Shred like a lady

The stoke level was high after spending a beautiful sunny weekend ripping up the Sun Peaks Bike Park with coaches Dylan Sherrard and Cheryl Beattie.

Attendance for the annual Shred Hard Ladies Bike camp has grown annually with a total of ten women registered this year. The two-day course was an incredible learning experience and has given myself and fellow attendees the knowledge and skills to confidently ride anything from an easy green run to a technical double black diamond.

At the meet and greet on day one we discussed our goals and what we hoped to accomplish in regards to our riding. Not surprisingly with a group of intermediate riders, we wanted to learn to cruise berms faster and with more confidence, master hitting jumps properly and being comfortable in the air, and working on overall control on steep and
technical terrain.

Fueled by adrenaline and coffee and satisfied with our objectives for the day, we loaded our bikes on the lift and began what would turn out to be an epic weekend.

Safety first, an equipment check was followed by a flat ground bike handling session which gave us the basic tools. Sherrard and Beattie individually worked with each of us to break our bad habits and get the new ones locked down. Cruising down Smooth Smoothie onto Route 66 gave us an opportunity to master braking and corners which is pretty important when sending it down a mountain on a bicycle.

We progressed throughout the day and moved to more technical blue and black runs where we practised the pointers assigned by our coaches. If there was an intimidating section of a trail, Sherrard and Beattie broke it down into straightforward and easy steps. We never felt pressured to do anything we didn’t want to, but simply hearing the pros tell us “You can do this!” gave us that extra push to try something we may have previously skipped.

Day two took it to a whole other level where we practised everything from wheelies and bunny hops, to jumps and drops, to technical off-camber roots and steep rock rolls. Ending the day with a double black diamond resulted in an abundance of high fives and a massive level of stoke.

There were several high points but the best part was the overall camaraderie and encouragement between everyone in the group. These chicks were rad and it was amazing to see everyone cheering each other on and supporting each other through the challenges of the day. No judgement. No pressure. Just a group of like-minded women on bikes having a great time.

Life is good when your weekend is spent in the mountains with a bunch of awesome ladies and the always genuine and life-affirming Dylan Sherrard.