Where there’s a will, there’s a trail…
In the green expanse of a Montana forest, something is stirring. It could be the wind shaking the trees and rustling the leaves. It could even be a wild animal, a bird, or even a lone hiker. But it’s something else—something we don’t always expect to see in a forest: a mountain bike.
The woman riding it is having the absolute time of her life…and she’s not alone.
“Just get a bike and try it!”
“Showing up to a parking lot with 40 or so women is the coolest thing ever,” says clinic instructor and A7 Cycles owner Lynn Foster. Behind her, women are gathering, geared up in helmets, safety gear, and sturdy bikes.
They’ve come to play. All of them have come to ride the trails and push themselves well out of their comfort zone by learning not just how to ride forest trails but to expand their skills so that they have the confidence to face the most challenging obstacles. It’s not just dirt trails they’re navigating but viciously steep hills, sharp corners, narrow trails, and uneven ground.
“There hasn’t been a lot of support for women in mountain biking until the last five or six years..."
“There hasn’t been a lot of support for women in mountain biking until the last five or six years, and it brings me a lot of joy to watch their confidence go up and up and up and up.”
It’s creating that safe place where there’s support and encouragement—as well as hands-on instruction—that makes these clinics so important. No one can improve without having an opportunity to fail, and the clinics provide the instruction in a safe and controlled environment that allows Lynn and others to instruct cyclists on managing the rugged terrain by shifting their weight at the right time or how to sit in order to have the maximum amount of control, all while their bike is careening up and around the steep curve of a dirt trail. Mastering these skills can mark the difference between success…or disaster. Practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it can teach us something about what to expect and how to manage it.
Having the confidence to face something daunting makes all the difference in the world.
“Riding features that they never thought they would—whether they’re small or big or just seemed a little bit out of reach, and realizing that they can do it,” says Lynn. “It’s a huge confidence boost. And then doing it again. And again and again and getting more confident every time, and then going ‘Oooo, what’s the next big thing?’”
Under Lynn’s steady encouragement, these riders are facing obstacles that would make most people (at least, those used to riding on pavement) pause.
“It was terrifying for a solid three to five years, and then eventually I got better at it, and then it became my thing,” says one woman, smiling widely.
The clinic is being held by the Flathead Area Mountain Bikers (FAMB), a non-profit group that has committed itself to mountain bike advocacy. Not only are they holding clinics for women and youth, but they’re committed to creating better—and safer—places for mountain bikers. They’re an organization that’s committed to preserving and improving bike trails, maintaining them, and working with every level of government—local, state, and federal agencies—to ensure that their community is represented and heard.
Like everything in life, there is always a balance. FAMB operates under a set of core values that prioritize responsible stewardship yet also wants to ensure that mountain biking remains part of the conversation. Both wilderness and mountain biking can co-exist, and FAMB is determined to create more opportunities for it. According to their website, they don’t “actively advocate for opening wilderness to bikes however we feel that there are opportunities for better land management policies.” Their aim is to support “land management policies that conserve and protect our nation’s wild places in a way that avoids blanket bans on bicycles.”
After a decade of planning, they’ve teamed up with the Tally Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest, Whitefish Legacy Partners, and Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR) in an ambitious plan to build more than 20 miles of “non-motorized trail” which includes clearing the until-recently-decommissioned Ralph Thayer Memorial Trail (which some know as the Whitefish Divide Trail) from underbrush, dead trees…and huckleberries.
“When we get that fully punched through, we’ll have more than 22 miles of trail that goes from the mountain all the way out to Red Meadow Pass,” FAMB executive director Ron Brandt told the Whitefish Pilot. “That trail has some of the best views of the Whitefish Range. You can see both sides all the way across.”
The project is enormous in scope, requiring intensive planning from all the partners, as well as cooperation from various levels of government, and even private landowners. According to the Whitefish Pilot, there are five miles of new upper trails for bikes, but don’t “allow horses for safety reasons.” However, the new “lower” trails are accessible to anyone, provided they’re not motorized.
“We've been talking about them, and they are actually happening and I don’t know how to contain the excitement, honestly."
“We have shovels in the ground in both projects already. That's good and positive and actually happening,” Brandt told the Pilot. “We've been talking about them, and they are actually happening and I don’t know how to contain the excitement, honestly.”
For avid bikers like Lynn, this is the beginning of a new chapter for a sport that not everyone understands.
“Kudos to Flathead Mountain Bikers, they’re doing some amazing things,” she says. “The trails, the trails are better, the groups are better, the community is growing.”
And the women who attend the clinic couldn’t be happier.
“It’s very much an obsession of mine,” admits one cyclist.
Her biking colleague agrees. “Just get a bike and try it!”
For members like you.
Because what we do pays dividends.
