Hehey! Here is Lada. I was born at the end of 1990 in the Soviet Union and spent my childhood in a small town called Vyborg, which is located in Leningrad region. We had always fun: I am the fourth and the last child in my family. A lot of communication!

We moved to Finland with my mother and sister when I was ten. Everything was okay before I became a kind of punk: protesting, doing stupid and funny things, interested in specific music and starting to become crazy about motorcycles. Well, I was sure about my moto future since I was fifteen.

Becoming a bit more adult, I did my construction engineering studies in Finland. Actually, I had to become a journalist, but one beautiful day everything changed and I fell in love with construction. After my studies, I moved back to Russia, Saint Petersburg, for a good contract with a Finnish construction company. I did love that job! A lot of challenges, white helmet, busy days, good salary and everything you have, when you are truly enjoying your profession.

These times I purchased my first bike, Yamaha R6, which I changed after one year to another Yamaha R6. I was crazy about supersport bikes and did understand nothing about technics: sport bikes were just beautiful and fast enough. There was one ride in Nevada and Arizona on a rented Harley Sportster from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon and back… but I still preferred sport bikes. Finally, in November 2015, when it was raining cats and dogs and the temperature was something about one degree above zero, I crushed my white angel. I had only one finger open fracture and my R6 had a big hole in its engine after sliding almost 40 meters on the asphalt.

Well, one day everything has to end: the project we were working on became almost ready and after two crazy years in Saint Petersburg it was time to move back to Finland to continue the same work there on another super huge construction site, but before that I had to use all of my holidays – two months of freedom! At that time I already had my third bike, my not-yet-beloved Yamaha FZ-1, and it was late May 2016. What would you do in this case? Come on, you know. I packed my stuff and headed to Europe without telling anyone I am leaving. It was a good ride: seven weeks, almost 20 000 kilometers, 19 countries, a lot of new friends, fun and adventures, but also a lot of rain, wind, motorcycle challenges – and we managed it all. We came home with my Fazer at the end of July as best friends. I had only two weeks left to spend in Saint Petersburg before moving to Helsinki.

It was impossible to live in Finland for me. Too slow, too nice, too controlled… everything. I was missing adventures and they happened: already in December 2016, I was back to Saint Petersburg having my own, just founded construction company. I was a CEO, and I was really proud of myself when I had good contracts and works were going well. There were only three things I didn’t like: corruption, bureaucracy, and dishonesty. My understanding of business in Russia was crushed. I was enjoying working from 6 am till 2 am for almost two years, but after that I realized I am not doing right things: I am not able to support corruption and I will not participate in this kind of economics, so I sold my company and started my new job as an economist in a basic construction holding. But one day it was really enough. Enough of everything. It was time to go, and I did need to ride. Do you feel the difference between “I have to go” and “I need to ride”? I had both feelings.

During my entrepreneurship times, I crushed my lovely Fazer as well. I was going like a crazy with my knee on the ground and totally forgot to follow the road conditions – and it happened. Big oil puddle on the asphalt and Fazer goes under the car going the opposite direction, I continue my lane. Fazer is totally crushed and I have no damages. It was the best bike! We have done together approximately 60 000 kilometers and just before this crush it had 99 700 on its odometer. There was no way to fix it and I sold the rest of my Fazer for parts.

After that, there was a crazy Buell XB12 Lightning STT, which had eaten all of my patience during just three months and which I changed to lazy BMW F800ST. Two cylinders located inline after having four and also after having V-located cylinders in Buell, this BMW was like a heavy bicycle for me and it was impossible to take it into the forests. After two months it was sold as well, and in a couple of weeks after that, in the late September 2018, two crazy and frozen bikers entered Saint Petersburg in the early morning. There we were coming from Moscow with our just purchased KTM Adventures 2011 and 2013.

What about today? I am wondering how a lot of things have already happened in my short life. I have changed a lot of professions from journalist and translator to poker dealer and CEO, moved from Russia to Finland for four times and came back for four times as well, changed eight cars and six motorcycles, had ten places that I called my home, trained MMA and taekwondo, surfed, snowboarded… and I am still feeling very excited, what happens next. Now my home is everywhere, I just have to keep moving. This is a real case about “ride to live” – and live to inspire.

Thanks to my family, my friends and to you, I am always feeling that I am able to inspire people to try something completely crazy or new. Come on, it’s our one life, are we still dreaming? There are no stupid dreams. Seriously, you really deserve everything you want.

That’s it. That’s me. On the road again.

Sincerely,

Lada