Ladies who Launch

So, I was going to write a post about my vacation (it was epic), but then I went on a ride with some local ladies and was inspired to write about all the awesome women I've met so far in this epic sport.

Shredder Stef and I being Dirty Janes at Mountain Creek, one stop on the epic vacation.

I recently was chosen as a "Jane", an ambassador for the website DirtyJane.com and being a Jane has made me want to learn even more and promote our love for all things bike with women wherever they are.  AnnKa and Moe, the power couple that runs DirtyJane are so amazingly supportive and helpful.

First DH race 2012--In my blue Tough Chik shirt. Great turnout for the ladies!

I have also been on "Team Tough Chik" for the past two years, a group of rad woman all over the world who are very active in running, triathlons, and biking.  We race for Tough Chik, a clothing company run by the amazing Shannon.  It is a great group of supportive woman, and even though I am the only DH girl on the team at the moment, I feel like I am inspiring more of the ladies who bike to point their steeds down steeper stuff, which is a great feeling indeed.

I started dabbling in mountain biking in July 2009, and really got into trail riding the following summer.  I reached out to a few women in the beginning that I continue to ride with to this day.  They were all really patient and helpful when I was starting out and getting my fitness level up.  I had to lose 30 lbs back at the start of it all.  I had to break out of my shell to reach out into the biking community and find women to ride with.  Sadly, they don't always just see you and invite you out.  So if you are just starting out, ASK other ladies if you can join them.  Most are happy to oblige!  I have really been trying to reach out and encourage ladies who might be new in the sport because I know how out of the loop I felt when I was starting out.  It is intimidating to be in such a male dominated sport and I think sometimes that makes women a bit closed off.  Introduce yourself at races, be outgoing even if you are the shyest person on the planet, wear a skirt to get people's attention, whatever it takes to make you feel more badass is the way to go.  Because women make badass mountain bikers.

In the beginning, July 2009...riding the local dirt jumps solo before reaching out to the local ladies.

Some of the first vixens I rode with:  Genisis, Moni, and Caitlin.

Over the past few years I have been to women's camps, women's weekends, raced in women's divisions in XC, Downhill, and Super D (with an aspiration to try some BMX too!).  There are women everywhere in the sport, though not in huge numbers, which is kind of nice because you get to know EVERY one of them!  And we are all an inspiration to each other in some way, and we understand the fear and hesitation of other women and know how to encourage each other to work through it.  Learning to ride XC, dirt jumps, DH, BMX, can all be difficult, but in the end it is always fun and always worth it.  Every moment on the bike is a reminder of being a little girl with skinned knees from riding up and down my gravel driveway going as fast as I could.  Being on a bike is freedom...and we women allow ourselves so little of that with all our obligations and to do lists.  So, if you are having second thoughts about getting on your mountain bike, or if you feel alone in your local mtb community, don't give up!  Get back on those pedals and go girl!  All of these women are out there waiting to ride with you too...

Susan and her daughter CJ join me on the trails a lot...on bikes and horses!

Corinne and I on the dual slalom podium at Beech Mountain, she was so encouraging!

Zoe (right) is a crazy dirt vixen from Slovakia who loves to dirt jump and slaughters everyone in XC.

I raced with Sandra (ctr) and Marci (rt) all season at Beech Mt last year.  This was at Gravity Nationals waiting for our runs in the mud-we were the only women riding in Cat 3 that day.

Riding in Philadelphia in 18 degree weather with Stef.

Snowshoe Women's Weekend with some rad ladies!

Heather and Jennifer were super supportive and inspiring at my first DH race this season!

Fall at Lake Norman with Averee and Susan, (and Caroline taking photo!)

The ride that inspired this post.  With Ashley and Andrea.

Last summer riding with XC vixens Stephanie and Candi.

Ray's Women's Weekend with Jess.  She recently won an awesome mtb trip to BC!  So Jealous.

Post Cranskgiving Enduro with Shanna, Karrie, and Caroline.  Really surprised we are still smiling.

Winter Short Track Series beginner women podium with Andrea and Kelly kickin' my butt!

Now get out there and say hello to any lady you see on a bike and you will have a great photo collection of all your rad dirt vixen friends too...and ladies to ride with anywhere you go!!

National Bike Month...only a month?

Shouldn't we be promoting bikes all year!  I guess it does get people out there and started, and I am glad we are celebrating bikes nationally.  I think we should have National Mountain Bike Month, maybe in June.  Dirt is awesome. 

Speaking of dirt...I am very excited to announce that I will be a "Jane"...spreading the love for DirtyJane.com.  They are an awesome online retailer catering to women in mountain biking, freeriding, and downhill.  It can be hard to find women's gear for the more hardcore end of the mountain biking spectrum, but AnnKa and Moe and the crew at DirtyJane find it and put it all in one place.  They have shoes, armor, shorts, helmets, goggles, even flirty comfy dresses for your post ride chill session.  A great spot to visit to get in gear for National Bike Month!  I really want to order this helmet to rock some of my new DirtyJane.com stickers on!

Found a fun surprise from Canada in my mailbox yesterday!

I got my DirtyJane delivery in the mail yesterday and I am loving my new gear!  Can't wait to rock my new Royal Racing jersey...the fabric feels awesome and I love the simple design.  If any of you ladies out there are interested in becoming a Jane, they are always taking applications.  Check out the details here.

Loving my DirtyJane gear! Space Kitty is awesome!

Now I gotta go get some wheels fixed...those rocks at Duryea did a number on my new purple rims!

City Girl for a Weekend

The Monday after a good weekend of downhill riding is the worst kind of Monday.  I find myself wanting to get out again on my downhill bike for another day of shredding the trail, another chance to ride a new line or work on perfecting the one I've been riding all weekend, but I have to drive home and go to work.  Riding downhill all weekend is a great escape from the everyday, there is no chance at all to worry about work or the little things that we all think we need to worry about but that don't really matter.  Downhilling is truly a zen experience and the embodiment of living in the moment.

Truly living in my moment through this crowd.

So, I spent a Zen weekend riding in Reading, Pennsylvania for the first Gravity East Series downhill race of the season, the Duryea Downhill.  This was a unique venue for a downhill race.  The organizers set up the base of operations in the Reading City Park.  There were food vendors among all the race pits and in the park setting it felt more like a fair than a race.  There were some great ladies from a local coffee shop who kept me caffeinated all weekend with their great iced coffee  The riders were shuttled in Penske trucks to the top of Mt Penn, which is a peak in a range known as the Reading Prong mountains.  True to the Appalachians, and especially Pennsylvania, there are lots and lots of rocks, baby head type rocks to be specific.  Rocks that caused lots of flat tires and broken spokes and dented rims.  I had two flats after one run alone!

The ladies of Max Crema's served some delicious iced coffee!

When I arrived at the park and saw the finish line run section of the course I will admit I got a bit nervous--it was surprisingly steep!  I wasn't sure if it was because I just hadn't been on steep for a few months, or if it really was that steep.  It did feel a bit better coming down it on my bike than I thought it would, but it was indeed steep and surprisingly so for a downhill trail within city limits.  The upper parts of the trail were not quite as steep and were actually really fun and fast with lots of long low grade, high speed runs with jumps and drops and of course, lots of rocks.

Steep, loose, run to the finish.

I had the awesome privilege of meeting and practicing with some super rad downhill vixens!  Heather and Jennifer were so fun to ride with and super encouraging and supportive.  I don't think I would've ridden some of the lines I did if they hadn't simply led me down them!  In one of my practice runs on race day I completed wiped out in the rock garden and Heather was so nice to hang back with me and ride through with me again.  Any women out there who might have the thought or desire to try downhill, just remember we are a small group, but as such, we are all willing to help the other ladies out.  I have learned that when I find myself at a race or downhill park it is good to introduce yourself to the other ladies and ride together when you can.  By supporting each other our numbers can only grow stronger!

These ladies rocked!!

My downhilling weekend was made extra special through the fact that my sister only lives 20 miles from Reading, so I was able to stay with her and her boyfriend for the weekend.  It was great to see them and spend some time with them, and they got to come watch some of the rowdiness of a downhill race.  My sister even did a write up on it for the local paper she works for and shot some video which was pretty cool. The race itself was awesome!  I had a great run, though I could have gone a bit faster.  Riding XC has really helped my cardio fitness, but not the muscles I need for downhill!  My glutes were wiped out, as were my arms and hands.  Near the end of the race where the Pro road gap section was I came riding down into a massive crowd with a DJ playing--that was crazy!   I rode the log drop on the steep finish line section on my race run and I had not ridden it in practice, so I was super stoked about that. I actually finished with a pretty strong time and won the Women Cat2/3 class!  I finally got a tire!  (I kept hoping to win some tires last year with no luck.)

One of the funnest things was when I got to the bottom, there was a group of local Special Olympians watching the race and they asked to get photos with me.  They were so excited to talk to me and take photos with me, it really made my weekend.

Dirt Fever

Hahaha!  I am impressed that I already posted for April, and that I am doing so again.  This month has been a blurrrrrrr....

I did sign an online pledge to ride my bike everyday in April (more laughter here).  How's that going, you ask?  Well...I don't remember...or prefer not to.

I did pretty well the first two weeks...did 7 XC trail rides, a few pumptrack sessions, and when there wasn't time for much else I pedaled up and down my dead end neighborhood street a few laps.  The spring weather was motivational...dirt fever had set in!  Then on the 14th, I got lazy and took one day off, which turned into 3.

Then I competed in my first XC evening training race of the season.  I moved up to the Sport category thinking that 2 laps instead of 1 would be a good challenge...then I found out I had to do 3!  15 miles nonstop XC.  Oh, I can ride 15 miles, but there is usually a few pit stops and a lunch break involved.  A 15 mile ride usually takes about 3 hours.  I rode 15 miles in 1:30.  Ouch.  Placed 3rd of 3, but I wasn't far behind!  And I am at a slight disadvantage with my bike...I'm cruising on my All Mountain Transition Covert, which is AWESOME!  But I am outbiked for XC racing by all the carbon fiber 29ers.  No big deal though, it's just for DH endurance training anyhow.  And with so few women competing, I can usually still get a medal!

I think I was the only rider who rode this granite bridge--I always pick the hard lines.

So, with my first race behind me I haven't been on the bike again since...very sad.  Too much work and no bike makes me a dull girl.  I did hop on my BMX bike today (my new buddy!) and run a few laps on the pumptrack which was fun.  And I did crash once, which I haven't done since DH season last year.  And I didn't have my knee pads on...the one time, right!  Ouch again.  I need to go to Dirty Jane and order me an extra pair so I can keep one with my pumptrack bike at all times!

I wore my new Troy Lee Designs full face on the pumptrack today to break it in a bit...love it!  I need to wear it a bit more to get used to it for DH season.  Feels weird after not wearing one for so long. My first race is coming up fast!  (Duryea Downhill in Reading PA)

Tomorrow night is the 2nd series XC race, maybe with all this time off I'll have more energy to pedal through when I just want to cruise...maybe, just maybe, I can make a better showing even with the big bike.

My Happiness Project

Well, the project isn't started yet or anything.  I just started reading the book The Happiness Project because everyone was talking about it and I am a sucker for projects and the search for more happiness.  Especially when I can incorporate more biking into the whole equation!

Spring is springing and I am eager to get the biking season started.  As I am planning out my race schedule for the year, I have been reminiscing about the past year and I am amazed how much happiness and community riding and racing my downhill bike has brought to my life.  There have been so many new adventures and new rad women to meet. If you are a biker chick who I've met in the past year, you know who you are and I want to say how glad I am to have met you!  Every single one of you has inspired me in some way and made my life richer, and that has in turn enriched the lives of other women I have encountered along the way.

For this post I wanted to share a paragraph out of The Happiness Project that really made me think about this past year of riding and racing.  It made me realize how much happiness riding a bike can bring.  They transport you into instant adventure and help you grow in unseen ways.  They give you a strong body, but they also can provide new learning experiences, relaxation, renewed focus, new friendships, a greater appreciation for beauty and nature, and stronger community.  In my view, riding a bike more often should be a huge part of anyone's "Happiness Project"!

(Excerpt from The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin):

"One reason that challenge brings happiness is that is allows you to expand your self-definition.  You become larger.  Suddenly you can do yoga or make homemade beer or speak a decent amount of Spanish."  (or ride your bike off a 4 foot drop!) "Research shows that the more elements make up your identity, the less threatening it is when any one element is threatened.  Losing your job might be a blow to your self-esteem, but the fact that you lead your local alumni association gives you a comforting source of self-respect.  Also, a new identity brings you into contact with new people and new experiences, which are also powerful sources of happiness."

The last sentence make me even more excited to ride some new venues this year and meet a whole new set of riding compadres!

Does your bike bring you happiness?  If you are reading this, that is probably a silly question.  Let me rephrase...

How has riding a bike drawn more happiness into your life?

Women in love with their wheels

So, it's February.  Mid-winter, cold and dreary in most places (though it hasn't been too difficult to get some rides in here in NC).  This is probably why whoever decided when to put Valentine's Day on the calendar put it in February.  That is my humble uneducated about Valentine's Day guess anyhow.  A break from the long dreary days of winter to celebrate something that feels good...Love.  And in the case of 200+ women at this year's Women's Weekend at Ray's Indoor Bike Park...love for our bikes!

Caroline with her Valentine on the road trip to Cleveland.

I hadn't been to Ray's in Cleveland Ohio in about 3 years.  I read about Women's Weekend in Bike Magazine last fall and decided then and there that I would be going.   Ray's is like Mecca for anyone who loves to jump/freeride.  It is a lot of fun for every rider from beginner to advanced, hardcore XC to insane DHer.  There are areas for everyone to play on their mountain bike.   Every winter riders plan their pilgrimage to Cleveland, hoping for decent weather for the trip.  It is a giant playground for anyone who loves to play on their bike.  If you haven't been you must go, trust me on this one. 

When I found out about Women's Weekend I decided that I wanted to share the experience with as many ladies as possible so I started inviting ladies from all over NC to make the pilgrimage with me.  Some I have been riding with for ages, others I had only recently met at races, some I had never met at all.  I knew that every one of them would have fun and come away from the trip with some awesome new skills.  We ended up with 10 ladies in our group, 8 ladies driving up from NC and 2 coming in from Michigan to meet us.  I was the only one who had ever been to Ray's and I was so happy that I could share the love with them for Valentine's Day!

I am pretty sure every one of us made progress on our bikes in some form.  And we all undeniably had fun!  The instructors were great and offered lots of invaluable advice and instruction.  There was so much encouragement and so many perma-grins it was impossible not to have a good time!  It was also great to see many of the ladies I had met while racing and riding downhill all last year, and to meet some new ones.  The women's mountain bike community is really growing exponentially and it is so awesome to be a part of it.

 

I missed this group shot because I was in line for the bathroom! 

As for my personal experience at Ray's, it was amazing.  My goal for the weekend was to learn how to properly jump and boost my bike on the lips.  I have been terrified for some time now to do that.  I had a few bad crashes on my dirt jump bike since my last trip to Ray's and I always "suck up" my jumps and haven't had the courage to give my jumping the push it needs to improve.  The two coaches on the beginner/intermediate jump line were great.  Hillary Elgert, an awesome downhill racing maven whom I met last summer at Snowshoe, really helped me with her advice on the hip thrust needed to lift the bike off the lip.  Carley Young, a badass BMX vixen who also hails from NC, was so encouraging and helpful.  I loved her praise when I would clear the little tables and her encouragement to "boost" them!  I think I spent most of my two days on that little jump line.

This isn't the little jump line, but this line created perma-grins also!

My ultimate goal for the weekend was to ride the "Red Bull Berm line"  which is an advanced jump line.  I had ridden part of it the one previous time I visited Ray's, but the big "Oakley" box scared the bejesus out of me back then and I would cut out before it.  (I also crashed pretty hard and hurt my elbow.)  So, before Saturday was over I asked my kickass friend Caroline to lead me down the line...and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!   I wanted to ride it for the rest of the night, but I was beat and didn't want to push it, so I rode it a few times, got some awesome video proof and called it a weekend.

Thanks to Marci's boyfriend, we had a badass ride to Ohio.  

It wasn't only the riding that was such fun, but the energy of all the women coming together, and the fun road trip with ladies only.  We drove a big badass truck and got lots of looks from truckers and toll booth operators which was hilarious.  We ate lots of delicious food and drank lots of Starbucks.  We learned more about one another and learned some other new skills.  Our driver for the weekend, Marci, learned to drive in the snow!  It was really a great trip, and I hope to get even more women in on it for next year. 

When I got home I found a message in my inbox from one of my favorite sites, DirtyJane.com.  It was a posting for free stickers if you used your creativity and got a picture of yourself getting dirty and declaring "I am Jane".  Stoked on my weekend full of Janes and finding myself with a day off and good weather I decided to have some creative fun.  First I had to clean all the road salt from Ohio off my bike.  Then I planned some self portraiture which is very difficult, especially when your pump track is a mud pit and you only have 10 seconds on your camera's self timer.  The photos actually came out pretty well though and the folks at DirtyJane loved them which really made me warm and fuzzy inside.  Can't wait for my sticker pack!

Really can't wait for that mud to dry up on my pumptrack so I can put my new skills to use!

Dropping In on a New Year

Well, we are 4 weeks in to 2013.  I made a few resolutions this year and so far have stuck with them, except for the one to write in my blog every Monday.  Oops.

Better late than never!

Suffering through Cranksgiving Weekend.  Enduro Racing is Hard!  

I am so psyched for 2013!  I was a bit lazy after Cranksgiving weekend and kind of sat around for 6 weeks with just a few short bike rides thrown in for "exercise".   And I didn't eat very cleanly--blek.

So, starting the week of Jan 1, (Dec 31 actually since that was Monday), I started in on a new fitbook and started planning out my meals and exercise for each week.  (If you've never seen a fitbook and are the type who likes to track things, definitely check them out--they are so cute and convenient to carry with you.)  I feel a lot better when I do this, because if it is written down I tend to actually do it.  I had plumped up a bit, which usually isn't too noticeable until I try to ride some shuttle runs in my moto pants and can't breath when I try to zip the fly.  Can't afford new moto pants...must lose a few pounds!  I'll never understand how people gain so much weight...who wants to keep going out and buying bigger pants?

I have been pretty dedicated to my planning, cooking meals for dinner and eating the leftovers for lunch (and dinner at work when I have to close).  I also haven't had a Chai Latte at work (Starbucks) in the past 4 weeks, which is amazing.  I have been drinking plain lattes with cinnamon on top (no sugar or flavor)  and have really come to enjoy them.  And if I have something sweet it tastes pretty gross.  Like Cadbury Eggs, which used to be my Achilles heel of sweets.  I had some yesterday and they did not taste good at all.  I find the loss of the sweet tooth quite interesting and wish more people would try going no added sugar (and no sweetener!!) for a few weeks and see what happens.

Going off a never before attempted drop and hoping I don't split my too tight pants.

I have stuck to my exercise plan too, for the most part.  Doing some "Flow" workouts with light weights and weight lifting once or twice a week.  I kind of had to ease back into a routine, so as not to hurt myself.  I tend to push too hard sometimes.   I also try to get one run or interval run in each week, and some yoga.  And foam rolling, which was painful at first, but the skin on my thighs is looking awesome and I think it is from that!  And the bike!! I try to ride 2-3 days a week.  The weather is so iffy that there is not a lot of trail riding to be done, but pedaling the dirt greenway or the neighborhood streets still feels good, and I ride the pumptrack in my backyard when it is frozen.  Though it often takes a lot of willpower to get going out into the cold!  My boyfriend and I also have been doing some fun street riding on our dirtjump bikes.  That is always a good workout and a fun break from routine.

So, January has seen some good progress.  I try to remember that doing all of this will make riding and racing a whole hell of a lot more fun.  I won't be as tired or sore and I'll be more flexible and strong and hopefully faster!  My whole goal is to have as much fun as possible when I can get out for the awesome bike rides, and my planning is meant to help achieve that goal.

February is going to be tough, and awesome.  I've signed up for an ab challenge on Facebook that anyone can join.  I encourage all you Dirt Vixens to join me.  And no girl push-ups, either.  We are talking "man" pushups here (but ease into them if you have to!).   I am hoping it will give me a super strong core base to start off the Downhill Season this year.  I am also doing a local Short Track XC race series to keep me accountable for my cardio on the bike.  Any ladies local to Greensboro, come out and give me some competition!!

And then there is Ray's Women's Weekend, which is going to be the raddest Valentine's Day weekend ever!  I have put together a group of awesome Dirty South Dirt Vixens to drive up to Cleveland and have fun in a land of bike nirvana.  I am so looking forward to it and really want to be in great shape for that, because Ray's Indoor Bike Park will WEAR YOU OUT!  It is like a giant indoor bike playground and like a little kid, you just never want to stop playing.  We need one of these in every state.

I am going to vow right here and now to keep up with my blog a little better.  I need some of you to help me be accountable!  Shoot me a message on FB or email, or here on the blog if you really enjoy it and yell at me when I am slacking.  I really would like to help inspire some more ladies to delve into Freeriding and Downhilling, and to come enter some races.  They are scary at first, I won't lie, but the more you do, the more you love it!  Come to the dark side with me.