Tallulah’s enduring passion

Peter Jones

Tallulah Tuffery and her trusty 2019 KTM150 xc-w. Photo Christianna Morgan.

A podium finish at the NZ Enduro national champs has kick started a young Marlborough motorbike rider’s urge to compete at the top level.

Tallulah Tuffery, who works at Marlborough Lines as a utility arborist, has been riding dirt bikes for the past 16 years.

Over the past three years the 36-year-old has produced a string of podium finishes in her preferred enduro class, fuelling a passion for the gruelling discipline, a hunger that she hopes can take her all the way to the International Six Day Enduro champs in Portugal in 2026.

The Marlborough Motorcycle Club member says, “I enjoy more technical riding, and have been entering enduros and hard enduros … just finishing some of these rides in itself is a massive achievement.”

Tallulah competes in cross country, enduro and hard enduro. All three disciplines involve high levels of skill, concentration and physical fitness. In enduro riders cover up to 200km, often being in the saddle for up to six hours non-stop. They complete loops of the course, with timed terrain tests thrown in during each circuit.

“When you eventually dismount, your legs feel like jelly,” said Tallulah.

Asks what draws her back to such a punishing sport, she says, “I really don’t know”.

“Honestly, when you are out there trying to pick your bike up out of a mud bog that is over your knees deep, it is like “why the hell do I do this?”

“The riding community is so close and we all feel the same and know what each other goes through. At times we all think ‘stuff this, this sucks, why am I doing it, then we go back and do it all again next weekend’ – it is just such a challenge and to overcome it is amazing.”

She said that initially she found the enduro environment “rather intimidating”, a situation that sometime puts female riders off.

“With all the men around you, doing wheelies past you and stuff, it was hard to get women to take up the sport.”

However, a shift to a lighter bike, a “very peppy” two-stroke 2019 KTM150 xc-w, has seen her gain confidence and realise she can foot it with the nation’s best.

Tallulah in action. Photo Jake Boylett.

“Once you get used to riding a two-stroke, as opposed to a four-stroke, it is quite different. I love it, it just makes me so happy, especially now I can see the gradual improvements, it just feels so good.”

Her latest podium placing came at the three-round NZ enduro champs, finishing second in the women’s section behind New Plymouth’s Megan Collins, a rival Tallulah describes as “really fast”.

That sort of success has opened up other avenues for Tallulah, including the opportunity to represent her country at international level.

“I am really motivated at the moment, maybe nearing my peak performance, so I want to work with it, get as fit and strong as I can and just keep riding.”

A journey to Europe next year for the ISDE champs, a six-day enduro, beckons for Tallulah. She is focussed on making the trip and is hard at work attracting sponsors to enable her to test her skills on the biggest stage.

“That would be a dream come true”, said Tallulah. “I know I have a lot of work to do, but I intend on doing my best to achieve the goal.”

She has had many influences in her riding career, none more so than Onamalutu man Don Munro who has been “a big help, an awesome teacher”.

She has had sponsorship help from Clean Rebuilds, Ando’s Dirt Bike Events and recently Vertex Lubricants NZ.

Riding motorbikes is not Tallulah’s only sporting skill, she has also a versatile member of the Moutere women’s rugby team over the past eight seasons, playing 59 games for the Magpies.

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