Family Clinic
Family clinic! Gretchen took a clinic earlier this year and wanted her parents and sister to have a similar experience. Coach Shelly worked with them to improve their riding through technical terrain and features. Learning side by side, they each gained more confidence in their skills!
They can ride mountain bikes together as a family with grown children. We are inspired by this rad family!
Thanks to Jamis Bikes for the demo bikes for the women and Gregory Packs for supplying them with testing packs!
Intro Series conclusion
The weekly intro series was completed today! The coaches were grateful for all the effort each of the women brought to this series. Shelly and Kristen enjoyed watching each of them improve and enjoy the challenges they put them through.
Julie
Julie came to us ready for some coaching after experiencing some frustration at her ability to keep up when riding with family and friends. Coach Kristen took her through some fundamental movements and turning mechanics. They were able to identify asymmetrical turning movements that were making switch backs tough. Now Julie has a frame work for switchbacks and she’s ready to practice what she learned.
Park City Beginner Mountain Bike Clinic for Women
This group of beginners had an excellent time yesterday! We had some first-timers as well as some that have ridden for a while and haven’t ever received instruction. They learned in a non-intimidating atmosphere just how much easier mountain biking can be with these skills! Well done to each of them!
Thanks again to ESI Grips for supporting this clinic and letting us takeover their IG! We have many more #esigrips fans now that they each have a color of grips they love!
The night before the clinic we met for a bike check and a hip mobility session. Meeting the night before adds the reassurance the all the bikes are in great working order and we are ready to rock the next day!
Erica, Libby, Alison, Kelly, Kristen, Trish, Rachel, Amy, Lisa, Brittany, Andreea, Erica
Anyone can learn this!
This woman is about to turn 60, and today, in her second private session, she said “if I can learn this, anyone can!” She has been frustrated with her climbing skills, cornering and descending. Over two weeks we have built her to a whole new level of confidence!
Intro to Mountain Biking: day 1
Impressed with this group of women who rose to the challenge of day 1 of our Intro Series. Lots of smiles and great moments of surprising themselves with what they can do on a bike! Now they are working on their homework- to go riding and implement these new skills before our 2nd day of their 3-part series. Go girls, GO! Coaches for this series: Kristen Lane & Shelly Wedge.
Lifelong Athlete
Ally has been an athlete her whole life. She took up mountain biking a few years ago and has been frustrated with not being as efficient as she knows she is capable of being. Erica spent a few hours working with her on climbing and descending techniques. She rode the next day and said "So much fun! You helped me so much"! She is returning for another private session next week!
Backcountry Executive
This brilliant woman, that happens to be a Backcountry executive, moved from NYC to Park City to enjoy the mountain life! She decided to learn to mountain bike so she can explore all the gorgeous trails we have around here! We worked on skills as well as some adjustments to her bike that have changed her entire perspective of what it is to mountain bike! So excited to see the city girl completely grasp the mountain life with mountain bikes!
Coaches meetup
Some of the coaches had a meet up to review and add to each other's curriculum. We are all inspired by each other! We all love to be learning and adding more skills and drills to our quiver!
Buys a bike, signs up for a lesson and her life is changed forever!
First time on a mountain bike! This girl watched mountain bikers at Snowbird and decided she wanted to ride! She bought a bike, helmet, pack and pads and signed up for a lesson! The great thing about working with a first timer is they don’t have any habits to break! She listened to every cue and executed them perfectly! So fun to see her rocking her corners and body position at the end of the day!
Intermediate clinic in St. George
Thanks to the wonderful group we had at our clinic yesterday in St. George! This group was extra fun to work with since so many of them were friends! They were supportive of each other throughout the entire day! Looking forward to working with them again in the future.
Beginner Clinic in St. George, UT
Some of the women in today’s clinic had NEVER ridden a mountain bike! Throughout the day they learned how to handle a bike and position their bodies in order to be safe and have fun in the dirt! Real transformations happening in these beginner clinics! We succeeded in getting more women in bikes today=winning!
Want to be inspired? Take a look at the photos below to see absolute beginners at the end of the day of skills training. They rode features on the trail that seemed nearly impossible (to some of them) at the start of the day. We worked from the very beginning, slowly building skill after skill until they were ready to take on the desert singletrack!
Inspiring private session with a beginner
Read this inspiring testimonial, it is exactly what we live for!❤️
"I've been scared of bikes my whole life. From a traumatic crash when I was young, relearning when I was in college, to crying as I attempted mountain biking last summer... It's always been scary. Like, really scary.
Enter Women in the Mountains. As a Christmas present, I received a private lesson! Honestly I was scared going into the day, but excited at the prospect of getting over my fears.
Well, on May 5th, which happened to be International Women's Bike Day, I spent three hours with Erica and Christine and conquered my fear of bikes! They were kind, patient, and fantastic coaches. We learned all the basics so that I felt comfortable and confident on the trail.
I walked away from the day even EXCITED for the next time that I get to try out my new skills. A giant thank you to Erica, Christine, and Women in the Mountains. I couldn't recommend them enough (especially for super beginners 😊)
International Women’s Mountain Bike Day
We celebrated International Women’s Mountain Bike Day with a ride in Round Valley with Team Sugar by White Pine! Thanks for the fun afternoon!
Private Session
What an honor to work with this elite trail runner! Lauren started racing mountain bikes recently and is quickly moving to the front of the pack. We added racing skills to her quiver so she’ll be faster than ever! Thanks to Verge Sport for getting her a coat to train in all weather conditions.
Spring Refresher Course in Park City
We met on Friday night for a bike check and mobility session. Beginning with bikes, Christine set up suspension, seat heights and brake lever positioning, all of which will improve the comfort, safety and fun factor of the riders!
Then Kristen assed our ankle, hip, and thoracic spine for functional mobility and joint range of motion. Using yoga mats we did a short movement session to stretch and engage muscles to gain greater range of motion in our joints. We were surprised to discover how cycling, and every-day activities such as using a mobile devices, and driving vehicles is changing the mobility of our bodies and learned new movements to combat the stiffness and poor posture created by these activities.
Saturday morning, we got straight on our bikes. First Erica dialed in everyone’s body positions for descending. Then we moved into cornering and pressure control (front and rear wheel lifts). After a quick lunch break we headed to the trail to put everything to action on the dirt!
We had a wide range of participants from a new rider to a cyclocross racer. Everyone rode away with a big smile and far more confidence in their riding than they started the day with!
Awesome reviews from this weekend's clinic and sound like this:
"It transformed my riding, my confidence and attitude towards this challenging sport. @ericatingeyprorider thank you for an incredible day! I put my skills to the test today and never felt better. This love/hate relationship (with mountain biking) is headed to love/love in no time!"(Gretchen)
"Feeling very confident in my riding and looking forward to a great summer of riding!" (Kim)
"There's a good chance this might have to be my new sport. Thank you Erica for teaching me so much this weekend! (Ann T.)
Semi-Private Session
Last night’s semi-private session was a blast! These two didn’t realize they could get their front and rear tire off the ground at the beginning of the session. By the end, they were flying! We also worked on cornering and tight switchbacks. A whole new world of mountain biking had opened up for them! #womeninthemountains
High Fives for new skills!
This is WHY we love getting more women on bikes! The day after the Christchurch, New Zealand clinic (see post below), a handful of us went back to the bike park and there were SO many high fives at the end of the runs! A whole new level of stoke was reached since everyone could handle their bikes even better!
Christchurch, New Zealand 2018 clinic
Anne, Victoria, Anastasia, Julia, Erica, Jacqui, Emma, Chris, Yvonne
The Christchurch, New Zealand clinic was amazing! Such a warm welcome from this international group of women (countries represented at the clinic: England, Russia, Australia, 2 from the USA and 2 from Germany!). They all made great progress and had loads of fun, a million thanks for the excellent day!
Emma, Julia, Erica, Chris, Victoria, Anastasia, Anne, Yvonne
These photos are in the morning with an ocean view in the background, that is new for Women in the MOUNTAINS!
Lunch stop at "Sign of the Kiwi"
In the afternoon, we made it to the gorgeous tall pines. The women rocked the corners with these massive trees as the background. So fun to watch everyone push their limits on the steeper berms at the end of the day.
They ROCKED their mountain bike skills this weekend in Christchurch!
Thanks to Jamis Bikes for sending fun goodies to New Zealand