This week, the new issue of our local county magazine came off the press and inside you can find an article I wrote entitled "Growing Older, Riding Stronger". I would like to thank my friends Grace and Cary Kanoy for this opportunity to share my mountain bike experiences with all of Davidson County. Also, thanks to Cary for the great photo spread of me riding his backyard pumptrack this summer!
The magazine also includes some other great write-ups on local backyard builders (including my bf, Brad!) as well as featuring local beef producers and small batch brewing companies making their homes in Davidson County, NC.
Here is my article, as I submitted it (The print version has had some editing done and does not read quite the same as this, but I wanted to share this with all of those who can't get their hands on a print version!):
The hot days of summer in North Carolina
always bring back the memories of my first serious forays into mountain biking.
I rode bikes as a child, used a Huffy to commute and explore with in college,
and dabbled in riding trails in the woods when I first met my former husband.
It was all fun, but I’ve never felt so adventurous and daring on a bicycle as I
do now that I am in my 40s.
I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy and
rode and trained horses for quite a few years. I just enjoy being outdoors, and
especially in the woods. I had never thought much about mountain biking
seriously because I wasn’t exposed to it beyond the bikes I saw in Wal-Mart. My
former husband dabbled in mountain biking and when we split it became my portal
to peace in the woods.
I began my more serious riding at Country
Park in Greensboro seven years ago this summer.
Through online bike forums I created a Friday night ladies’ night at the
skills park there known as the “Zone”.
Many of the ladies I met through our Friday night rides are still good
friends and ride partners. I also met my current boyfriend, Brad, when some of
the ladies invited their boyfriends and their friends. Brad introduced me to
more trail riding, helped me find the perfect bike for the trails I wanted to
ride, and eventually got me hooked on my current passion…Downhill mountain
biking.
Downhill, or Gravity, mountain biking
takes place mostly at ski resorts, or at mountains dedicated solely to the
sport of mountain biking. Riders take the lift up with their bikes and then
ride down the mountain on trails through the woods that can be smooth and flowy
with jumps and berms, or steep and technical with rocks, roots, and difficult
features. No matter what type of trail, they all go down and require little, if
any, uphill pedaling. Riders can reach
high speeds and most bikes ridden at “bike parks” are specially designed for
the sport with advanced suspension and very, very strong brakes. Almost any
good mountain bike can be ridden on the more beginner friendly terrain at downhill
parks, making it accessible to anyone, but the more advanced terrain requires
proper equipment and good skills to stay safe!
Five years ago this summer, my boyfriend
introduced me to “downhill” at Snowshoe Bike Park in West Virginia, and rented
me a downhill mountain bike to ride on my birthday. I was so excited and so
very, very nervous. Our very first ride was down a trail called “10 Gallon” and
I came around a corner and found myself rolling down a somewhat steeper section
of trail that was like a rock stairway. I just kept looking forward and tried
to stay loose and trust the bike to roll down those rocks with me still
attached. I recall reaching the bottom of that section and finding Brad in awe
that I had ridden it. (To this day, that
section of trail makes me nervous! It is
challenging!) Every time we reached the
bottom of the mountain that day and got on the lift to ride back up, Brad would
ask me if I was having fun. The answer was always a tentative “yes”. The trails
were intimidating, but the bike just rolls over stuff you never think it would.
Downhill trails, when viewed from the
start, can look like an impossible maze of roots and rocks, but once you start
to develop an “eye” for how you can flow through and over the obstacles (like
water) and begin to trust that your bike is built to ride that way, it becomes
addictive. The sport really forces you to think quickly and problem solve in
the moment. Finding your flow through the trail becomes a puzzle to solve, both
with your brain and with your body. Some
call it a sport for adrenaline junkies. Yes, it is a bit of an adrenaline rush,
but much of the joy that I have found in it comes from the rush of confidence I
get from solving the puzzles the mountain offers and finding the flow on the
trail. There is really nothing that compares to it. The rest of the world
disappears when you find that flow on the trail and you are truly living in the
moment.
I did so well that first time at Snowshoe
that Brad suggested maybe I try some racing the following year. At the time there were very few women in the
area participating in the sport. When I
did race the next season, I was one of 4 ladies at most races and there were
maybe 2 more in all of North Carolina.
The sport has grown tremendously since then. Today, I personally know at least 30 women in
NC who enjoy riding downhill on a regular basis. I also coach those new to DH and just helped
introduce the sport and some of its skills to 7 new women at Beech Mountain
this month.
I still do ride trails locally quite
often. Downhill riding is reserved for
weekends off since it requires travel to the mountains. It also requires a fit rider, and that means
lots of riding on local trails and pumptracks on my non-downhill bike. I am so happy to live in Davidson County
where we have access to so many great trails in the nearby vicinity as well as
the potential for new trails in places like Finch Park. This will help bring even
more women into mountain biking since what it really takes is just knowing that
it is accessible to anyone. One does not need a fancy bike or a certain level
of fitness to start and there are no age restrictions on fun! I think many women are a bit intimidated by
the sport. You can get injured, and you
will get dirty, but if you ride within your skill level it is a sport for
anyone at any age. I actually believe it is safer as you get older because you
tend to have a clearer realization of your limits and recognize when you
actually have achieved the skills needed to push them. And when you push those
limits it can bring about amazing things for you. It is interesting how much of
what you learn on a bike can transfer over into real life. It not only strengthens physical muscles, but
also helps develop courage when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles
and trust in your abilities.
I encourage anyone with a nugget of
interest in mountain biking to get out there and try it, especially all the
ladies. In five years you might amaze yourself as much as I have. I never had any dreams of being a Gravity
National Champion, but I have achieved that and many other goals, both athletic
and personal, and I am in better physical shape than I have ever been in my
life, and I turned 42 this summer. There are many more adventures awaiting me
and I hope they all include mountain bikes.
