‘You have to be half crazy to ride’ – Guyanese Racer

ONE of the many appeals of sports is the adrenaline it produces. Many people live for the fast-paced nature of everything moving
swiftly around a track or across a field. Racing is normally different. Racers set out around a track at hundreds of miles per hour, barely making turns and narrowly avoiding collisions. Racers in Guyana are no different. Professional racing is a growing sport in Guyana, with more young men and women joining the field. Adrian Mohar is a young bike racer from the Yarrowkabra community. Adrian is part of a newer generation of racers. Growing up with dirt bikes, Adrian and his comrades are pioneers in their field. And although they are new, they bring fresh excitement to an old sport, pushing new boundaries.

Racing in the blood
Thirty-one-year-old Adrian Mohar wears many hats. Most days, he can be found at his Yarrowkabra home, working on bikes or helping the community in any way possible. However, on the weekends, Adrian puts down the tools, picks up one of his many bikes, and takes to the track.
He and his team can be found circling the South Dakota track for hours on end. Adrian grew up surrounded by racing; his father and grandfather were both racers and taking up the sport professionally was something he had considered for a long time. He shared that, “My grandfather used to drag race in the 60s, on the roadways, not legally. And my family has a very mechanical background. I, myself, am a mechanic. My father and brother are mechanics. And they used to come up in the eighties to ride for fun. My dad got into racing in the early 2000s. He raced officially for the first time in 2004, and he got second place.”

The generational aspect of racing is vital to Adrian and the entire spirit of racing. He began racing in 2015. Still young, Adrian was not quite sure he was ready to enter professional racing at the competitive level. One year later, life gave him a stumbling block. “I started to practise in late 2015; I did not think I was ready yet. In early 2016, I got into an accident, and that set me back a couple of years. I decided just the other day to pick it back up. With the guidance of my father, I started to ride again,” he explained.

As much as he had the full rallying support of his family, Adrian’s first steps into racing were on shaky feet. Perhaps it was self-doubt, but Adrian reentered racing, unsure about his future in the field. He admitted that he wanted to push his boundaries in order to see his true potential. He shared that, “My father has been behind racing and bikes the whole time. I have always known I like racing and everybody thinks they have talent until they test themselves. I went into it not very exaggerated. I went in with one foot out the door to see if I really have what it takes to ride out there.” Since reentering racing, Adrian has made significant improvements. His skills have developed, and he is now more certain than ever that racing is a risk he is willing to take.

Half mad for speed
Biking is also Adrian’s preferred way of travel in his everyday life. Raised in Yarrowkabra, bikes were the best way to make it through the thick, hot sand. Before there was racing, Adrian said there was dirt bike riding, days spent covering miles of Guyana’s backlands from one place to the next. As he shared, “We used to do a lot of dirt bike riding, a few of us actually used to ride with Team Mohammed’s. We would ride and go to different places, like St Cuthbert’s Mission, Ituni, Coomacka, and Rockstone.”

Racing is exhilarating; the speed and spot-on coordination it requires are unparalleled. Adrian describes it as seeing the road rush towards you. He shared that, “It is very thrilling. You have to be half crazy to ride. It’s like stopping and seeing the road come rushing towards you. Being in a vehicle that is very powerful and the road is coming right at you.” As much as his initial steps into racing were not his most certain ones, Adrian is very sure about his love for the sport. As he shared, “The love for racing is something that does not go away. If everything goes well and I am at the point where I can no longer race bikes, then I hope to get into cars.”

Fueuling the future.

Adrian has his sights set on the next generation of racers. He hopes to develop the sport into what he knows it has the potential to become. As he gears up for the GMRSC championship opening round this Sunday, he rides with the future of racing as his inspiration. He states that, “My father paved the way for me, and I want to pave the way for my daughters. The eldest one has actually been riding for a few years since she was five. I want to pave the way not only for my kids but for a lot of cousins and kids. Everybody is just waiting to see what is the outcome.”