This past weekend I was a participant in the Dirt Series, held in Santa Cruz. Dirt Series
is a women's only mountain bike weekend camp, as well as two co-ed weekends
based in Whistler. They offer camps throughout BC, Alberta, Washington, Oregon,
California, and Utah. This is my second year as a participant, and I had an
AMAZING time! Even better than last time, which I did not think was
possible.
We work on technical skills in the mornings, and put those
skills into practice on rides in the afternoons. On Saturday evening they
offered various bike maintenance clinics, bike fit, and of course some food,
beer, and a chance to kick back and get to know the other riders!
There
were 45 participants of various skill levels. We were divided into groups of 6
with 2 coaches per group. I was pretty stoked to see so many women like me with
bigger travel bikes! Made me feel right at home in Santa Cruz...
Coaches Lorraine Blanchar, Cassandra Boon, and camp founder/coach Candace Shadley:
Here is Katrina Strand, teaching the high-speed cornering
clinic:
Next, on to the manuals and jumps clinic - I think I'm hooked on this airborne thing!
That afternoon, we went to Demo to ride - it poured down rain the night before, so the trails were a bit slick. Not too many photos here, 'cause I was too busy riding and having a BLAST!
Coaches (from l to r) leading the ride at Demo: Lorraine Blancher, Katrina Strand, and Emily Johnston. Is it any wonder the camp was great? Look who I was riding with!
Post Demo ride. I don't think my bike has ever seen this much mud!
