One for the ladies: MAIDENDURO delivers fun, thrills and spills.
Women’s mountain biking is booming with ladies specific events popping up all over the place – we went along to the inaugural Maidenduro event at Innerleithen, Scotland, to check out the crazy atmosphere!
Air Maiden is a mountain bike coaching and events business run by women for women with fantastic results, not just counted in attendance but in smiles and the exponential growth in confidence of participants. It’s hopefully something that we will start seeing more and more of as event organisers tune into the growing number of women in mountain biking looking for welcoming events where they can learn without feeling an iota of pressure.
Lynne Armstrong, the brains behind Air Maiden, is a born and bred Scottish lass who spent a good few years ripping up the trails in Whistler and came back with some big ideas. She saw the level of skill out there and wanted to help the much newer womens’ scene in the UK to grow to the same level. It can be harder to find the big lines at home than it is in Canada but we have our own gold here and it’s pushing the skill level sky high.
Air Maiden has been attracting riders from all over the UK to the Scottish Borders to take part in women’s coaching and freeride events and they’re always full to bursting, proving that women are grabbing the opportunities to push their riding skills and not just try to keep up with the boys.
Whereas many women’s events might have stuck to trail centre type tracks, Air Maiden wanted to get some real riding into the race – not even a little bit of manicured trail in this race. The event was held on the more ‘off-piste’ trails at Innerleithen, a place known for it’s tricky trails even before you head off the beaten track.
The day of the event was a typical summer day, except that it wasn’t raining, excited and nervous riders amassed at race registration outside the Innerleithen golf club. The morning was set aside for practice on the three designated trails, all of which were a good haul up the hill in the muggy heat. With plenty of chat with friends old and new, the first climb at least, flew by as everyone headed upwards to find if the recently dry trails had been affected by the deluge of rain earlier in the week.
A skills coach had been placed on each of the trails to offer as much or as little help as riders wanted. With advice on line choice and body position lots of ladies rode off more confident than they’d arrived and ready to attack the next stage. Those with strong legs chose to complete a full loop of all the stages covering around 810m of climbing in 16 km – others tactically chose to practice the toughest stage and refuel with coffee and sandwiches before the afternoon’s race.
After a lunch break, the ladies, who had ranked themselves as either beginners or experienced riders, headed up the hill with nerves jangling for the trails ahead, much reassurance was bandied around, everyone was being challenged. Those that wanted to ride competitively got to the front of the group to take advantage of the empty trails and those that were more relaxed found somewhere in the pack that they felt comfortable. With 30 second intervals between riders, most people had plenty of time to get down the track without much pressure.
You’ll never find a more friendly race than a ladies only one, all support and encouragement and polite overtaking. Once the organisers have recovered from their post-event party hangovers I’m sure that there will be a 2017 race schemed so, whether you’re just finding your racing legs or you’re an experienced shredder look out for it, oh, and bring your man to help marshal.
What a fantastic day. I can’t explain how impressed I was with all the riders who were terrified and intimidated by Repeat Offender (stage 2) but rode it anyway and all had smiles on their faces when I saw then at the end. Huge respect to you all. – Rob Young, fabulous marshal
The race was run with the kind support of Innerleithen Golf Club, Forestry Commission Scotland and all the kind sponsors –
Flare Clothing – Flotec Suspension – Elevation Cycles – Go-Where Scotland
Everyone who took part was a winner but, some people were faster winners that others – and here are their lovely faces.
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