My Big Weekend of Mountain Biking

First, HUGE thanks go out to Lloyd, who allowed me to do something completely by myself and for myself for a whole weekend. Wow. And it was amazing, too.

Babes in the Backcountry is badass, and so are the two women who led our weekend, Leslie Ross (founder and owner of the organization), and Annie Black, who runs a local women’s biking group and who Leslie tapped to coach and teach us. These women are incredible: both former racers, both in insanely good shape, both super tough but also sweet, encouraging and affirming. They are absolutely inspiring.

The weekend kicked off with a little wine tasting/social hour at a wine bar, then an hour-long mini bike mechanic lesson. We broke for the night, then started Saturday with a yoga for bikers class led by multi-talented Leslie. We spent the morning on drills and fundamentals, broke for lunch, and did some short group trail rides and impromptu lessons until late afternoon. A several hour break, then we met again for more wine tasting and socializing. Sunday started off with yoga again, then a long group trail ride into the afternoon.

I rented a Trek Fuel EX8 for the weekend and it took me up and down trails all over Breckenridge in great style. Let me just say, we were almost literally riding the trails in our backyard! These are the trails I run 4-5 times a week! It was fun to see them from such a different perspective (specifically, moving past everything much more quickly).

So, my bruise tally is well into double digits (the bruises now fading to a hideous yellow-green). It wasn’t that I fell often, just that when I did fall, it was a real mess. I was one of only two true beginners, and at the beginning I needed a little lesson on such fundamentals as gear shifting. By the end I was cruising down switchbacks and winding up, down, around and through rough singletrack, which we have here in embarrassing abundance. That’s a testament to the skill of the teachers.

Unfortunately, most of the photos are group shots and there really aren’t any of me tearing it up (which I think I did?). Here we all are before our group ride on Sunday. Leslie is in the red jersey, back row, third from the left. Annie is in the front row in black and pink. Maybe you can’t tell from this picture, but the fact that this woman is 56 is mind-bending.

Group shot taken during a break on our group ride…

At the wine, cheese and chocolate tasting Saturday night. No kidding. I’ll be keeping in touch with all 3 gals at the table with me. The hats were schwag Leslie got for us, and she took this shot, which explains why we’re all grinning like goons (that, and the fact that we were at a wine tasting).

Annie issuing instructions before some drills. She is also a long-time racing coach, and therefore made us do many goofy things that paid off when we moved off the soccer field and onto the trails…

Group ride. That’s Breckenridge ski mountain behind us…

This was such a cool group of women. I’m second from the right in black. Behind us, winding up the big hill, is a series of gnarly switchbacks that we rode both up and down.

My only action shot. Sweet, right?

I’m looking into finding a break on an end-of-the-season demo bike, hopefully the same bike I rented; can’t wait to hit the trails for more!