Published: by PICSPORADIC
East Burke, Vermont
This past September I was invited to be the photographer for the Ladies AllRide Series: a three day women’s mountain bike skills camp with a stop in northern Vermont. With a combination of event photography as well as an opportunity to get shots of women ripping on mountain bikes – I couldn’t pass it up! Plus it was in my backyard.
The three day event took place on the the idyllic Darling Hill trail network of Kingdom Trails a pastured ridge overlooking the green mountains. Over 200 female attendees (the sold a month in advance) came to receive training by professional mountain bike coaches from across the country.
It was early fall and the weather in Vermont and the weather had a little bit of everything in store for us. The days would start with deep valley fog and cold mountain mist – by afternoon there would be a 50/50 chance of hot sun, or pouring rain! The evenings seemed to always bring amazing sunsets the humidity clearing with pastel ridges and slivered clouds. In short I had a lot of conditions to work in!
Morning skills clinic with amazing views of Vermont’s Green Mountains | Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Participants running drills on the grass | Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Lindsey Richter
Lindsey has been racing and teaching mountain bike skills for over a decade. After noticing a distinct void in women’s participation in mountain biking she became determined to encourage more woman join the sport. Today the Ladies AllRide Clinic makes stops in 8 states across America teaching a variety of skills necessary to master the mountain bike.
Participants and coaches came from across the country for the event | Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Women ride in the beautiful meadows of the Darling Hill trail network | Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Daily Activities
The Ladies Allride Cinic included a full three days of activities. The mornings would begin with a speech / presentation cofee and morning yoga. afterwards the ladies would break into their assigned groups to work on skills. For this event I would drift between the groups to catch action shots of the ladies in action.
Lunch would involved breakout sessions with coaches teaching specific skills like physical therapy, and bike maintenance. Each day would finish with beers at the Darlilng Hill Trailside Village Sport Shop
Skills
Some examples of the skills the riders worked on: Perfecting body positioning and balance in changing terrain, technical climbing and descending, cornering, switchbacks, berms, pump tracks, wheel lifts, bunny hops, wheelies, manuals, lunges, drops, jumps, up and over logs, large step-ups, pumping and flowing, racing.
Skills
Some examples of the skills the riders worked on: Perfecting body positioning and balance in changing terrain, technical climbing and descending, cornering, switchbacks, berms, pump tracks, wheel lifts, bunny hops, wheelies, manuals, lunges, drops, jumps, up and over logs, large step-ups, pumping and flowing, and skills to use in the next race.
In the afternoon advanced groups practice skills on the downhill trials at Burke Mountain. | Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Being the sole photographer for the Ladies AllRide Clinic required a combination of different skills from me: long days, flexibility, nightly social media editing sessions and tons of mountain biking! As the only photographer it I needed to be in all places at once – capturing this multi-faceted event. Weather on foot, or by bike it wasn’t easy chasing these fast women around all day!
To see the progress of the participants from day to day was extremely inspiring for me. After 3 days everyone from novices to pros came away with new skills and learned confidence. I am excited about the future of woman’s mountain biking and extremely appreciative to have been a part of the girls mountain bike movement!
-Brendan
The full crew of participants and coaches| Ladies AllRide Clinic East Burke, VT
Gallery
Published: by PICSPORADIC
