Couples goals right here! Tiffany and Paul are visiting from Vermont and both wanted to increase their skills. They both have many years of riding experience and had never taken a lesson from a certified instructor. Within the first 10 minutes they said “I had no idea I could that! I didn’t know my bike could do that!” That continued for another 3 hours:) They were floored by how much they learned and can’t wait to take their skills to The Crest today!
Fall Intro Series
Our fall intro series had so many breakthrough moments over the last 3 weeks! They found the ability to push through perceptions of what their bikes can do by learning to literally jump with their bikes, while staying centered AND mentally composed.Kaylee’s response was that she never realized she could be so active on the bike.She was lifting her front wheel over obstacles that, before the session she would stop and walk over... Success! Erika had the chance to practice between sessions and was thrilled with what she learned over the course of these last weeks! Thanks to coach Kristen for guiding these women to a whole new world of mountain biking!
Intermediate Clinic in Park City
Saturday we had women riding drops, berms and tight switchbacks for the intermediate clinic! Plus, we had all the fun🎉
3 of these women were @backcountry employees. They bring a fun dynamic to our group!
Second session for more pressure control
Meet Melissa, business owner, mother of 4 and avid mountain biker! This was her second private session this year and she was wanting to get dynamic on her bike! Pump tracks and manualing up and downobstacles were her goals. She absolutely succeeded in both! She is going to practice on her local pump track in Heber so she can keep up with (then outride:) her kids and husband!
Olympian Sailor
This is Francesca, a 2 time Olympian sailor. This Italian woman’s natural athleticism is truly astounding. She rode a mountain bike for the first time when she came to our beginner clinic in July, right after sailing around the world (yes, the entire WORLD!). She has ridden a mountain bike less than 8 times since then (because she has been sailing internationally). I could see her talent the instant she rode around the parking lot in July, she literally did a small manual without anyone demonstrating or telling her to, she just rode up to the curb and manualed up! Now, within 8 rides, she was ready to get air. She returned for a private session last week and learned more advanced skills! Since the lesson she went for a ride and said the following: “Saturday I went to Deer Valley to ride lifts for downhill practice, drops and little jumps!Big fun and lot of learning from the lesson with you! Thank you again for the tips!!!:)” @francescaclapcich
Beginner Clinic in Park City
Friday’s Beginner Clinic has women ready to rock and roll! Coach @wedgeshelly had them ride rock gardens and rollers. So cool to watch them progress from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. They are now ready to take on all of Round Valley now!
Dr. Jennifer Allen, owner of Portica Cosmetic
Really great private session with Dr. Jennifer Allen, the owner of @porticacosmetic! She came to our desert clinic in May and wanted to review some of her cornering skills. The improvements she made today were incredible! Corners have been challenging her and after building a few skills, she was confidently taking corners at speed. Not only can she ride her bike really well, @jenallen1025 was an attending physician at the Mayo Clinic for 10 years before returning to Utah and opening her own practice. She is a mother of 4 and such a wonderful and generous person to be around!
Introduction to Mountain Biking final session
Our summertime “intro” series concluded with a great ride, putting all the new skills into place. These new riders rode a couple of rock gardens that seemed visually daunting. Everyone was psyched on the progress over the 4 week time span!
Beginner 2.0, session #2
Our beginner 2.0 series met last night for a breakthrough session! They worked on tight switchbacks and bike/body separation then took it to the trails. All 3 women did an awesome job on the uphill switch backs and even rode the large rock formation on Happy Gilmore! (Check out the last picture to see coach Shelly’s cheering arms🙌🏻!)
Lake Tahoe Intermediate Clinic
Our intermediate clinic in Lake Tahoe yesterday was RAD! Nothing like working on mountain bike skills with a cohesive group of women under massive pine trees that smell like heaven. Stay tuned for photos of these women giving it their all and succeeding!
Coach: @ericatingeyprorider. Thanks to @flumetrailbikes for hosting us and helping spread the word about @womeninthemountains!
Pedal wheelie time! This group of women in Lake Tahoe really nailed this skill and used it to ride up and over roots. We also spent time working on tight switchbacks in the soft pine needles. Riding in a safe environment without extra obstacles makes learning these new skills really easy!
How about some air?! We did that as well last weekend🙌
Family session in Carson City, Nevada
This cute family loves to ride together on the trails in their backyard in Carson City. The children ride with the local NICA team and the parents want to keep up! We worked on skills at the trailhead then rode up the mountain to the beautiful landscape in Ash Canyon! Their trails have some challenging rocks to go up and down. That evening, every person in the family rode something they hadn't ridden before! So fun to see them support each other in their successes. The most exciting part of the evening was when Carly rode the "rock shoot" that has been eluding her all summer. Seeing her ride it smoothly and confidently was so exhilarating for all of us! This mother of 5 that has only ridden for a year is now ready to take on so much more in her riding! Go Carly!
Intro to Mountain Biking: Fall Series Session 1
Our Intro series started last night at Trailside Bike Park.Cassidy and Kaylee were both very interested in learning the basics of mountain biking so they could enjoy their time on the trail riding with their husbands. They wanted to develop a solid understanding of how to handle the descents specifically.
After two hours with coach Kristen, each was riding faster and with more of a functioning frame work. Now they are going to practice what they learned before we reconvene for our second of three sessions next week!
Beginner 2.0 Fall Series
Our weekly Beginner 2.0 series started last night with Shelly coaching. These women are strong and in great shape, yet relatively new riders. They've had very little to no coaching prior to this so they were surprised by how much they could learn with a professional coach! After some bike/body separation drills, they were relatively comfortable and took the body positions to riding the curbs, steep hills, and a large rock garden! They were thrilled at their success on the riding trail features! The goal last night was to focus on large range of motion in the neutral/ready position and to feel better flow on the trail, they were successful!
Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation Summit
Honored to be included in the @utahofficeofoutdoorrecreation Summit. We had a fun group ride on the WOW trail, met some great people and an adorable puppy:) Thanks to @gregorypacks for supporting the efforts of the outdoor community in Utah.
📷 @discoverutahmagazine
Lauren, experienced athlete
Another private session success story!
Lauren is a really strong athlete with an extensive background of horse back riding. Her athleticism made it really easy for her to progress quickly through the skills! Coach Shelly was pleased with the session and all that they covered!
Couples clinic
Blake and Genela decided to take up mountain biking and they’ve jumped in with both feet! They are getting used to their new bikes and the new body positions. Even though are true beginner they have as much excitement for this sport as any veteran athlete! More people on bikes, success!
Emily, Private session #2
Emily returned to us for a second private session and her success was huge! She worked with coach Kristen a few weeks ago, then practiced what she learned between sessions. She came to the recent session with a new seat dropper and was able to really get into the “ready” position! She could finally feel the bike/body separation that will take her cornering to the next level. We love repeat clients, we love when they practice and we love when get to see the progress first hand! There are a few more warm weeks, book your private session with one of our coaches before it snows!
Intro to mountain biking series
Sarah and Joanne braved our first chilly morning on Monday for the “Intro to mountain biking”, a 3 week series. This progressive learning gives students time to practice between sessions and build their skills on a strong foundation! Our next “Intro” and “Beginner 2.0” start next week! More information at womeninthemountains.com or email info@womeninthemountains.com
Contender Clinic (brakes and derailleurs)
Thanks again to Contender Bicycles for hosting another bike maintenance clinic! We all learned how to adjust our brakes and derailleurs, that’s a pretty big deal! We love gathering our clients with the The Chicks Company for these events💕
Notes from our Bike Maintenance clinic at Contender!
Hard time going up the cassette cable tension is too loose
Hard time going down the cassette it’s too tight
Turn bars 90 degrees so the front end is facing non-drive side
Turn barrel towards direction it’s having a hard time with 1/2 turn at a time.
Jumping while shifting its cable tension
Jumping while sitting there, it’s the chain wear
Shift into easiest gear. Then when shifting down the cassette, if it's struggling on the way down, it could be corroded wire and housing. It can also be that a wire or housing has a weird bend that is causing excess friction.
On both a front and rear derailleur, there are two screws (often marked with an "L" for low, and "H" for high) that limit how far in each direction the derailleur swings. The L (low) screw should be screwed in just enough to not let the derailleur move the chain past the low end of the cog range, and the H (high) screw should prevent the chain from shifting past the highest gear available. This way, your chain doesn't shift into the wheel, or get stuck between your cassette and the frame.