Bike Like a Girl: Brown's Creek Trail

Apr 13, 2015
2 min read

I was here a year ago hiking and I remember distinctly running into some mountain bikers. I was huffing and puffing ascending on my feet and I thought it was extremely badass that these guys were on their bikes climbing. I thought it looked fun and I told myself: "I would like to do that one day."

That day was today.

Two hours. 5.5 miles. Singletracks and switchbacks. A Category 3 and a partial Category 4 (which I admittedly have to walk parts of). We rode for about an hour to Brown's Creek which was gushing and we took a break to sit on the rocks and split a banana. It was an awfully beautiful day to be giddy. I was grinning ear to ear like an idiot the entire time - including on the most difficult parts!

And I'm not sure if my high came from the fact that I was able to accomplish something I had set my eyes on a year ago, before I even had a mountain bike. Or the fact that I was proving to myself that all the hard work of training and preparation have been worth all the trouble.

I heard somewhere that cycling never gets easier with time. You only get faster. I am constantly fascinated by watching my own physiological progress, especially in a male-dominated sport where I had practically zero technical training. I've said it before and I'll say it again, just in case you have doubts, especially if you are a woman yourself... Actually, just say it with me: Women are strong. Women climb mountains.