PRESS RELEASE: Ridelab
RIDELAB is underway! Taking place at Mountain Fun Basecamp in Squamish – 150 women will be taking to the trails for a good time. The groups include a number of analog groups, 2 e-bike groups and 1 Adaptive rider group, led by Sierra Roth of Kootenay Adaptive Sports Association. A local guiding operation, Dialed-In Cycling, will handle all the guiding for the event. While the event focus is guided rides and getting the most riding time on this great network of trails, there will be opportunity for sessioning features and receiving skills tips from your PMBIA* certified guides.
In addition to 3 great riding days, good vibes, the day event will also offer bike demos, tech talks, panel discussions, live music and a camping retreat. It’s a great opportunity to connect with like-minded women with a shared passion for mountain biking in a safe and inclusive setting.
This is the first women’s only mountain bike festival in BC and is open to all who identify as female. The event will take place May 15-18, 2023 with live music from DJ Foxy Moron, Whistler’s record playing favourite DJ and Canadian roots-blues-rocker Rachelle van Zanten who has spent most of her life on the International Rock ‘n Roll Highway. Her “punishing slide guitar“ has her listed as “one of Canada’s best slide guitarists”
Athlete Guest riders Hannah Bergemann, ALN, Flo Espineira, Jade blouin-Comeau, Lucy Vaneesteren, Bailey Goldstone to list a few
Special Speakers include Marley Blonsky, North Shore Betty, Anita Naidu,
Bike Brands demo’ing in attendance: Transition, Orbea, Ibis, Rocky Mountain, Specialized, Commencal
RIDELAB has partnered with the Indigenous Women of the Outdoors (IWO) to support its community members in gaining greater visibility in the mountain biking industry. IWO is a non-profit organization that strives to support, encourage, and provide Indigenous women and non-binary folx living on the territories of the sḵwx̱ú7mesh, líl̓wat, səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm nations with low barrier access to outdoor recreation. We have a number of women from the IWO guiding at the event. Michele Lobo being one of them, Michele is Yellowknives Dene First Nation along with French Canadian ancestry.
RIDELAB has been created to showcase the enjoyment of mountain biking and the women who ride. The event will bring more women into mountain biking and foster development of riding at every level. In addition, they aim to empower women riders with not only trail knowledge, but technical knowledge as well. The workshops are designed to equip women with the information and understanding they need to confidently make choices about bike maintenance, safety and new purchases of bikes, gear & more.
Mixed in with the learning, RIDELAB’s goal is to foster connection among women riders while exploring this mecca of trails. The full event with riding is sold out but you can still by a festival pass to come check out the other festivities at the event. More info here.
photos by @jensklett
RIDELAB.CA