Why I Really Started Mountain Bike Coaching

Hey there riding friend,

Today I want to let you in on why I started coaching mountain bike skills to adult women. 

You see, when I started mountain biking as an adult, I really struggled with my descending skills. 

My fitness carried me up the hills, but then I would inevitably get passed on the descents because I was grabbing my brakes out of fear. I thought if I would just stop using my brakes or be more brave, I would finally be able to keep up with my friends on the up hills AND the downhills.  

I was so embarrassed to have people ride behind me and see how fearful I was and how much I used my brakes.

I thought if I just rode more, I would eventually learn how to get faster. But I only made small improvements over time and frankly, I was still terrified. In fact, I was a professional mountain bike racer and I was still terrified on the descents.

Sound familiar?

I knew deep down I wanted to ride fluidly, enjoy the descents, and finally kick my nerves to the curb.

Staying stuck and scared was simply not an option.

So, I hired a skills coach, learned how to ride with the precise skills.

💥 Even more importantly, I hired a mindset and performance coach and learned to calm my brain down so I could utilize my skills to ride smoothly and confidently😎.

Today, I now…

  • Know how to ride nearly every trail in our local 450 mile trail network with absolute confidence

  • Keep up with my friends on the descents

  • But, foremost, I can do the above while feeling relaxed and with smile on my face:)

My own transformation is proof that a woman, who is extra nervous on the descents, can learn to ride like a total boss.

That’s why I’m now passionate about helping women stop hitting their brakes anytime there is a hint of fear and finally ride smoothly and confidently.

As you read this email, I’m not sure what your reality looks like right now.

But I know that there’s a reason why you’ve read up to this point.

If you’re finding yourself in a similar situation to where I was 12 years ago, struggling with fear while descending on your mountain bike , I want to let you know you have the power to learn handle all of it.

And I want to help you.

(Because let’s be real, it’s a lot faster when you get help from someone who’s overcome the same problems you have right now!)

That’s why this week, I’ll be hosting a free virtual training on how to master your mountain bike mindset, the same way I have.

The best part is that I’m sharing all the steps, free of charge.

So, if you’d like to join me online next week, make sure you CLICK HERE to register. 

I hope to see you there.

Your friend on the trails,

 

How to choose a fat bike

Quick tips for choosing a fat-tire bike

You get what you pay for. As with all bikes, your safety and enjoyment will depend in large part on the quality of your bike’s frame and components. In other words, we don’t recommend buying bikes at the same store from which you buy paper towels and dog food. Look for good brands with solid components.

Size is critical. As with any other bike, a properly fitting winter bike is necessary to obtain maximum spoke stoke. You’ll not only be able to travel more efficiently on a well-fitting bike, but you’ll also reduce the risk of injury.

Shocks are less important with winter biking. While we generally recommend dual-suspension mountain bikes for dry-weather mountain biking, hardtail and rigid winter bikes are very common and sufficient for most winter biking paths. Snow-covered rock gardens allow for smoother rides, and the increased width and decreased pressure of fat tires absorb impacts better than regular tires.

Make sure your rack is fat-tire compatible. You might need a different transport rack for your fat-tire bike. We highly recommend the Kuat N.V. 2.0 rack, which can accommodate all standard and fat-tire mountain bikes.

Chat with your favorite local bike shop. Most bike shops have lower-than-usual inventory at the moment, but there is more flux than you might think. Your bike shop friends can tell you if they’re expecting any winter bikes, and many will reserve a bike for future purchase with a deposit.

Check your local classified sections! Browsing classified ads (KSL, Craigslist, etc.) as well as used-bike shops (PinkBike, Bike Blue Book, The Pro’s Closet, etc.) can get you a great deal! Just be sure you do your homework first.

Here are some great fat-tire bikes to consider (that are in stock) as of 2/7/22!

Trek Farley 9.6

Trek Farley 9.6 ($3764)

Places to rent a fat-tire winter bike

If you’ve never been winter biking, it’s reasonable to try it before you buy it. There are increasing numbers of adventure shops that have added fat-tire bikes to their winter-fun inventory. If you’re new to winter biking or unfamiliar with the terrain in a given area, it might be a good idea to sign up for a guided tour with your rental. Here are some options for fat-tire rentals and/or guided trips in popular winter vacation spots:


Park City, UT:

All Seasons Adventures
White Pine Touring
Storm Cycles
Jans Mountain Outfitters


Driggs, Idaho
Grand Targhee Resort
Teton Springs Lodge and Spa


Jackson, Wyoming
Teton Mountain Bike Tours
Turpin Meadows Ranch


Whitefish, Montana
Whitefish Bike Retreat
Glacier Cyclery and Nordic

Lake Tahoe, California
Bike Truckee
Northstar California Resort

Steamboat, CO
Wheels Bike Shop

Vermont
Catamount
Stratton Mountain Resort

Maine
Pineland Farms
Rangely Lakes

Stay warm my friends and let me know if you try fat-tire biking this winter!

Front wheels (part 2)

When your front wheel is out of the bike, be aware of your brake levers. If you accidentally engage your front brake lever (that's the one on the left if you live in the US), you will close the brake pads and they won't easily open back up without a tool.

When it's time to slide your front wheel back in, look for the rotor and be sure you are sliding it in between the brake pads smoothly. Rotors are easily bendable.

To put the thru axle back in, you may need to lift the fork a little to take pressure off to make the thru axle line up with the wheel.

Thread it and tighten it. Be sure you only "hand-tighten" it. You don't want it extremely hard to loosen. So don't have your friend tighten it, they may be stronger and you won't be able to loosen it later!

Part 1 about front wheels can be found here.

Voyage Utah Magazine

Coach Erica was recently interviewed by Voyage Utah. Find the entire article here.

Hi Erica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
In 2016, I was still racing my mountain bike professionally and coaching mountain bike skills on the side. I created Women in the Mountains, expecting it to be a single 3-day event held in June of 2016. I decided that weekend needed a website, logo, and Instagram account. I didn’t realize I was actually laying the groundwork for a  business that would grow and expand to include so many women in so many beautiful ways!

The first event was so successful that each of the women that attended asked if I would hold a clinic for their friends. The clinics expanded from there and in 2018 I hired 2 coaches to help me. Fast forward to 2021 and we are a team of 11 women (coaches and support staff) and have now coached over 2,000 women.

I help female mountain bike riders take their riding skills from good to great, so they can take on any trail with absolute confidence and precision. We primarily focus our mountain bike skills clinics in Park City and St. George, Utah. I have hosted clinics in other locations such as New Zealand, Nevada, and California and have now chosen to focus my energy closest to home.  I live 5 minutes away from Trailside Bike Park in Park City and coach there 2-4 times each week from May-October. I also typically spend 2 weeks in St. George, Utah in March and November coaching desert riding skills.

I have been an athlete my entire life. From being a competitive swimmer to being a mountaineering guide on Mt. Rainier and in Alaska to road biking in a casual racing environment. I have ridden a mountain bike on and off since I was 14 but never dedicated the time to building skills or regularly train. Then, after the birth of my son, when I was 32, I fell in love with the modern mountain bikes and the gorgeous places my bike could take me.

In 2010, My husband encouraged me to sign up for a mountain bike race in St. George, Utah and I decided to go for it, not really knowing what I was getting into. In a matter of 5 months, my whole world had opened up and I was racing pro at the local level! I met a new community of great people and had a passion for racing that was unmatched by anything I had ever done previously. The next season, I secured my pro license from the national governing board (USAC). The national pro races were very humbling and a big step up from local pro racing.

I persevered, learned a lot about training and racing, and started to perform well at the national level.  At the end of 2012, I was invited to join the Jamis Factory Racing Team and have been on it ever since! I raced in the elite National and World Cup races for the next few years. In 2014, at the end of the mountain bike season, I spent a few weeks learning how to ride a Time Trial bike (a road bike where you are in a low aerodynamic position). I won the Master’s National Championship Time Trial and Road Race. I retired from racing in 2017 and haven’t looked back! However, all of those years of racing built a strong foundation for me to become an excellent mountain bike skills coach.

As a mountain bike athlete, I was always powerful and fitness came easily. However, the skills did not come naturally to me. I hired a skills coach after my first season of racing and worked with various coaches over the years to develop concise and confident skills. All of those years working on skills, thinking about skills and practicing skills made me into the coach I am now. I have thought so deeply about each movement and tried so many ways of riding them and communicating them, that I have a deep understanding of everything that a rider needs to do to ride a mountain bike successfully.

I started coaching in 2011 on a casual, irregular basis and really enjoyed the process of coaching.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a business was a fun challenge. It was a great way to parlay my drive, passion, and experience as a professional athlete into something so much more than what I could achieve by myself. It became more about what I could get my clients and the women around me to achieve. While there were obstacles to building the business, I was rewarded by what I was creating and that kept me going.

The real fun began when I went from being a solopreneur to an entrepreneur! Once again, when I started Women in the Mountains, I expected it to just be me coaching and didn’t have the long-term vision of it becoming an ongoing company. Then when I started to have other women join me as coaches than as staff, I expanded in so many ways. Every woman that has worked for me along the way has taught me valuable lessons and has contributed to empowering other women and the is the end goal in what I am doing.

In the past few years, I have taken a few courses on how to run a business and have learned how to grow in a sustainable way, while keeping the core vision intact. Every “bump” in the road along the way has taught me a lesson and I believe I am a stronger CEO because of them. I wouldn’t take away any of the experiences I’ve had since they all contributed to where I am today. And where I am today is a solid, confident business owner.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We help female mountain bike riders go from fearing the hills to excelling at every trail by mastering their riding skills.

Women in the Mountains was created to build mountain bike skills for women of all levels. Bring your love for bicycles, an avid appreciation for the outdoors, and a smile! Our clinics provide the opportunity to enhance your mountain biking skills in a comfortable and relaxed setting. While building physical skills, we also work on mindset. We foster an environment of personal growth and empowerment, both on and off the bike.

We take the development of skills from a safe and logical standpoint. We break down each skill and build it in ways that anyone can master. With safety as the number one goal, we work conservatively and thoughtfully and watch each client be sure they are ready to move on to the next skill. We have hundreds of students with success stories, and we are certain that we can help you take mountain biking to your next level.

We are different from other coaching organizations because we offer highly personalized coaching for adult women. We have worked for years to develop a curriculum that has an incredibly high success rate.

All of our coaches are PMBIA certified, excellent riders, and experienced teachers. They have extensive coaching certifications, are excellent riders, and are experienced teachers. Come work with the best mountain bike instructors in the country!

In 2021, we added an incredible online mountain bike coaching platform. It is called the Women in the Mountains “Signature Course” and is the first online coaching platform for women of its kind. Learn at your own pace with the support of over 45 skills videos. You will be supported by coach Erica with private and group virtual coaching. We help female mountain bike riders go from fearing the hills to excelling at every trail by mastering their riding skills.


Front wheels (part 1)

You love to ride your bike and now you want to gain independence in bike maintenance! 

Knowing how to remove your front wheel off is a great place to start. 

☑️ Release the lever and spin lever to the left approximately 10 turns, then pull it out

☑️ Relieve pressure from wheel if you are having a hard time pulling the axle out 

☑️ Set the axle somewhere clean (not in dirt) 

☑️ Roll the wheel straight out 

☑️ Use care when setting your bike back down, you don’t want to scratch the paint on the bottom of the fork.

Part 2 about front wheels can be found here.

The one piece of equipment that changed my riding

There is one piece of equipment that absolutely changed my riding.

It was the difference between being terrified on every descent to…

Seeking out technical downhills.

Lowering my center of mass while riding truly made all the difference in what I was able to ride.

Still, to this day, I credit my seat dropper post for being able to ride so confidently.

Here is the crazy part of the story.

I was the very first professional cross country racer to race a World Cup with a seat post dropper on my bike in 2013.

But that first year, I had more than one mechanic make fun of me for using a dropper.

Droppers were for downhill racers only. Not cross country racers.

At first, I was ashamed and then I decided I didn’t care because it made all the difference for my riding.

Fast forward to 2021, every single cross country rider at the World Cups race with a dropper.

That’s why I tell my clients there is no wiggle room on this point, they must have a seat dropper on their mountain bikes.

So why are they so important?


#1) Dropper posts make riding mountain bikes safer

When you’re descending, it’s important to lower your body and shift back in order to keep your center of mass above the center of your bike. This helps maintain equal pressure on your front and rear wheels. Being in a lower position gives you considerably increased control, is more stable, and significantly decreases the probability of a fall. Without a dropper post, it can be tempting to tackle downhill sections and rock gardens with your seat up high, which is much less safe. You are less safe because your center of mass is higher. Think about a table and a lamp. Which is easier to tip over? A lamp, because its center of mass is higher. A table on the other hand, is stable and very difficult to tip over. 

#2) Dropper posts help you ride faster

Especially on trails with a lot of rolling hills and features. Dropper posts allow you to transition in a fraction of a second and keep up with your companions. Being able to adjust your saddle height every few seconds (if needed) helps you keep your center of body mass where it needs to be. This added safety will allow you to ride faster, and let’s face it: riding faster is more fun.

#3) Dropper posts allow you to ride stepper terrain

With a dropper, you can get your seat out of the way. Then you can lower your center of mass to within a centimeter of the seat, thus allowing you to rider super steep terrain while staying balanced over the center of your bike.

Next week, I’ll give you some specifications so you know how to choose the right dropper for your bike.

Keep up your happy pedaling my friends (with your dropper post of course).

National Championships 2014, Pennsylvania. Note the externally routed dropper.