Russia's 'sexiest biker' dies in high-speed crash
Monika, a female biker dubbed Russia's "sexiest motorcyclist" with a following of some 150,000 on social media, died this week near Vladivolstok when she lost control of her BMW motorcycle at high speed and plowed into a guard rail, according to local media.
Monika, whose real name was Olga Pronina, had built a huge following on Instagram with photos and videos of her high-speed stunts, often while dressed in eye-catching bikinis.
The 40-year-old mother of a teenage daughter posted increasingly daring stunts at speeds above 120 mph. In one of her last videos, Pronina, who worked as a hairdresser, is shown riding a motorcycle sidesaddle while drinking from a straw and racing down a freeway.
That post included a warning for her online followers: “By the way, doing 250 kph (120 mph) and holding one hand is very uncomfortable. I do not recommend. But I got my adrenaline dose.”
Eduard Khasanov, director of a car and motorbike driving school in Vladivostok, told The Siberian Times that Olga "disregarded basic safety rules."
"Very often she rode without necessary protective gear — and at very high speed," he said.
Photos from Monday's crash site, posted on Instagram by vi_crime, show Monika's demolished BMW S1000RR sport bike jammed under a guard rail, with one of the wheels more than 600 yards away.
On her social media posts, Pronina often wrote in the third person to describe the exhilaration of her sport.
"I love her because she forgives me my recklessness," Pronina said in one post, referring to herself. "It takes care of my reckless butt, never lets me down, brightens up my sometimes lonely evenings, helps me forget troubles, trains my body and brain."
In another, she wrote: "I'm grateful to her for my shining eyes, the warm evening on my cheeks, the indescribable enthusiasm and feel of flying, for doses of adrenaline — for giving me freedom."
In yet another, she said, "One of the biggest advantages of my hobby is that a motorbike disciplines you. Thanks to him, I'm in perfect physical shape because motorbikes are not for weak women."