Ride Together
International Women's Mountain Biking Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday in May. It's a day for riders who identify as women to gather, experience, and share their stoke for mountain biking! Tag your rides with #WomensMTBDay!
Community Driven
Women’s Mountain Biking Day originated from the 2018 IMBA UPRISING event—our first-ever women’s conference. Attendees were asked to share their best ideas for engaging more women in mountain biking. A day dedicated to women enjoying mountain biking with each other and encouraging fellow women to join them was dreamed up by Andree Sanders of Trips for Kids Metro New York. Thank you for inspiring us!
Grab the Logo2024 Theme: How Women Earn Their Turns
“Earning your turns” was first coined by backcountry skiers in the 1970s. The idea spoke metaphorically of getting out of life what you put into it, and more directly to the joy derived from the extreme exertion required to drag oneself and one's skis to the top of a mountain in order to ski down untamed, backcountry powder. Somewhere along the lines, this made its way into mountain biking vernacular, remaining true to the metaphor, but more directly meaning a mountain biker should earn their downhill by using human-powered means to climb up, or earn their ride by committing to the activity, their trails, or their local trails organization.
Last Thanksgiving, I found myself, once again, experiencing holiday event and meal preparation solo. I woke up at 5am to ensure the bread was rising, the bird was brining, and all the side dishes and drink ingredients were prepped. My friends and family went out for rides and hikes, and I was alone in the kitchen busting-my-buns to ensure we could have a delicious, traditional meal together. And I loved it. And I wanted to be out there with my people in the woods, too. Because I’m a mom and the alpha-nurturer of my tribe, I default to ensuring everyone is safe, healthy, and well. I earn my turns by leaning into that role.
Being a woman and being a nurturer often go hand-in-hand: sometimes the difference is imperceptible. All people belong on trails, no matter how they’re earning their turns. And all people deserve to celebrate and be celebrated for the commitment and efforts they make to opt outside, to opt their mountain bike, to opt #MoreTrailsCloseToHome. Women: this year, on the first Saturday in May, in honor of Women’s Mountain Biking Day: Go for that ride. Go find those birds. Go hound some rocks. Go ride bikes with other women. Ask for help from your family with your nurturing duties because you earn your turns a million different ways every day, and you belong on trails.
How Do I Participate?
Women’s Mountain Biking Day is social media-driven. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to use the day as a catalyst for grassroots engagement, festivals, rides, awareness campaigns, and other activities to both celebrate and encourage women riding mountain bikes.
Plan a special ride or skills practice with your mountain biking friends who identify as women. Ride your favorite trail, discover a new trail, or visit your local skills park. Take your mom, sister, daughter, or partner for their first mountain bike ride. Set up a virtual challenge to ride the same trail, route, or mileage, and record your efforts with a fitness tracking app. Host an organized, women-only mountain bike ride via a local bike club or shop. Consider smaller group rides and virtual challenges.
Organize a women-only trail volunteer day. Connect with your local mountain biking trail organization or trail crew. Clean up your local trails. Share trail maintenance and trail tool use tips. Learn why volunteering to maintain your local trails is important. Consider socially distanced opportunities and options to attend for a few hours at an easily accessible trail versus an all-day event deep in the backcountry.
Host a women-only skills night or advocacy talk. Skills night could include bike maintenance basics, mountain biking trail etiquette, and bike handling techniques. You could give a presentation on how to become more involved in trails and outdoor recreation in their community. How can women mountain bikers advocate for more resources, access, youth programming, and more where they live?
Host a women's night with a local bike shop. Show inspirational films, network, swap stories, and make new friends. Get to know who is in the mountain biking community, and give those who are curious a chance to come out and ask questions in a friendly environment.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper issued an official proclamation declaring May 5th, 2018, as Women’s Mountain Biking Day. It is an honor that the Governor recognized the important role women play for mountain biking in communities across Colorado. Can your elected officials and community leaders help amplify your #WomensMTBDay message?
Storytelling
Explore our collection of blogs about engaging more women in mountain biking, plus personal and inspirational stories from female riders.
Whenever you ride, however you ride, wherever you ride, and whatever you ride with, we invite you to ride with us. Mountain bikers are not defined by frequency, skill, speed, or equipment. Passion for knobby-tire rides makes you a mountain biker!
Katherine Fuller
Bikepacking Roots
From Bicycle Face to a New Face of Mountain Biking
Read storyIMBA is a signatory of the CAMBER Outdoors CEO pledge—a commitment of outdoor industry organizations to attract, retain, and advance women in their workplaces.