It’s actually so weird sitting down to write a column celebrating 75 years of AMCN because while the magazine has been around way longer than I have, it’s genuinely been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
I’ve talked about it before, but for my first birthday Mum and Dad made me this tiny Valentino Rossi rocking bike with an engraved plaque and everything. Somewhere while flicking through the photos from the party, little one-year-old me ended up featured in AMCN sitting on it – and honestly, that’s kind of where this whole crazy motorcycle journey started.
At the time I obviously had no idea, but I never could have imagined motorcycles would eventually become my entire life. I definitely never thought I’d become a racer, let alone end up flying interstate and internationally to test some of the newest bikes in the world at iconic race tracks.
My parents were featured in AMCN heaps when I was growing up too, so the magazine always felt iconic to me. Dad would flick through the newest issue after stunt shows and race meetings and I’d sit there looking at all the photos, stories and bikes, thinking the people in those pages were the coolest humans alive.
As I got older, it slowly became my dream to properly feature in the magazine too. Not just a tiny race result hidden in the back pages either – I wanted front-cover status. The real deal.
Dad and I used to have these hilarious arguments about who was cooler on a bike. Who had more trophies, who’d ridden more tracks, who could do cooler things on motorcycles… all the really important statistics, obviously. The trophy conversation was one I could eventually somewhat fight back on, but there was one thing I absolutely couldn’t beat him at.
He’d been on the front cover of AMCN. And not casually, either. He was on the front wheel of a bike pulling this cool stunt rider face at the photographer like he was way too cool for school. Honestly, he loved reminding me about it too.
Then before the Ducati Thailand trip ever happened, I actually got the chance to step in as a regular columnist for AMCN, which already felt surreal enough. Getting to tell my stories and bring people into the reality of racing from my perspective was something I never expected to love as much as I do.
Now getting to reach people all across this beautiful country and tell them about my latest adventures, race results, tricky moments and random downtime shenanigans still feels pretty crazy to me. I’ve always loved being able to share the human side of racing too – not just the polished podium photos, but the long drives, weird paddock moments and everything in between.
Then one day I got the phone call asking if I wanted to travel to Thailand with AMCN and Ducati to ride the brand-new Ducati Panigale V4 at Chang International Circuit – an actual MotoGP track.
Safe to say I didn’t answer calmly.
Even now, that trip is still one of my favourite motorcycle memories ever. The whole thing felt surreal. Flying overseas because of motorcycles, riding one of the most talked-about bikes in the world and creating media alongside AMCN genuinely felt like one of those ‘this cannot actually be real life’ moments.
What made it even more special was the trust involved. AMCN didn’t just send me there to ride a bike – they trusted me to represent them, tell the story and capture the experience for readers back home. For someone who grew up reading those magazines cover to cover, that meant a lot.
Then a few weeks later I walked into a newsagency back home and saw myself on the front cover riding what was probably the most sought-after motorcycle in the country at the time.
I genuinely didn’t know how to process it. It was one of those full-circle moments where little kid me would have completely lost her mind. Dad never admitted it… but I think deep down he knew I finally had him beat. At least in the AMCN front cover championship anyway.
But beyond the jokes and family rivalry stuff, AMCN genuinely has played such a massive role in my career and in Australian motorcycle culture as a whole. For generations it’s been the thing connecting riders, racers and fans while inspiring the next generation coming through.
And now getting to contribute my own stories to the same magazine I grew up obsessively reading still feels incredibly special to me. Because somewhere out there is probably another little kid flicking through AMCN, dreaming about motorcycles the same way I once did.
And honestly, that’s pretty cool to think about.
