with our fourth festival from 4 – 5th October in beautiful Bristol with exclusive world film premieres, award-winning tutors leading Shextreme Film School and an inspiring line up of festival panel speakers including climbing legend Hazel Findlay, surfer and activist Dr. Easkey Britton; mountaineer and NASA-trained astronaut Dr. Suzie Imber and climber Anoushe Husain. 

 

We love collaborating with amazing female run businesses at CAMP VC! Why did you want to get involved with the event? 

The energy when women come together to support each other is AMAZING! How could we possibly say no to such an exciting event?! Love how CAMP and Shextreme are on the same shared mission to empower women in extreme sports and adventure prioritising lots of fun along the way!

 

Easkey Britton - one of the panel speakers at this year's Shextreme Film Festival 2018. Image credit: Chris McClean

Easkey Britton - one of the panel speakers at this year's Shextreme Film Festival 2018. Image credit: Chris McClean

What are you looking forward to most at CAMP VC? 

Looking forward to getting creative at the great screen printing workshop and I love going climbing so can’t wait to try out the boulder wall on site! The Wellness Area led by The Curious and co. looks brilliant too.

 

We’re so excited to have you & your team onsite at this year’s event! What have you got in store for us for this onsite?

Our fun-filled Friday at CAMP VC starts with a Shextreme pop up evening screening of empowering women in adventure films followed by a Q & A with very special guest Elise Wicker: an award-winning shoot-edit video producer with seven years experience at the cutting edge of digital innovation at the BBC. She's passionate about making beautiful, talked-about content for diverse audiences. Her films have reached over 200 million people in all formats so she has lots of great advice for aspiring adventure filmmakers. 

 

On Saturday, we are empowering creative women with new skills on how to craft their adventure stories for screen. Got an idea for a film but don’t know where to begin? Our Adventure Filmmaking workshop at CAMP VC is here to help! Save yourself time and energy by gaining access to our industry insights. You will also learn how to stand out from the crowd when submitting your final adventure film to festivals! Every workshop we run, a great film comes out of it so excited to learn what future productions will be crafted from CAMP VC attendees’ stories! All abilities welcome in this fun and friendly film workshop. 

 

hextreme - Image from last year's audience at Shextreme Film Festival 2018: Image Credit: Emma Bell 

hextreme - Image from last year's audience at Shextreme Film Festival 2018: Image Credit: Emma Bell 

Who is your favourite female director?

It’s impossible to choose just one director with the exciting rise and rise of female adventure filmmakers in our Shextreme community. Leading lights to watch include award-winning filmmaker Jen Randall from Light Shed Pictures (http://www.lightshedpictures.com); Hannah Maia from Maia Media (http://maiamedia.co.uk) and Jessica Pearson from Shimnix Films (http://www.shimnixfilms.co.uk) who are all trailblazing the way forward for women in adventure filmmaking.

 

To learn more about our upcoming film festival programme or how to submit your creative entries to Shextreme by 1st September, head on over to our site for more info: http://www.shextreme-film-festival.com/festival-programme/

 

Follow us on Insta @shextreme 

 

HUSQVARNA'S AMY SPARROW X CAMP VC 2018

Bakers Factory.jpg

We're very proud at VC LONDON to be teaming up with the mighty Husqvarna this year for CAMP VC 2018!

Husqvarna are one motorcycle brand really putting some heavy weight behind some of the worlds brightest female motorsports riders & stars right now. From supporting womens events the world over like the legendary Babes in the Dirt to being involved with the likes of enduro star Megan Griffiths , co- founder of Babes Ride Out Anya Violet , MX racer Ashley Fiolek & the amazing flat track racer Shayna Texter, Husqvarana are truly leading the charge to promote & support the progression of women in the motorcycling world.... So basically teaming up with them for CAMP VC was an absolute no brainer! Even more so when we met the amazing Amy Sparrow!! 

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Having started to ride MX at the early age of 9 Amy now works in the Husqvarna UK team & is not only an ambassador for all things Husqvarna but she's a bad ass ripper in the dirt too. Ontop of this Amy is passionate about getting more women into motorcycling in all its forms & will be onsite at CAMP VC with a range of both Husqvarna' s Vitplien & svartpilen road bikes & off road MX & enduro bikes dishing out advice & tips on how to get on the road . Come say hey to her onsite at CAMP VC & hit her with all your MX & road riding questions! 

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Name: Amy Sparrow

Job role at Husqvarna: 

I have been with Husqvarna Motorcycles since February 2018 and my role is the PR and Media exec for the UK in both street and off-road.

Where are you originally from?

I am from Dorset in the South West of England. I have lived in different places in the UK but Dorset will always be home for me. 

When did you start riding?

I started riding when I was 9, which in motocross is actually quite late to start. In my earlier childhood years, my mum dragged me to dance, ballet and horse riding lessons, which I just didn’t really enjoy. Then, one day my Dad took me out on a PW50 and that was it- I was hooked! I actually spent some time away from racing motocross from when I was 13 through to when I was 16/17 as my education was really important to me, but the passion never went away. So, after getting through all my GCSE’s and AS levels, I got a job, got myself a bike again and here I am…11 years later and still racing!

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It must be a pretty awesome job putting together what you love to do in your spare time & your career?! 

People always say to me that I am lucky to work in this industry and I agree- I am! There is hard work that goes on behind the scenes too, people always see the good bits and think that is how your job is all the time but it is like any other job, you have your good days and bad days but the good days do make it all worth it! You know you are onto a good thing when you work with bikes pretty much all day and then still want to ride with your friends and family in your spare time. I just love it! I enjoy meeting and working with interesting people and events on a daily basis and thrown into that, you do get to have some really memorable life experiences- which is really fulfilling!

 

Who introduced you to dirt riding? /How did you get into racing?

My dad raced when he was younger and he was still doing the odd vets race here and there as I grew up. I think at the point where I was 9 years old, I was the eldest of three girls (my brother came along after that!) so he decided that I would be the one that he introduced to his hobby first. After my taste of motocross on the PW50, he got me a KX60 and stuck me into a local race, I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing and flipped my bike off the start! It didn’t put me off though and we quickly spent almost every weekend at a local practice track which was insanely rough on those little bike wheels. I’m grateful for that time now as it has made me a more technical rider. As my siblings got older, they got into too, so now 3 out of 4 of us ride and my brother works in the industry too as a bike technician – which is very handy when something goes wrong with one of the bikes!

 

Do you also ride on the road? 

Yes, I do! As I approached 16 I craved freedom away from my parents. I went to a grammar school which was about half an hour away from where I lived and meant all of my friends were further away too. Asking for lifts from my parents all the time just wasn’t an option, so I asked to be put through my CBT on my 16th birthday. I was on the road with that for a couple of years commuting to school and work then just before it ran out, I went on to do my full bike test. I didn’t have a road bike for 6/7 years as I was the only one I knew in my family/friendship group (other than my Dad) that had a licence and after growing up racing with a community, riding on my own just didn’t have the same appeal! Then, last year my brother, sister and a few friends got their licence, I fell in love with an Iron 883 so I bought it and started enjoying riding on the road again. Husqvarna are also really pro-active at letting staff use their bikes so I seem to be riding all the time again now! 

 

 

Where would be your dream place to ride off road? 

I have actually been lucky enough to ride there just recently! The Husqvarna Motorcycles 2019 motocross launch was held at Bakers Factory in Florida, (Aldon Baker is a trainer of elite motocross riders and his facility in Florida is classed as 5 stars) so I went out there with the UK motocross press for a few days! Riding there is something many people in motocross dream of, it was a once in a lifetime experience.

 

Who are your heroes in the motorcycle world?

In my earlier race days, Ashley Fiolek was my heroine. I totally admired her for being a minority in more ways than one in a tough male dominated industry. She is now one of Husqvarna’s brand ambassadors in the US, which is a pretty cool turn of events. My heroine of the moment is Laia Sanz who I think is just an incredible motorcyclist and sports woman! 

 

What bikes have you had in the past? (Both road & off road)

I have had a fair few over the years, starting at the beginning I have had: KX60, KX80, Yamaha YZ125(x2), KTM SX125(x2), Cagiva Planet 125, Suzuki 250f, KTM SXF250 and I currently have a Harley Davidson Iron 883, Husqvarna FE250F, VItpilen 701 and a Svartpilen 401 (The last two are loan bikes from work and we can choose which ones to ride!)

PHOTO: @darrenmiller68

PHOTO: @darrenmiller68

 

What advice would you give to any ladies wanting to start out in Motocross racing? 

I get asked this quite a lot and it is one of those topics that I feel passionately about. I can’t even count on my hands the number of ladies that say to me that they wish they could be brave enough to ‘have a go’ or ‘do what I do’ and my answer is always the same- you can! If you already have bike skill then learning motocross is a little bit easier as you have the balance and gears part down, it is just a question of getting use to the terrain and how you feel on the bike. If you are learning from scratch, I always say do not be scared to ask someone to teach you. I taught my sister how to ride and I am about to teach my sister-in-law. Giving someone the time and the belief that they can do it is half the battle, it is so easy to get disheartened early on as riding well is something that takes time and experience but if you enjoy it, it will come and you would be silly to give up straight away. There are also many riding schools around the UK that charge a small fee for a day of coaching but this is where events like CAMP VC essentially tick all the boxes. They allow women to feel confident and supported without having the fear of being judged or feeling intimidated.

 

What will you be bringing to site for CAMP VC with Husqvarna this year? 

For CAMP VC we have lined up a selection from our new motocross and enduro range which the ladies will be able to take on track (dependent on experience!) as well as our brand new ‘Real Street’ range which consists of the Vitpilen 701, Vitpilen 401, Svartpilen 401. This will be my first time at an event like this and I can’t wait!

 

DIRT CAMP 2018 @ GREENFIELD DIRT TRACK

IMAGE: TOM BING

IMAGE: TOM BING

We came, we saw, we rode dirt with some of the UKs best dirt track riders & racers, learned a few MX skills, jumped dirt jumps, camped out , hung out around a bonfire, met old friends & met a few new ones as well, all at the amazing Greenfield Dirt Track facility in Lincolnshire...... This was DIRT CAMP 2018!

Started in 2015 by The Dirt Track Rider Association as an initiative to get more women into flat track & ultimately racing in the DTRA series, DIRT CAMP has now grown into a weekend full of everything from complete learners jumping on a bike for the first time, advice & lessons from some of the UKs leading flat track racers (including the Incredible Leah Tokelove) about how to go fast & turn left, MX skills & enduro riding.

IMAGE: TOM BING

IMAGE: TOM BING

 

A massive thanks to all the people who work hard to make this event a real highlight of the summer! From the ,DTRA, Greenfield Dirt track (and all who run this incredible grass roots facility), Leah Tokelove & all the instructors who donate their time & bikes to the cause,  and of course the amazing ladies who came along & got dirty with us! 

LONG LIVE DIRT CAMP!

All photos by  TOM BING

IMAGE: TOM BING

IMAGE: TOM BING

 
IMAGE : TOM BING

IMAGE : TOM BING

 
 

And this is how the pros do it.....

For more images of the event & for info on how to get into flat track go to the DTRA Facebook page & Greenfield Dirt Track & shoot them a follow 

VC X VICE - The Motorcycle Collective Getting Hundreds of Women Into Extreme Sports

P// TOM BING

P// TOM BING

A massive thanks to VICE for coming along to our Dirt Camp event in collaboration with the DTRA and Greenfield Dirt Track and getting dirty with us!

VC LONDON - The Motorcycle Collective Getting Hundreds of Women Into Extreme Sports - By Giulia Aliverti

VC London is an all-women motorbike collective founded by designers Gemma Harrison, Maite Storni and Namin Cho. Fuelled by their passion for motorbikes and a desire to encourage women to start riding, the three friends originally set out in 2015 to document their adventures on social media, while offering free riding lessons for beginners in an abandoned car park in east London. 

Since then, VC has introduced over 200 women to motorcycling, with the overall aim of "creating a judgment and jealousy-free positive space for women to come and try something new". The founders hope that, through the collective, their riders will not only be able to hold their own on any race track, but will also have the confidence to step into any male-dominated space.

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Despite the inevitable complaints by men on social media that women-only spaces are sexist – including one guy who threatened to sue them – VC has expanded over the past three years to include regular talks and panels with professional extreme sportswomen, skateboarding and surfing lessons, a weekend camping festival, an apparel line and collaborations with brands like Red Bull and Vans.

To read the rest of the article at VICE.com click HERE

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p// TOM BING

CAMP VC TICKET LAUNCH THIS SATURDAY AT 10AM!!!!!

LAURA HENRY

LAURA HENRY

TICKETS FOR THIS YEARS CAMP VC 2018 LAUNCH THIS SATURDAY AT 10AM!!!!

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....AND REMEMBER, WE'VE GOT FREE GOODIE BAGS FOR THE FIRST 50 TICKETS HOLDERS FULL OF AWESOME STUFF FROM OUR SPONSORS SO GET IN THERE QUICK TO BAG YOURS!

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For more news on what we've got line up for this year go to 

www.campvc.co.uk

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See you there!

RACHEL BILLINGS

RACHEL BILLINGS

SKATE GIRLS

Got some time to kill? Check out these rad vids directed by The Berrics - Skate Girls on Urban Outfitters TV 💘

“In the end, you just gotta do what makes you happy.”