Our Women's Only Dirt Bike Vacation in Grand Junction, CO taught us a few things about fear and conquering what's holding you back.
September 9-13, 2022
This was our first Intermediate+ vacation. It's always amazing to us how women tend to under-estimate and under value their actual skill set. We only had two women join us for this amazing adventure. Though we had several people contact us interested in attending, none of them thought they were good enough. They believed they would "hold the group back" or wouldn't be able to handle the trails we took them on.
This mindset is all too common in the women we deal with on a regular basis. From those who are learning to ride for the first time, to women who can already rip on a bike, so many of them have negative thoughts running through their brains telling them they aren't good enough and aren't worthy or praise. It's a very difficult mindset to over come and holds these riders back from reaching their true potential.
The two women that joined us both had years of experience. They were great riders and handled most everything we threw at them with ease and a positive attitude. It was such a pleasure and so much fun to share some our favorite trail systems with women who were excited to ride new terrain and ready to push the limits of their skills. There was one exception that held one rider back. Downhills.
Deep, whooped out trails, hill climbs, rocks, tight washes, and tons of other challenging terrain was conquered easily by both riders. It was awesome seeing these women attack these obstacles with no fear. But when it came to steep descents, one rider lost all her confidence and ended up making the ride so much more difficult than it needed to be. Why does our brain let fear take over and put us in worse situations than if we were to conquer the fear?
For example; Instead of trusting her skills and more than a decade of experience, along with the training from our knowledgeable guides, this rider found herself on a steep hill with cliffs on either side of the trail and ended up taking the most dangerous way to the bottom. She panicked, grabbed a handful of front brake, and tumbled down the side of the cliff, her bike tumbling after her. She could have suffered a significant injury or catastrophic damage to her bike, 18 miles into the back country of the desert, in the heat of a mid September day.
She never did get past her fear. The weekend consisted of many more panic mistakes that sent her and her bike to the ground. She had conquered so many difficult obstacles and trails, but steep descents sent her in a downward spiral, literally and figuratively. She had the skill set. She had the knowledge. She had the support. Why can't our brains push past the fear of what holds us back from truly excelling.
How do you get past yourself?