WTF? It doesn’t mean what many of you think it means, at least in this circumstance! Last year a phenomenal group of individuals got together and hosted the first ever WTF Bikexplorers Summit in Whitefish, Montana. The event was incredibly successful and this year’s event sold out in two hours! WTF literally stands for Women/Trans/Femme, but it really means so much more. WTF rides have the explicit goal of increasing accessibility and visibility of all under-represented groups in adventure bike travel; WTF rides are also very inclusive of individuals who identify as Queer, Non-binary, as well as People of Color. Really the group includes everyone except cis-men; as a woman who has been part of the bikepacking world for over five years, both adventure travel and racing, I can assure you that (white) cis-men are well represented and have plenty of opportunity to belong. While there are always a handful of women like myself that are willing to charge ahead and be one of the few women out there, history and data show us how much representation matters. Personally, I enjoy getting away from the dominant bro culture of mountain biking and riding with female identifying and/or nonbinary individuals. The more WTF riders are visible, the more under-represented riders will feel comfortable and be willing to join the community. It is also easier for me than many because I generally present as a straight white woman, which allows me to blend in as needed, which often feels like an important safety net when I am riding in remote outposts. Moving the naming away from “Women’s Rides” to “WTF Rides” is important for being more inclusive and making progress in the same way that feminism must be intersectional if we are to make meaningful progress (if this is a new concept for you, please give it a Google!). You can read read more about the WTF Bikexplorers group and the annual summit here: http://wtfbikexplorers.com/.
In addition to the large annual summit, organization of local grass-roots rides is encouraged. One of my summer goals was to finally visit the famous Brush Mountain Lodge on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Kirsten, Queen of the lodge, is famous for her huge welcoming hugs, great food, and generous hospitality. Earlier this spring I noticed that a WTF ride was being organized in Northwest CO that included a final night at the lodge. Expand my bikepacking community in CO and go to Brush Mountain all in one trip? Win! We ended up with a wonderful group of five incredibly interesting, intelligent, and funny individuals. Emily, the incredibly generous ride organizer, has been living in Hayden, CO, a small town near Steamboat Springs (I bet they hate being identified that way!), for six years. Emily works as a geologist and knows the local terrain very well.
Our group ran the gamut of rider experiences from first timer to thousands of miles spent bikepacking. While I probably had the most bikepacking miles under my belt I was definitely not the fastest (Hi Lauren! That’s why I don’t have any pictures of you!). The first afternoon we were treated to lovely thunder and lightening show in the high desert of NW CO. It cleared the air and only turned the road/trail to peanut butter for an hour or so.
To anyone that has been following along it will come as no surprise to you that I am comfortable spending a lot of time alone. I generally only end up doing one bikepacking group ride a year because I always end up struggling with the pace. Not the pace of the riding, but the flow of the day as a whole. Especially in summer when I am camping, I tend to rise with the sun and the birds. Morning is MY time of day, it is when I have the most energy and when I most enjoy putting in miles before the heat of the day and fatigue sets. My experience anytime I ride with more than one other individual is mornings are SLOW, and this trip was no exception. I’d be up before six, breakfast and coffee done around 7, packed up and….wait, until 10am. I try so hard to keep adjusting myself. I move as slowly as I possibly can getting ready in the morning, I stretch, I read, but in the end: I wait. Mentally I can be ok with this for one day, but by a second and third day of it I find myself losing patience and pleasure. On group rides long lunch and or snack breaks only tend to compound my frustration. I keep looking at it as a growth opportunity for me. I DO enjoy the camaraderie and company, especially in the evenings in camp, but also fun little moments throughout the day. I truly enjoyed and respected all the people on the trip, but I struggle to enjoy group rides because of this pacing issue.
Near the end of the trip, I brought up this issue and asked the others for advice on how to handle it because it is becoming increasingly clear to me that I am not going to just “get over it”. Based on reflections during this conversation with the other riders I think in the future I will share this concern of mine before the ride and ask if a roll-out time can be set. I do not need it to be my ideal roll-out time, but some slight compromise would be appreciated and I think *knowing* what time we are planning to go instead of just waiting… and waiting for it to happen will help a lot with my mindset. (Note, as implied above I discussed this with all the others, so it will not come as a surprise if any of my new friends from the ride read this! The people and company were wonderful!)
On the final night one of my summer goals was met: meeting Kirsten and staying at Brush Mountain Lodge! I am pleased to report that Kirsten lived up to her reputation as a smart, sassy, incredibly generous host! And the supplies she offers in the lodge for bikepackers is unparalleled. Kirsten spoiled us with brick oven pizza and fresh fruit. Before the ride, Emily had dropped off a bunch of beer for the group; handy that she also works at a brewery! It was a wonderful night of food and great company. I slept like a baby in the front yard of the lodge.
On the last day things got interesting. We were all riding our own pace for about 20 miles and then planned to regroup at the top of the pass before the big descent into Hayden. I got caught in an impressive rain and hailstorm, but fortunately there was no lightening so the safest thing to do was to keep riding to stay warm (enough). Lauren got to the pass a bit before me, I joined her at the pass and we waited, and waited…fortunately the rain had stopped but it was still cool weather and there were lots of mosquitoes up there! Finally we started asking the occasional truck that came from the same direction as we had if they had seen our friends. When several drivers who claimed they had come from almost 20 miles away told us they had not seen any bikers we really started to get worried, but what good would backtracking by bike do if people in cars weren’t even seeing them? Of course we had no cell reception. Finally Lauren and I decided the best thing to do was get back to town to Emily’s house and send/get a car to help look for them. Eventually contact was made and we learned that way, way back at the beginning of the day a chain had jammed, needed to be broken, and that attempts to fix the chain had failed. Lauren and I were just thrilled to learn that no one was hurt and before too long we had everyone back at the house for a delicious group dinner! The confusion of the day lead to great conversation about regroup and safety plans, making sure everyone has proper contact information for bailout, etc… Emily really did a stellar job leading her first ride. The route was diverse and beautiful and Emily was incredibly generous in terms of providing transportation and housing; I hope she puts on another event!
I am new to writing about gender and race issues publicly so please assume good intentions on my part, if I use incorrect language or misrepresent anyone or anything, please so not hesitate to reach out to me for discussion. Thank you for reading!