EXPERIENCES
ATHLETE : Amanda LaClair
Team: Rogue Velo Racing
Hello Lady Racers!!
My name is Amanda (Mandy) LaClair from Williamsburg, VA, 37 years old and I’ve been riding mountain bikes for about 12-14 years. The true length of time is kinda blurry. You know, life happens, children happen, divorce happens, new jobs, back to college as an adult, the list never ends…. and neither did my love of mountain biking. There were definitely larger gaps in event participation than I would have liked, but I tried my hardest to make time for the mental health benefit I’ve found in mountain biking.
I’d like to share some thoughts about an event I participated in June of 2017 and why I think event participation is so important for women. I had been training to participate in the Hilly Billy Roubaix 2017 for months; this was going to be a tough one…. I knew this when I registered. It was a 74-mile adventure ride/race in backcountry West-By-God Virginia. If you’ve never heard of it; Google it, and then put it on your calendar. When race day finally came, I was SOOOO nervous. My boyfriend and I were getting our hotel breakfast, oatmeal and morning coffee like any other long ride morning. We noticed a few others milling around the breakfast area that also looked like race participants, you know’em when you see’em. One woman and I started up some small chat about the event, and then it happened, the moment that changed my whole perspective for the entire day. She asked me “So what will YOU be up to all day while HE’S out racing?”. I couldn’t believe it, that was her immediate assumption of me??? It was an innocent enough question but I knew right then that was not the assumptions women should have of each other. I quickly replied something like, “I’ll be pretty busy racing my bike too”. I really can’t remember exactly what I said because I was so full of emotions. I was angry, hurt, sad, but mostly motivated. I may not “look” like a mountain bike “racer” but I’ve never been a watch from the sidelines kind of woman.
Out of over 300 total race participants that day just over 40 of them were women, I was one of them, and I was going to finish that damn race if it killed me. A little over 8 hours and 74 miles later I crossed that finish line. Time wasn’t my goal that day, finishing was. I finished that race for myself and for every woman that doubts herself, for my daughter that can accomplish anything she works hard for. Gender doesn’t have to limit what we can accomplish, we limit ourselves and sadly, sometimes we limit each other, which isn’t how it should be. We are stronger than we think are, and even stronger together. I love seeing more and more women getting into the sport of mountain biking and racing. I may not always finish an event how I planned to, but I participate and finish proudly. I encourage you to do the same. See you at the start AND finish in 2018!
Now get out there are kick some ass!!
Mandy
2018 WOMEN'S COLLECTIVE
Season Wrapped up by Kendell Ryan
2ND PLACE SPORT WOMEN
MILES RACED: 140
..Complete Profile..
2018 |
VORS Category : | sw |
VORS ID(VRR) #: | 12623 |
HOMETOWN: | Richmond |
AGE: | 43 |
BIKE A : | Yeti ASR |
BIKE B : | |
BIO : | 2018 VORS Womens Collective Contributor |
BIO : | |
VORS Registered : | Contributor |
My season of racing
I decided to give this a shot because I have been encouraging other women to ride more and give racing a try. So, lest I am a ‘do as a say’ kind of a person, I figured I should give it a try.
I ended up doing 8 of the sport races, almost all of them on courses I’ve never ridden. I rode longer than I ever have. Before this season, I think that my longest ride ever was probably 16 miles. There are plenty of people racing who had been doing long endurance rides, but I am not one. I stay extremely busy between Bell Joy Ride, River City Women’s, rvaMORE, running, hobbies, oh and work. So, the idea of actually training for these was just not reasonable. But I saw it as a chance to try new courses and push myself. I love a good workout. It was definitely a positive experience overall, so here are a few of my takeaways.
First, the people are great. I never once had a single bad encounter on or off the trail. Guys, gals, kiddos – all supportive. I never had someone rub my wheel, refuse to get over, or be annoyed because I couldn’t get over right away. I had a lot of laughs joking with people along the course as they suffered alongside me. It was a great way to try new trails, with the course marked for you. I am excited to go back and ride most of them at some point. It was a good bonding experience with the other female racers. There are just not enough of us, so we all encourage each other and are proud of each other’s accomplishments.
What I didn’t love, riding in far less than ideal conditions. I learned that I can check off my list - racing in the rain, mud and streams deep and strong enough to take me under. I’m just not that hardcore and I love my bike (and my life) too much. Getting up early - I’m a gal who likes her sleep. I also learned that I don’t love multiple laps. I’d rather ride a longer route than go ‘round and ‘round. It’s just a silly, mental thing. Lastly, being disappointed in myself. Normally on a weekend I go out, do a long, hard XC ride and then I feel great and accomplished for the rest of the day. But for a race, I would go out and do a long, hard ride and feel like I came up short if I didn’t place where I wanted. Granted, this makes no sense whatsoever, there we awesome gals who had been doing epic races, not to mention some kick-ass ladies who are just faster than me on any day. I should not have such unreasonable expectations, but alas, that’s how I roll. However now that it’s done, I’m completely thrilled (and surprised) to have gotten second place.
I absolutely want to see more women racing, at all levels. Personally, I feel like if we want to be represented evenly, we need to have more than a small fraction of the faces showing up at the starting line. I also know there are a lot of strong beginner riders who would tear it up…so hopefully some of you will step up in 2019!