the story behind dirtgirls

We started dirtgirls in summer 2006. Why? Well when Sara first got into biking she was fed up of trying to keep up with Guy and his mates – and the conversation wasn’t all that good either. She searched for girls skills weeks, but back then the closest was in Canada and the budget didn’t stretch that far. So she found some local girls to ride with instead and loved that. Years later though she wished she’d had some skills tuition early on to help her progress faster.

When we decided to move to Morzine there was no doubt a girls skills week was top of the list to organise. As when Sara wants something she generally makes sure that she gets it!

We were lucky enough to get Emily Horridge to offer her services, and even happier when she agreed to come back for 2007. Downhill racer Emily, is also pretty handy on dirt jumps, and an annoyingly good climber too. However, best of all, she has the knack of explaining how to do what she does in a way we can all understand. Using colourful descriptions, high speed and low speed demos, she gradually gets us all doing as she does…well at least she gets us a little closer to doing what she does.

That’s not the only reason to come along though. We all need to find more girls to ride with, discuss kit with and generally just have a good time with. People who understand the importance of finding the best trails, mastering ‘that’ bit of singletrack, and finding the best tea and cake stops. Emily was stoked to bump into two of the first ever dirtgirls riding together in her local woods, and then hear about more planning weekends away together.

We’re lucky enough to also get great sponsors in the form of Shecycles and Minx – well Sara’s always on the SheCycles website and loves Minx’s choice of girly riding gear so figured there was nothing to lose by getting them involved! SheCycles bring along great gear to try out, plus are donating a few of their sparkly new jerseys as end of week prizes. And the lovely Minx is giving a t-shirt to every dirtgirl, plus some fabulously girly jerseys as more prizes. So we figured we ought to throw in a few flow t-shirts to add to the pretty amazing prize repertoire. Oh, and musn’t forget the Minx shop that will be available in the chalet to anyone who wants some cool new riding gear.