it is a sad reality that we are yet to achieve gender equality when it comes to gravity race entries. i am not quite sure why this is the case but it definitely isn’t due to the capability to ride fast and having fun doing so.
we now have clear evidence this is true: the club in ourimbah decided to stage a ‘girls only’ downhill race (they did include u13 boys as well which is fair enough) and 43 racers turned up to have a go.
anyone who has ever ridden the ourimbah downhill knows that while it is definitely not the gnarliest, steepest or longest track it is still pretty rough, sketchy and does not offer many options for a soft landings in case of a, let’s call it: ‘unwise’ line choice.
what i’m trying to say: it takes skill and courage to point a bike down the mountain in this place, especially at the impressive speeds many of the girls were carrying and it’s definitely not a relaxed social cycle through the park.
as you can see the wheels did not stay on the ground at all times. respect!
as concerned parents kris and i offered to help out. turns out kris’ brand new first aid certificate came in handy. two of our friends decided to take unscheduled soil samples just in front of her (kris was standing guard in a rough spot aptly known as wayne’s shit corner).
luckily there were no serious injuries but i’m sure both were happy to see a familiar sympathetic person helping disentangle themselves from their stricken steeds.
nat was happy to have some real competition for a change and ended the race in third place out of eight riders in her class (and a really amazing fifteenth overall). she also improved her personal best by almost half a minute, which is an incredible achievement. she just needs to find eight more seconds to ride the track in under five minutes … i have a few ideas where those elusive seconds could be found.
that result might have something to do with the fact that she is actually putting in work to practice her skills and her lines, even if that means pushing back up to do it again. in this very case the reason for said unusual effort was that she wanted to guide one of her friends through this seriously intimidating section. it’s great to see them share their trail secrets.
look at those faces: that’s a seriously happy crowd of rad shredding girls. i hope there will be another gravity girls race soon.