32 — Sunday, July 4, 1999 — North Shore News

north shore news

NAA

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ng with the Spo

untain bik

Deana Lancaster

News Reporter
deana@nsnews.conm

THERE’S nothing as
thrilling — as electrity-
ing and fun — asa
white-knuckle descent
down a rocky pitch on
a mountain bike.

For some people, the thrill
includes speed.

For others, it deesn’t mat-
ter if they could walk down
the hill taster — it’s terrifying
enough just to pogo down the
pitch on two wheels, rear end
dangling perilously close to
their back tire and hands
cramping as they cling to the
brakes.

I know of which I speak.

On a rare sunny weekend
in June I travelled to Whistler
to join 17 women working on
their skills and building confi-
dence on their mountain bikes
with the help of four women
inscructors.

In their fourth seasun, the
Spokeswomen Mountain Bike
Canips have grown to include
weekend camps in Rossland,
Kelowna and Penticton as well
as Whistler. As well as the basic
camp, there’s one which
includes tours of Okanagan
wineries, and another which
tocuses on racing skills.

Former. North Vancouver
resident and biking enthusiast
Angela Mecharg launched the

4 TRAVEL

photo submitted

camp in 1996 tu help women FORME? North Vancouver resident Angela Meharg launched Spokeswomen Mountain Bike Camps in 1996 to teach trail-riding skills.

gain confidence on the trails.

Now she and lead instruc-
tor Sally Carmichael spend several of their summer weekends
doing just that, and their students come from all walks of life:
RCMP officers, physiotherapists, business consultants, sales rep-
resentatives, and of course — the occasional, extremely nervous,
journalist.

Both days began with skills training. We were divided into
four gloups according to riding experience — I was assigned to
join the Spin Sisters, all of whom had more time logged on their
bikes than me. Actually, I was the only beginner at the camp.

On day one we tackled pedalling and high speed braking;
ascending and descending; and, not my immediate favourite,

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