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!