volklgirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This weekend I drove about 3 1/2 - 4 hours south to attend 2 very different moutain biking clinics. Saturday was the BOW clinic (Becoming an Outdoor Woman), sponsored by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. They also offer clinics in Kayaking, Hiking, Fly Fishing, and other outdoorsy stuff. Sunday was the 2nd annual BARF at the Farm (Becoming A Radical Freerider) clinic, which I attended last year as well.
The BOW:
About 65 women attended this year's session. Many were discouraged as it poured down rain for about 2 hours prior to the event, but all were happily riding in the mud as the day wore on
. Attendees were broken up into 2 main groups - 1 group rode first while the other group attended the seminars, then the groups switched after lunch. My group rode in the morning - YAY, mud!!!!
Each main group was then broken up into 3 ride groups; Noice for riders who were new to riding or had never been on dirt, Beginner for dirt riders who had never ridden more technical singletrack or obstacles, and Intermediate for the more experienced riders who were looking for fine-tuning and tips.
The intermediate group worked on riding small and medium log piles, bridges (including a bermed corner bridge
), and a long but low rock garden. We also got and gave tips on body position, weight shifts, and gear choices for downhills, short and steep vs. long and slow climbs, swithbacks and mud. Anytime someone had a question or issue with something, we just went and worked on it until everyone was clearing it. The coaches were fantastic!!
After lunch, we were off to the seminars; maintenance and Moutain Biking 101. The maintenance clinic had everyone disconnecting their V-brakes, removing their rear wheel, taking off the tire, removing the tube, and then reassembling the whole thing and getting it back on the bike with the brakes connected. Since I had done this gobs of times, I ended up helping others do this. After that, everyone got to use a chain tool to "break" and reassemble a hunk of chain. After some discussion about basic maintenance and cleaning (everyone thought they needed to run right home to clean the mud off their bikes
. Instead, they were told a dirty bike is a happy bike, as long as the drivetrain is kept clean and well lubed 
). After that, we were off to Mountain Biking 101 where they discussed everything from the most basic info like NEVER wear anything under your bike shorts, what essentials everyone should carry, and why you need bike clothes and shoes, to advanced stuff like hydrating/ fueling for rides over 3 hours and how to begin racing.
All in all, it was a pretty good day for everyone. It was awesome watching some of the novice and beginner riders go from being deathly afraid of the smallest rock in the trail to riding small log piles with confdence!! I was asked if I'd be interested in coaching next year. Of course I said yes.
Pics from the day:
https://luv2mtb.smugmug.com/gallery/5225184_Sbtot#317321484_nSDxo
https://www.putfile.com/album/193325
The BOW:
About 65 women attended this year's session. Many were discouraged as it poured down rain for about 2 hours prior to the event, but all were happily riding in the mud as the day wore on
. Attendees were broken up into 2 main groups - 1 group rode first while the other group attended the seminars, then the groups switched after lunch. My group rode in the morning - YAY, mud!!!! Each main group was then broken up into 3 ride groups; Noice for riders who were new to riding or had never been on dirt, Beginner for dirt riders who had never ridden more technical singletrack or obstacles, and Intermediate for the more experienced riders who were looking for fine-tuning and tips.The intermediate group worked on riding small and medium log piles, bridges (including a bermed corner bridge
), and a long but low rock garden. We also got and gave tips on body position, weight shifts, and gear choices for downhills, short and steep vs. long and slow climbs, swithbacks and mud. Anytime someone had a question or issue with something, we just went and worked on it until everyone was clearing it. The coaches were fantastic!!After lunch, we were off to the seminars; maintenance and Moutain Biking 101. The maintenance clinic had everyone disconnecting their V-brakes, removing their rear wheel, taking off the tire, removing the tube, and then reassembling the whole thing and getting it back on the bike with the brakes connected. Since I had done this gobs of times, I ended up helping others do this. After that, everyone got to use a chain tool to "break" and reassemble a hunk of chain. After some discussion about basic maintenance and cleaning (everyone thought they needed to run right home to clean the mud off their bikes
. Instead, they were told a dirty bike is a happy bike, as long as the drivetrain is kept clean and well lubed ). After that, we were off to Mountain Biking 101 where they discussed everything from the most basic info like NEVER wear anything under your bike shorts, what essentials everyone should carry, and why you need bike clothes and shoes, to advanced stuff like hydrating/ fueling for rides over 3 hours and how to begin racing.All in all, it was a pretty good day for everyone. It was awesome watching some of the novice and beginner riders go from being deathly afraid of the smallest rock in the trail to riding small log piles with confdence!! I was asked if I'd be interested in coaching next year. Of course I said yes.
Pics from the day:
https://luv2mtb.smugmug.com/gallery/5225184_Sbtot#317321484_nSDxo
https://www.putfile.com/album/193325
. All the women finally did the skinnies successfully, some for the very first time!!
We spent plenty of time in The Crater (I was still too chicken to jump out :(), then we hit the dowhill rock gardens. First there's a group of 3 ramped rocks of different sizes, each getting bigger from right to left. About 5-10 yards later, there's another ramped pile of rocks, then a couple of largish spread out rocks, and then 2 low rock gardens leading into a cool bermed right turn that heads right back up the hill. It was fun watching some of the less experienced riders actually head for the rocks for the first time instead of following their instinct to go around them. I finally got the guts to use the ramped rocks to jump the 1st 2 rock piles. Each time I looped around, my jumps got a little bigger....I was pretty happy about that.
): 
