Now that I have ridden with the Muddbunnies I know why they say mountain biking is sexy. Balancing on two wheels, rolling over narrow, slippery wooden structures and through rooty, gooshy mud is intensely exhilarating. Flowing with the landscape and maintaining momentum down a line of unpredictable terrain brings forth joyful grunts and gasps of, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! F**k YEAH!” I found myself at the end of the trail, flushed, emboldened and elated. For hours after my first (ever!) mountain biking experience, I could feel in my body the flow of riding. I could understand, if only fractionally, the rush which seduces extreme riders to risk life and limb to master a treacherous trail.
When we received an invitation to go riding with the Muddbunnies, the three of us (Bonnie Fenton, Tania Lo and myself), hopped at the chance. We are all veteran riders on asphalt. Bonnie teaches commuter skills courses and has been a cycling advocate for years with the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition; Tania has ridden from Bolivia to Inuvik as part of the Antipodes Expedition; and riding has been my main form of transportation since 1989. Yet despite living beside some of the most drooled-over mountain trails in the world, none of us had experienced the thrill of riding through the dirt on shocks and knobby tires. Once on Burnaby Mountain, armoured and helmeted, on bikes, on the trail, in the moment, it felt natural. But it took the invitation to ride with a pack of women to make it happen.
Ryan, Michelle and Ryan’s son Jayden met us at the Production Way Skytrain Station and drove us up to the trails on Burnaby Mountain where we met Muddbunnies Tina, Susan, Edith, and Lindsey and, along with accomplished mountain biking photographer Dan Barham who had graciously agreed to document our first ride.
Wearing armour and a full-face helmet was unfamiliar, but a bit exciting. Wearing protective gear implied getting hurt. We agreed we felt a bit cautious and probably wouldn’t be pushing our boundaries much. On entering the lush green late-winter forest and riding up the trail, we newbies avoided the ladder structures and dismounted to walk around obstacles. We spent some time at the skills park to practice riding over ladders and logs. Ryan advised us to keep our eyes on our goal, to look straight along where we wanted to go, and not where we thought we might fall. Good advice, in riding and in life. She coached us to brake before a ladder and after clearing it, but not while actually on it, as they’re slippery and it would be dangerous to do so.
By the time we reached the top of the trail and turned around we had gained confidence. At one point I stopped to watch as Bonnie attempted a long steep ladder. She made it down gracefully, applying the skills Ryan had been teaching us, then shouted, “Look what I did!” at the top of her lungs. This made my day.
Since we ride daily, the three of us took naturally to mountain biking. The new experience re-connected us to the joy of an activity we already love. Riding with traffic on roads, we experience a heightened awareness, but this new style of riding doesn’t involve multi-ton metal vehicles moving unpredictably around us, and is done purely for fun. As Tania said, “You’re not thinking about anything else when you’re going down that trail. You have to focus, and there is nothing else.”
I think there’s more trail riding in the cards for us this year. Ryan, Michelle and the Muddbunnies were fantastic ride leaders, and now that we’ve popped the cherry, I’m betting we’ll want more delicious mountain adventures.
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