Throughout the summer every Wednesday night Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition (WMBC) hosts a weekly Whatcom World Cup race. Last Wednesday night that race was just for women-identifying, fem and girls. There was an incredible showing. Ellie Price of WMBC had this to say about the race:
We had a huge turnout with 135 women/girl-identifying racers, over half racing for the first time! Queens of Dirt paid for 50 first-time racers’ race fees and hosted a really fun raffle and JoyRiders helped organize and encouraged the first-time racers to come and give it a try.
I rode with two Vamos Outdoors Project girls that I’ve been ride leading seasonally for the past couple of years. This program is a partnership with Vamos Outdoors Project and WMBC where the two organizations provide transportation, food, helmets, gloves, bikes and instruction to Latiné youth in Whatcom County. I had had the chance to try the course out the week before with the girls, but the conditions this week were much wetter! I was so proud of these two girls and the way they handled the wet course and all the cheering and pressure of the race – they crushed it! And even won gloves in the raffle at the bottom! They both said they would love to race again and wanted to go back up to practice some of the harder parts of the course. I am so thrilled with how many women felt comfortable racing for the first time and how welcoming everyone was. Just a stellar night of biking and community.
Such a great turnout is exciting and the hope is that more women will be encouraged to join in on the Wednesday night races. If you’re interested in trying out a Whatcom World Cup race you can find more information here. We’ll see you on the mountain!
