Spirit Mountain’s "Sheroes" clinic teaches women beginner mountain bike skills

Around 25 participants gathered at Spirit Mountain on Thursday for a women’s only class. Known as the “Sheroes” clinic, the three week course is geared towards beginner and intermediate level bikers.

“We’re teaching them how to safely ride on the hill, how to use their brakes properly, body positioning so they can feel more comfortable getting out on all the trails,” said instructor Amber Fisher.

Rather than focusing on intense downhill biking or jumps, the instructors put safety first.

“We were teaching the women how to use their brakes properly because a lot of times people will slam on their brakes and that can lead to an accident. So we want to teach safety before we take them up on the hill,” explained Fisher.

The class is designed to give participants the opportunity to build not only skills but also confidence to make the mountain her own.

“Just all about empowerment of women on bikes,” said participant Laura Miller. “We get to be out together and meet other people. We’re already planning weekly women’s rides, so we’ll get to take our skills we learned today and go ride together out in the community.”

Every Thursday, WDIO News will bring you a story about the sport of bike riding. We will focus on the trail systems in our viewing area as well as equipment and bike maintenance.

If you have a biking story that you think we should cover, e-mail Sabrina Ullman at sullman@wdio.com.