So if the success of an event can be judged on the number of smiles, it’s very safe to say that the Women on Wheels events were a huge success. Gingie from Girlmtnbiker.com went along to check out these new women’s mountain biking events.
The events were designed to introduce more women into mountain biking and took place at venues across the 7stanes mountain bike trails over January, February and March 2011.
Organised by Forestry Commission Scotland’s 7stanes team and supported and funded by Dumfries & Galloway Council and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland. The events were a great success with plans being worked on to develop more.
Ae Forest
An icy January welcomed in the first Women on Wheels event at Ae Forest. The day started with coffee and cakes and all the participants being allocated their groups and coaches - which remained the same for each event, allowing us to get to know the people in our group and instructors really well.
The format of the day was carousel-styley with each group rotating around activities; skills coaching on the trails was followed a chance to test our skills out on the obstacle course (lots of bike limbo and playing on skinnies).
During our lunch break we had a presentation from a female charity cyclist who cycled all the way across Canada to mark her 70th birthday! The day was rounded off with a basic bike maintenance session where we learnt puncture repair, what kit to carry in our trail packs and how to win the fight against power links…
Mabie Forest
Mabie Forest was the host to the second event, with the Scottish weather being surprisingly favourable for February! The format of this day was slightly different to Ae, with the groups being taken out onto the trails by their coaches for 3 hours of guided riding and skills coaching, making use of the forest trails and the skills park. Our group focused on line choice, pumping the trail, berms, jumps and we finished off with a play about on the skills loop.
The day was finished by enjoying tea and cake whilst playing the ‘how many riders can you fit in the Shed’ game…
Kirroughtree
A drizzly March saw the third and final event held at Kirroughtree, the weather didn’t dampen spirits though, with smiles being seen throughout the day. Cake and tea was provided by the Break Pad and the groups split for another day of guided rides and coaching.
Our group was low on numbers, with a couple of the ladies from the past events not being able to make it. But the four of us enjoyed our coaching with Helen Gaskell nonetheless; working on technical climbs, and rocky descents. Even managing a berm-train towards the end of the day…a few of the ‘carriages’ derailed though…
All in all it was a brilliant set of events which introduced so many women to mountain biking and helped us more experienced riders improve our skills. The amount of smiles, laughter and achievements people made on their bikes is a brilliant step for introducing more women into the sport. A big thanks has to go out to all the coaches that helped, giving us their time and sharing their expertise knowledge, the photographers who waited patiently in the rain and the ladies of Group 1 for making it such a fun time. A big shout out to Margaret and Doug too for being great organisers!
Hopefully there’ll be more of these great events in the future- the team are looking for companies willing to sponsor future events to help continue the success of Women on Wheels and to help keep the sport growing. If you know anyone who may be interested in supporting the events contact Ruth Asbery.
If you’re interested in the events or meeting other women riders, check out the Women on Wheels Facebook Group.
Gingie from Girlmtnbiker.com for Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
