Inspiring Story of the Day: Ashley Fiolek

August 2nd, 2008 | Sportswear: Men Women | Athletes | College | Olympic Games

If you are looking for an inspirational story to lift you out of the dumps, then you might want to check out the story of Ashley Fiolek [pictured above when she was still 12 years old]. Why is her story so inspiring? Well, she’s deaf. She’s still in her teens. And she’s a motorsports champion. If that is not inspiring, I don’t know what is. From the Associated Press:

She is the top rider on the AMA/Women’s Motocross Association tour in her rookie year after winning the season’s first three stops.

But how does she manage without hearing the rev of the engines, and with such a severely limited knowledge of what’s going on around her?

“That’s probably the question I get the most from other riders is, ‘How do you ride? I, couldn’t do it. I rely so much on my hearing.’” Fiolek said through her father Jim, who translates her sign language.

The disadvantages are clear. She can’t hear to know when to shift, though that can be solved by relying more on vibrations. A bigger problem is knowing where her opponents are when they are behind her, which they quite often are. She must pick a path and stick with it.

“She has to hold her line, she can’t cut across the track,” Jim Fiolek said. “Say there’s something in the track she wants to move over, she can’t really move over if she’s committed to that line.”

But the Fioleks say there can be advantages, with a philosophy that might be called “Zen and the art of motorcycle racing.”

They say being oblivious when another rider is bearing down on her can be a sort of blessing.

“The noise doesn’t bother her, so if you’re behind her, the pressure’s not there,” Jim Fiolek said.

Both father and daughter talk about the peace she gets amid the chaos, especially at the start of a race, where Fiolek has proven especially potent.

“I don’t feel it, I don’t hear it, so it doesn’t bother me,” Ashley Fiolek said.

Good for you Ashley. You go, girl!

Photo credits: staugustine.com and femaleracingnews