The first thing that struck me at Waco's Women's Mountain Bike Clinic was the bikes. A small field full of Trek hardtails, all alike, was set out by the registration tent. "You mean you can borrow a bike for this?" I asked. Not rent, borrow. Indeed you could. The weekend seminar included sessions on bicycle maintenance, yoga and stretching, skills clinics, lunch and dinner, trail rides, and a movie before bed. Lea Davison, a pro rider with Trek Racing, was there to give advice and encouragement. Trek's Fit For Women Tour came to the clinic, and they had about 10 Trek Fuel full suspension bikes for us to try out, as well as some high end, feminine and pretty road bikes if someone felt like giving one of those a whirl. To top it off, inside the clubhouse sat plenty of chocolate and Skittles from the local M&M Mars Candy Factory for snacking! Someone knows how to run a Women's Mountain Bike clinic! Camping accommodations were under the trees, and there was an open air shower behind the clubhouse.
And the cost of this event? Here's the shocker: it was absolutely 100% free.
I've seen comparable events advertised, usually with a price tag of 300 to 500 bucks, so you better believe when this event came across my radar screen, I was going. The event was October 14 and 15 in Cameron Park in Waco -- one of the premiere municipal parks in the USA, with a long history and a wide variety of recreational opportunities. Perhaps the most fantastic aspect of the park is the mountain bike trail system. Maps and a good logistical head are recommended; there are about 20 miles of intertwined trails. Signs are up everywhere indicating which one you are on. You can still get somewhat lost! Trails are color and shape coded by difficulty level, from the beginner/easy green circle trails, the medium blue square trails, and the expert/difficult black diamond and double black diamond (often rendered in black with red) trails. There is truly something for everyone, but it helps to have a guide to take you through it.
The event came into being when Ian Moore of Bicycles Outback approached Kim Jennings, a Park Ranger for the City of Waco, in spring 2005 about hosting a women's mountain bike clinic in Cameron Park. The City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department came through with support for the event in Cameron Park, paying for the meals, clubhouse, city bikes, staff and other event supplies. They were expecting 20-30 participants for the first event in 2006, and ended up with 150. Shonny Vanlandingham, Pro National Champion from Team Luna Chix was clinician for that weekend. Word of mouth and local advertising spread the word. The clinic won the Texas Recreation and Parks Society Lonestar Programming Award and the Texas festivals and Events Association Best New Event Award.
Kim told me that mountain biking has a huge economic impact on the trails: for 2004-2005 mountain bike races and recreational rider have brought in an estimated 2.3 million dollars to the City of Waco. I'm sure this is part of the motivation for the city of Waco to give back to the mountain bike community in the form of the Women's Mountain Bike Clinic.
I got to the clinic over an hour early on Saturday, after jettisoning my camping gear due to a squirrely weather forecast for the weekend. I was lucky enough to encounter Dawn Hill, one of the Waco locals (and a darn fine mountain biker) in the parking lot. Dawn is also the newsletter editor for the Waco Bike Club. I remembered her from a brief meeting at HotterNHell Hundred a few years before, and she was surprised at my recollection. It's good to remember people -- after getting through registration and gaping at the fleet of loaner bikes, I got invited out with Dawn and some other early birds from out of town for a pre-seminar spin. She probably would have invited me if I didn't remember her, Dawn is that way, but that is probably why I did remember her. We didn't go far and stayed on the easier stuff, though even on the "easy" trails there is a substantial amount of climbing in Cameron Park.
Warmed up and raring to go, my first session was on bicycle maintenance taught by Ian from Bicycles Outback. Bicycles Outback is a sponsor of the Waco Bicycle Club as well as the clinic. The main thrust of this session was fixing a flat tire. I still learned something. Perhaps the reason my tandem bicycle's rear wheel never seats properly when I put it back on is because I'd put the springs on the skewer on it backwards the last time I removed the skewer. I still need to check that out. I kept thinking how I wish I'd forced some friends who were new cyclists or non-cyclists to attend -- they wouldn't have needed to even have a bike, and this would have been about perfect for learning some basics.
Many of the attendees already were familiar with the basics, and we ended up moving on to the skills part of the clinic for the second half of this session. There was a course set up to practice tight turns imitating tight and twisty trail system with lots of trees. More fun, from my point of view, was the set of logs set up for practice log hopping. I was certain I could do two of the four, and pretty darn sure I could do three of the four, but that fourth looked big. Lea suggested we get out of the saddle, and lift the front tire as we got to the log, then pull up our feet lifting or lightening the back wheel as it got to the log. The first instruction I was well familiar with, and the concentrated practice did my ability to time my actions some good. What I had not tried before was lifting my feet to lighten or lift the back wheel. I'm not all that good at it, but I could at least unweight the rear wheel. I practiced technique on the two easy logs, tried the third once, and then I surprised myself by sailing right over the big fourth.
Our next session was an introduction to riding on the trail, and it resulted in a rebellion. The organizers had planned a nice, short course, which we'd have ridden over in 20 minutes if we didn't stop. Perfect for novices. Most of us weren't novices. We were more or less done 30 minutes into the hour session. The leader was all set to take us back, after all lunch was in half an hour, but we objected. There was an hour scheduled for lunch, and we all protested that we don't need that long to eat. We Want To Ride. Hear us roar! The local Waco mountain biking women pedaled right up and led us on an easy trail ride for another 45 minutes before heading back in for lunch.
Loaves of bread, lean meats, vegetables, fruits, cheese, water, sports drink, Dr. Pepper, and, of course, chocolate, awaited us on our return. Mmmmm. It seemed that the organizers had heard the loud cry of We Want To Ride. They announced that after an interview and question and answer session with Lea there would be only 1 more session after lunch, after which we'd all be heading out for more bike time.
Lea laughed often during the "interview" and seemed truly happy with her life as a pro mountain biker. She's paid full time to ride and make appearances like this one on behalf of Trek. She has no other job, and clearly she enjoys her time representing Trek racing out at clinics like ours. She was cheerful and friendly and encouraging and happy, even when moving slowly out on the trail with a bunch of beginners.
My next session was stretching -- mostly yoga. We took off shoes and socks to do some basic poses and stretches, which were made difficult by a plethora of acorns in the ground from the beautiful oak trees. Ouch, my feet! Lea joined us for this, and asked some pointed questions about stretches to help the shoulders, chest, and low back after riding.
We split into 3 groups for our trail time, beginner, intermediate and advanced. I was torn, but decided to brave it and go with the advanced group. I made sure I had my trail map in my back pocket. My friend Daniela Weaver, who raced mountain bikes throughout her college years, admittedly a few years and two children ago, surprised me by picking the intermediate group. Daniela said she was on one of the borrowed Trek Fuel full suspension bikes and felt like she needed to take care of it. Besides she'd not been on a bike much lately and not on a mountain bike for over a year. I felt torn, since I'd be striking out on my own, but I stayed where I was. I wanted to see the trail and try some things out.
In the end I was satisfied that I made the right decision, but it was not without some interesting moments. We quickly swept from camp down the "Root Canal" trail to the drop in on the River Trail, and my first thoughts were "My, oh my, this is going to be a challenge." I was one of the slower riders in that bunch, though I don't think I held anyone up too badly. We did mostly the medium (blue) trails, with a few black diamond descents and ascents. I took some short cuts and walked over what trail I had to walk. The most fun trail section was a new one called Vortex, with a relatively smooth and fast descent punctuated by banked uphill turns into more downhill. "Ride it -- Don't Slide It" our guide "crazy" Rusty shouted at us. I didn't slide, but I couldn't stay off my brakes completely.
Daniela's report from the medium group was lukewarm -- the ride was punctuated by long stops and not over any very technical trail. She'd gone to the clinic the year before and had enjoyed the coaching over technical sections which was missing this year. I didn't have that in my group either, though maybe the beginner group did. It was clear I'd have been a bit impatient in the intermediate group, and I think for my druthers, I was happier struggling in the advanced group for the day. At least I felt I did get to see the technical sections, and stretch my limits. My group was kind enough to let me and the others who were holding up the rear have a chance to catch our breaths a few times, but we didn't spend much ride time sitting around. I'm not sure how much waiting the rest of the advanced group had to suffer through.
Salad, pizza and spaghetti with a really tasty marinara sauce from Fazoli's for dinner, and a Snickers Bar from the M&M Mars Factory for dessert. I didn't stick around to watch Breaking Away, the night's movie entertainment. I was in bed by 9 pm and glad of it.
Breakfast was waiting at the clubhouse when I arrived around 9 am Sunday -- a wide variety of Panera Bread Bagels and cream cheeses, fruits, and coffee. There was a much smaller population intending to ride Sunday morning, and it contained a surprising number of team kits, e.g. matching jerseys and shorts from Texas bike racing teams. I got the impression several women had driven in from Austin or elsewhere to ride with Lea this day, and I suspected most of them were not beginners, but instead in the sport and expert racing categories. Light rain was falling, but we were assured by Dawn and the other locals that the Cameron Park trails drain very well; the only problem that rain would cause was to make the rocks very slippery. All the riders started together, but quickly split into three groups. The advanced group was heard and seen flying by whooping and laughing their way at high speed through the trails. Lea really seemed to be having a good time. I joined the intermediate group, herded by Dawn at the front and Genia, one of the Waco Bicycle Club Beginner Ride leaders, at the back. A third group of beginners were also out on the trail.
The ride pace was moderate, though Dawn made sure we got to see a wide variety of the beginner green and intermediate blue trails. The rest of the group got tired after about an hour and headed in, but Dawn and I both wanted to ride more. We enjoyed another hour riding including my favorite Vortex again, then we tackled several other climbs and descents.
Hopefully we will get plenty of notice for this event next year. With something for women of all levels and even something for the stray boyfriend or husband at the clinic, the Ride Cameron Park: Women's Mountain Bike Clinic should be on every woman's schedule.
Links to additional photos: 1) by Daniela Weaver 2) by Jean Marie Linhart