Well, we’ve wrapped up the second annual Dirt Rag Women’s Weekend and thanks to Nina, Ray and all the fine folks at Ray’s MTB Indoor Park in Cleveland, we had a wonderfully exciting event that more than doubled the number of participants from last year. Nearly a hundred women of various ages joined us this weekend, many arriving on Friday morning for a day to ourselves in Ray’s.We started off by breaking into small groups, depending on levels of experience, and teaming up with one of the professional women riders who had so generously given their time to help our cause. Some of the clinics focused on the bare-bones basic mechanics of riding, practicing simple balancing skills and body positioning, and progressed to more advanced clinics such as conquering the feared rock garden, racing the pump track and catching air on the box jumps.

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Terry and Doc from Superco donated funds to provide healthy snacks to keep our energy up, and when the snacks were gone, Red Bull was on hand to “kick it up a notch.” After a lunch break with food from Chipotle Grill, we practiced our new skills and got some one-on-one time with instructors for a little brush up.

Both Trek and Specialized were there with their respective lineup of women-specific bikes for those of us who like to mix it up and try different rides. We had raffle prizes from SkullCandy, Superco, IMBA, Red Bull, Specialized,Trek, FreeRide Association, DK Bikes, Albe’s BMX, Etnies Girl, and Norco as an added bonus.

The fun continued all weekend. Ray’s saw record numbers of riders as the guys showed up to share the park, and track space was at a premium.

On Saturday night from 10-12p.m., Ray turned the lights off for a night ride around the park, with demo lights from NiteRider Lighting Systems. Karen can attest to the fun of racing around the course in the near dark, but even from the sidelines where I was, the trace of lights weaving through the darkness was somewhat surreal, and very cool.

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Many thanks to the instructors:
Tammy Donahugh
Gale Dahlager
Tamara Peloquin
Darcy Turenne
Nadia Steinbrecher
Terry Seeberg – Superco
Stacey Mulligan
Nina Buitrago
Jackie Baker

Also a big thanks to Subaru and Pabst Blue Ribbon for the party at the Holiday Inn on Friday night. Hopefully, they’ll let us back in next year after the antics in the swimming pool….sorry, no details, you’ll just have to come next year to see what you missed.

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To see more fun pics check out freeridefoundation.blogspot.com and The Dirt Rag Photo Gallery, plus stay tuned for some video to come….