*Update*: Jump Jam canceled + Going Big on 10/21

UPDATE: Note: As of 7pm 10/20/2012, the Jump Jam event has been canceled.  Stay tuned to PTAG website for details of future event. At this time, it does not appear that Month Of Mud has canceled their event, but then again, they’re celebrating mud. That makes your decision all the easier.

Original Post:

 

If you’re torn between participating in the 2nd ever Super D at the Month of Mud and the PTAG Skills Park Jump Jam official unveiling, so are we. Since Velomuse’s Pittsburgh Chapter is focused on advancing opportunities for women riders this year, we’ve been promoting group rides for various skill levels and types of riding, in addition to leadership training.

On October 21st, we want to amplify our efforts by making a call to action for the women riders that have been out there awhile or were recruited last year and are moving towards the next level with with skills. Promoters at both of these events are trying new things by putting creative minds together which presents unique opportunities. We can safely say that whichever you chose and no matter your past riding and racing experience – you will have the opportunity to learn something, if you present some open-mindedness. Maybe you’ll also see a way for you to help define the sport, as well?

Velomuse has been partnering with local cyclist and creative re-use crafter Nicole Bloch, who enjoys repurposing bike parts into beautiful jewelry. This spin around, we’re coordinating Erra Creations to support a couple upcoming events with a neutral pit zone for women and custom bike jewelry as gifts for all the women participants. So yeah, get out there and find something to learn.

So, is it A?

Or… B?

Put your hands in the dirt

Photo Courtesy of Alicia Mathers, Visual Communications Coordinator at Velomuse

Last Wednesday, Velomuse coordinated one of our advanced mountain biking and downhill skills workshops for women by teaming up with Pittsburgh Trails Advocacy Group, the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works to host a light trail maintenance workday as part of the leadership development program. The premise was that putting careful attention towards the design and flow of a trail would improve line selection for all trail users, while defining women’s presence with meaningful contribution to our recreation. We used an existing project list from the park steward to identify problem areas we could knock out as part of our shared teaching experience, for ourselves and other riders.

After a brief tool-hanndling demonstration inspired by IMBA’s trail care crew, five mountain bikers from diverse professional backgrounds demonstrated their initiative by sharing ideas and objectives for each area of concern. We collaborated to come up with guidelines for entrance/exit, how each line will demand body english and visibility and how our strategy would improve safety at high speeds.

We focused on three areas for improvement on the Iron Gate trail: two upper berms and one washed out wide section that had borne a new social trail to its right. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Instead of closing off, removing roots or rerouting anywhere, we repaired and defined the trail with loose trail debris and a tiny bit of benching. About a dozen riders came through the trail thanking us for the work. I made the embarrassing mistake of raking on a slope at a bad angle and a muscle in my back spasmed something fierce. It was unexpected because it wasn’t more vigorous than other trailwork I’ve done, but perhaps I wasn’t using proper form? In any case, I’m improving slowly and expect to be able to trail work in the future. We finished that middle section and packed up our tools as the sun set. Reports have noted that the top portion of the trail flows nicely and it feels safer to travel at a higher speed. I’m hoping that we can return to repair the lower berm and help clarify the split after the new bridge-drop thing. Those are two areas I’ve noticed myself scrubbing speed on, while other areas are faster simply because its been less muddy than I’ve seen it.

New for 2012 – Women’s Ride @ Mountain Bike Fest (PGH)

The recently appointed Velomuse Board voted to contribute to the mountain bike fest hosted by PTAG, PORC and Allegheny Parks, by offering a Women’s ride option to complement the various group rides at Boyce park on Saturday.

LOCATION: Boyce Park Soccer Fields GPS Coordinates: 40.473388 -79.746945 (links to map)
TIME: 12pm-3pm

DETAILS: We are meeting and reconvening at the same time and place as the co-ed options – but will strike our own path at the discretion of the women who join us. We review group ride etiquette and discuss the route plans before leaving, pausing to regroup at all intersections so no one gets left behind. We expect to ride 8-12 miles at a brisk, talking pace on the eastern side of the park taking a short break or two to try new features or lines. In addition to your recently inspected mountain bike and helmet, it is recommended to have at least 50oz of water, a snack, and a basic trailside repair multi-tool for flat repair and adjustments. Medium tint sunglasses, sunblock and bug repellent aren’t bad ideas, either.

CONDITIONS: Thanks to PTAG Stewards, there’s evidence of a lot of hard work with trail maintenance and the conditions have been mostly dry for a few weeks. We might get a few drops of rain tomorrow, but that should only improve conditions – and it won’t be cold, but likely refreshing. We’ll bring some veggie sausages and snacks for after the event, as well. If you want to bring something for the potluck or volunteer, please contact PTAG’s Volunteer Coordinator.

ABOUT your ride leaders: Using backgrounds from wilderness education, coaching, racing and recreational riding; Alicia Mathers and I will consistently anticipate and review individual needs throughout the ride to provide a safe and memorable experience for all levels of women riders. We know the park well, having ridden it frequently for the past couple of years – it is a SPECIAL place and we want you to keep coming back. To learn more about how Velomuse is working to “Create Lifelong Cyclists” and empowering women through mountain biking, click here, or join our ladies’ forum on facebook and subscribe to our feed on twitter/.

More details for the event are on facebook.

Public Board meetings commence Monday April 16th

Velomuse Board meetings will now meet on the 3rd Monday of each month at Big Idea Bookstore from 6-8pm. The meetings are open to the public for discussion and information, while only Board members will vote on action items. General members from the public are encouraged to attend and participate. We will share agenda and minutes on the Velomuse website: http://www.velomuse.org/

Click the flyer to RSVP on our facebook event.

Velomuse Nightvision Project

In a unique time-lapse photography project, Velomuse’s Alicia Mathers embraced our group concept by taking pictures of our group of mountain bikers tracing lines along the contour of lanscape at night with bicycle headlights.  This project has sparked the interest of various riders, bringing together new cross-sections of the community and creating compelling images.  Please click the image for the complete photoshoot. Leave a comment if you think you can identify the trails in Frick Park, Pittsburgh, PA. Winner will be notified to receive a prize.

We’re also accepting donations if you want to purchase prints of these images, with the funds going to women’s mountain biking leadership programs.

Women’s MTB repair class – information now available online

Our Pittsburgh chapter of Velomuse is targeting development of the women’s mountain bike contingency, and as such, we’re providing much-needed information. Ladies, please join our facebook group if you are interested in mountain biking in Pittsburgh. If you’re not in Pittsburgh, interested in mountain biking or a woman, please just email me and I’ll send you a copy via email.

Welcome NEW Board members in PGH!

December 07, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH, PA - Velomuse welcomes new Board members for the Pittsburgh chapter!


As we’ve grown over the years, our purpose has remained unchanged while the regional participation has shifted. One commonality is that while mountain biking issues are shared, new strategies for pulling volunteers and land managers together are frequently required. Further, since the most important thing is riding – we’ve been researching what folks are doing elsewhere, while keeping tabs on what other folks (mtb and non-mtb alike) are doing right here in Pittsburgh.

In leading by example, we have been able to initiate programs and create relationships that didn’t previously exist: getting permits for bike events in City parks, coordinating film premiers for local and international producers, leading a women’s mountain bike skills series and hosting kids mountain bike rodeos with our own fleet of kids’ bikes and features.

Last year, we had so much variety that it was difficult to keep up with the needs in the community, finding new volunteers for every event – it was a full-time and fulfilling job, despite being unpaid. This year, we’ve narrowed the focus to reconnecting with newer still, cross-sections of the community and using the research to understand where we can best put our focus for 2012, and avoid burnout. We’ve decided it is time to make the Pittsburgh (PGH) chapter of Velomuse an official mountain bike development organization, focusing on women’s leadership. As continuing founder and Executive Director, I would like to introduce you to the all-female Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Chapter of Velomuse:

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - PITTSBURGH CHAPTER


Report (Trail and Race): Ohiopyle Super D

It turns out that I wasn’t the only that decided to register in the opposite gender’s race category this past weekend. A colleague in women’s coaching sent out a survey regarding motivation factors in relation to racing and it left both of us with questions – and a similar plan of action. What might I be missing by racing only with women, specifically, the same handful of women I ride with and see at every local race? I didn’t know, but now after racing with the guys, I only know that I need to do it again.

Definition: Super D
There are some unique qualities in this specific race that lent itself to the decision to change my race category from a combined Women’s category to Sport Men: Super D and downhill racers are timed individually to quantify bike-handling skills. Age, gender or fitness categorization would seem to be futile, at least as far as the start is concerned. As Super D racing includes 80-90% of time spent descending over the course of about 15-20 minutes, it shares some similarities with Downhill in the terrain, but on a smaller scale that doesn’t often engage the fight vs. flight response. Where it parallels cross country is that you have to pedal some, and maybe even climb a bit on a contour line, so you can’t let bike weight get to out of hand in either direction. Everyone rides the same course.  It really comes down to skills – a potential game changer for racers.

Theory: Gender Classification in Racing
Here’s where I start to get really experimental with my hypothesis. I considered one of the common reasons for splitting men and women’s categories tends to be difference in physiology – specifically muscle development and oxygen uptake rates, which is a game changer in cross country and road racing. Further, there are also differences in fight vs. flight response in men and women, which could affect performance in a downhill race while scanning extremely technical trails. You have to be very familiar with your capabilities in order to be competitive with Super D, but I don’t think the demands are gender specific. I wondered if having a field of more than a handful of competitors might change my race goal. Would I ride faster, harder, or finish the race in better spirits? Would my female competitors feel snubbed by my decision not to race with them? Would they question their own race goals? Would my boyfriend find it undeserving that I was racing in his category? Would I find out that women are less skilled riders, as a rule? Was this all a very BAD idea?

Analyses: Race preparation
I decided not to talk about it before the race, to protect others from all the questions that did, in fact, haunt me throughout the race. As I suffered through a harsh warm up and some significant breathing problems, I realized that pre-ride would have helped me to understand that more than half of my time would be spent climbing, and I actually needed a warm-up and/or some kind of mountain biking in the weeks before. The lag gave me plenty of time to curse my lungs and watch as the female competitors passed me by. I was also gifted a handful of trailside mechanicals (chain drop 3x and packed down/no rebound suspension fork), and to offset the time I lacked in preparation.  Still, I managed to finish the descent with what I thought was a respectable pace.


Observation: Trail/Course Design
My thoughts drifted to trail design at this time, since I didn’t know what to expect with the 3 technical alternate routes that would be coming, I knew that there weren’t a lot of mountain bike trails in the area to begin with and Month of Mud‘s first “Super D” style race. This solo time on the trail allowed me to quit thinking about gender politics and imagine a sharp and steep ladder-bridge drop with a transition landing full of hungry piranha rocks. I probably would’ve ridden it if I’d had the chance to look at it, but I didn’t hesitate to ride the long go-around which is where I managed to throw and twist my chain in some fluke double shift uphill fenango.  After looking at photos, I don’t think the go-around options planned as options to the “skull and crossbones” sections were really necessary, after all. I also think the grassy vs. gravel access roads could be much more limited. READ: swoopy, fast Star Wars style trails are my favorite. Overall, I think the course could be much shorter and later in the day to accommodate out-of-town racers in pre-ride opportunity. Upon racing the course, I think it ended up more like a point-to-point cross country race than the Super D races I am familiar with. Not that it wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t exactly what I was prepared for, with what little preparation I did have.

Conclusion:

One of the things I am learning as a result of this experiment is how different women’s goals for racing can be. My experiment is a philosophical one : I really feel that the institution of racing is built with a framework catering to the status quo, male-dominant psyche that do not necessarily apply to everyone’s needs – and might actually be intimidating women from riding, racing and even vocalizing their needs.  I plan to continue my research.  Race preparation for myself and the bike is mandatory, regardless of gender – and I fell short here.  The amount of apparent work and planning that went into the race that carried on without a hitch spoke to the potential of more trails and better riding opportunities close to home. That’s enough reason to have my support and I really hope that others appreciate it as much as I did. The great crowd, fall colors and warming temperature really made for a special race day near the river in Ohiopyle.

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