#22 Jessica, Jenna, Lisa, Alexis, Henrietta - Changing the Face of Mountain Biking in Northern California - Ageless Athlete - Stories and Secrets of Adventure Sports Icons

Episode Transcript
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Kush (00:05):
Welcome back to each just athlete.
I'm your host Kush can dealwell, and I am so stoked for
today's episode.
Why.
Well, because you're breakingthe mold.
Instead of one or maybe twoguests.
I am joined by a powerhousegroup of five.
Incredible women from the SanFrancisco bay area.

(00:28):
Mountain biking scene.
These women are transforming theface of mind, biking in
California.
Friends.
If you have been with me so far,I am so grateful for you for
continuing to tune in.
If you have listened to thisshow for three episodes or more.
I would so love it.

(00:48):
If you would leave a review onapple podcasts Or wherever else
you find your podcasts.
If you have just joined us.
Would love for you to keepcoming back to the show.
This is not your averageinterview.
These women, they gathered up inSanta Cruz and the field up on
generous and famous frittatas Tomake time to speak with me

(01:10):
today.
They are so excited to sharetheir passion for mountain
biking and incredible community.
They have built together.
Get ready to meet.
First Jessica, a former techleader who created in Silicon
valley for the Redwood forest toempower them through my making.
She coaches, mountain bikingteams.

(01:33):
And she races, Enduro anddownhill.
Jessica is a total rockstar andI am so grateful to her for
introducing me to the rest ofthis group.
Jenna.
He is a battalion chief.
The 25 years in a bay area firedepartment.
She has been writing for 35years.

(01:53):
Coach's for ninja man biking andeven placed in her age group at
the Sierra classic.
Did I mention she's also apilot.
Uh, rock Labrot and an adaptiveinstructor.
She's an audit on badass.
Henry is 70.
She didn't start mind bikinguntil she was 50.
Wow.

(02:13):
Now she's a certifiedinstructor.
She leads rides for girls rock.
And marker.
And continues to raise Enduro.
Well, yeah.
She proves it's never too lateto shred.
Lisa is president of MirkaMirka.
is Monterey off-road cyclingassociation.
And a certified instructor whogrew up riding dirt bikes, and

(02:36):
now shares a love for two wheelswith countless others.
And finally.
We have Alexis.
Who is the president andco-founder of cause rock.
And organization dedicated tocreating a welcoming and
supportive space for women inmind, biking.
Veeva.
Dive in.
To the inspiring stories oftransformation.

(02:59):
Resilience and breaking downbarriers, you will hear of how
the navigated culturalexpectations.
Overcame physical setbacks anddiscovered the power of female
comradery on and off the trail.
They will explain how theychanging their traditionally
male dominated sport by creatingsupportive spaces for women of

(03:21):
all ages and backgrounds tolearn, grow, and thrive.
They will also share the secretsfor staying fit.
Fueled.
And mentally strong, no matterwhat life throws their way.
Plus, we will uncover the magicof organizations like gastroc
and Mirka.
Shining a light on thededication to inclusivity and

(03:42):
expanding access to thisincredible sport.
So well, It doesn't matter ifyou're a seasoned Strader or
just curious about exploring theworld of mountain biking.
Get ready for the really funconversation felt wet.
Lots of laughs inspiration.
Some.
Great stories.

(04:03):
And breathtaking scenery.
You might even find yourselfinspired to head the trans
yourself.
Let's roll.
Hi.
We are recording with theageless athlete podcast this

(04:23):
morning.
Normally I speak to one or twopeople today.
I am blessed and fortunate tohave, not one, not two, but five
incredible mountain bikingathletes on the show.
Just to start off it, if youguys can please tell me your
names.
tell me where you're from andalso share what you had for

(04:48):
breakfast this morning.

Jessica & Friends (04:53):
right.
Um, we can start with him.
I'm laughing.
Uh, my name's Henrietta Stern.
I'm from Pacific Grove,California.
I had a little pre breakfast ofoatmeal and a smoothie, but the
main event was a deliciousfrittata made by Jenna.
my name's Jessica.
I'm from San Jose, California.

(05:13):
And I did have a pre breakfastas well.
Um, I had a little bit ofgranola with slices of banana in
it with milk.
Um, and Jenna's awesomefrittata.
Alexis Morgan, I'm from SantaCruz and I had virtually the
same breakfast as Jessica.
Blueberries as well and frittatafor my brunch.

(05:38):
Yes.
I'm Lisa from Salinas,California and I had my own
version of Nut and seed andcoconut cereal this morning, and
then the frittata, the infamousfrittata.
Good morning, I'm Jenna, I livein Aptos, California, and, uh,

(05:59):
yeah, kind of going with theflow.
I had to have a little somethingbefore I hit the trail this
morning, and then frittata withthe group.
She's the infamous maker of thefrittata.
Alright,

Kush (06:11):
I'm so glad you guys could be together.
I am really missing out on me,me not being there in person
myself.
And, uh, thanks also for sharingthis little sneak peek into,
let's say your, uh, nutritionstrategies.
There's a pre breakfast involvedand then there's this proper

(06:33):
breakfast.
Uh, hopefully, you know, this,uh, this recording will be more
fun and, and not, not agrueling, uh, grueling race
where you, uh, will need to, uh,refuel again during, during the
conversation.
Let's start with you, Jessica.
Jessica, thank you again forbringing this great group

(06:54):
together.
Before you became a mountainbiking athlete full time and all
the other things you do, youleft this place we, we met at,
where we worked together in, uh,in the tech industry in Silicon
Valley.
And now you've made it, made ita mission to, uh, empower women

(07:16):
through mountain biking fulltime.
Can you share a bit more aboutwhat you do and what made you
take up this transition.

uh huh, sure, yeah.
Um, yeah, so Kush, I had thepleasure of working with you and
at Airbnb, um, yeah, it was, uh,I worked in the corporate world
for 20 plus years, left it atthe end of last year to, to do
this mission of mine full time,which is empowering women
through mountain biking.
all of us here, we mountainbike, and it's something we're

(07:48):
extremely passionate about.
Um, it is something that can bechallenging, mountain biking.
And this sport is veryintimidating for females.
So, I'm a mountain bike coach,and I've taught both men and
women.
And, um, women are morethoughtful when they mountain
bike, um, when they approachthings.

(08:08):
and they can be more fearful ofgetting hurt and tackling
something that might look scary.
Um, and so, um, you know, mymission is to empower women
through mountain biking.
Um, a lot of times I talk towomen that have never mountain
biked before, and they look atme in their first sentence as
always, well, I don't want tobreak my bones.
Um, and I can tell you, that,you know, we, we love what we do

(08:31):
and we're not here to break ourbones.
Um, our entire mission really isto inspire confidence in girls
and women through mountainbiking and to build a community
around this.
So, um, I won't lie.
This is a pretty tough sport.
But what I love about this sportis, is that it teaches people
grit.
Perseverance and courage.

(08:52):
Um, I can tell you, I'm inspiredevery day when I take girls and
women on the trail.
Um, they see a feature they'renervous about, um, and then they
try and try it, and then theyovercome this fear and they
successfully tackle it.

Kush (09:05):
thanks for clarifying this right away that, you did not
undertake the sport to breakbones, but you did it to, uh, go
out in the outdoors and testyour mettle and all of that.
Any other common misconceptionsyou want to clear right away
about the sport of mountainbiking?
Absolutely.

Um, misconceptions, um, well, I
mean, Um, I guess when you saymisconceptions, I mean, it's a
really fun sport.
Um, mountain biking can be, youknow, a variety of different
terrains.
for example, you know, sometimesa trail, can be really mild or
flat, um, and, you know, when,when, uh, sometimes a terrain

(09:48):
can be pretty technical.
So, um, for example, here inSilicon Valley in the Santa Cruz
area, um, you know, we can ridethrough grassy fields or redwood
forests.
Um, you know, we're climbinghills, sometimes we're
descending over technical routesand rocks, um, the terrain can
sometimes be, um, you know,steep, it can be gnarly, um,

(10:10):
sometimes it can get really,really narrow, um, and what we
call single track.
Um, and what we're doing is alot of times we're descending
over these obstacles andfeatures with speed.
Um, so I'd say, you know, itkind of describes our sport, um,
a little bit, you know, it canbe mild or it can be pretty
technical.
Sometimes it can be scary topeople.
and what's super great aboutthis sport is we're out there

(10:33):
together.
enjoying the outdoors.
Enjoying these hills, enjoyingthe forest, and just, um, you
know, watching each other tacklethese challenging, uh, obstacles
on the trail and beingsuccessful at it.

Kush (10:46):
Yes.
You're out there riding thesebeautiful trails.
we're lucky to have so many ofthem in the San Francisco Bay
Area.
What is your favorite trailhere?

my favorite trail, it's actually closed
right now, but, uh, on theweekdays, um, but my favorite
trail is probably, um, what wecall Sokol Demonstration Forest,
um, out there, um, there,there's a variety of trails, um,
there's one trail that's prettyworld famous, it's called the
Flow Trail, um, a lot of it ishuman made, um, and it's very

(11:21):
flowy, it's a downhill trail,you have to climb, um, Pretty
hard to get up there and then itkind of flows through the forest
among the trees and it's asingle track.
Um, and it's just an absolutelybeautiful trail.
Um, my favorite trail out thereis probably Braille, which is
next to the flow trail.
Um, it's technical.
It's steep.
It's got roots and I just loveclimbing that trail because it's

(11:43):
natural.
it's out there.
It's beautiful.
It's hard.
And it's also just a ton of fun.

Kush (11:49):
I've been hearing about the Floor Trail for many years.
Uh, one of these days, I hope tomake it down there and, uh,
Yeah, maybe, uh, I'd be lucky tohave one of you join me on that
ride,

Absolutely.

Kush (12:02):
I'm a minority male, uh, I'm an Asian male and I often do
these sports where.
Traditionally, they have beendominated by, let's say, uh,
white men.
It's changing for, for thebetter.
Seeing women out there whetherI'm climbing or, or surfing or
whatnot, again, that ischanging, but still the

(12:24):
representation is not quitethere.
You are an Asian female, which Ithink is even more rare to find,
uh, women, minority women outthere, uh, doing these, uh,
sports.
how do you navigate some of thecultural, uh, norms and
expectations, with some of yourupbringing, with what is

(12:46):
expected from you, perhaps, whatyour family expects from you,
um, what your community expectsfrom you, and how do you kind of
manage those, expectationspeople have?
And, uh, what has been yourexperience?

Yeah, um, I have to say, um, yeah, I've
never considered myself a sportyperson.
Um, when I was growing up, Iactually never did sports in
high school or college.
Um, and I only started mountainbiking later in life.
Um, I grew up in LA, in LosAngeles, and in a very
traditional Chinese family.

(13:21):
Um, you know, my traditional momtaught me not to get too much
sun.
Don't get hurt.
Don't climb trees, you know, sitwith your legs closed, walk
like.
So, um, yeah.
So when my husband introduced mein a mountain biking, I just
felt so empowered.
Um, and it really made me feeltough.
So, every time I rode over rootsand rocks that I was scared of,

(13:44):
I felt really good.
Um, so I wanted to share thatinspiration with other women.
So now I'm a mountain bike coachfor kids and adults.
Um, and I'm on the board ofseveral mountain biking
organizations.
Um, and my mission is to inspiremore girls and women into this
sport.
I started racing in my 40s andstarted teaching mountain
biking, um, in my, in my late40s.

(14:07):
and, uh, started racing in myearly forties and, um, started
teaching in my late forties, andI'm turning 50 this year, and
there aren't a lot of olderwomen racing in downhill or
enduro, um, which is what I'vebeen doing, um, this year.
And I think it's reallyimportant to continue to see
female faces out there on therace course, whether they're
Asian or not.
You know, just seeing women inthe sport is great.

(14:30):
and I have to say, um, so, so agreat, uh, mountain biker once
told me a quote that mountainbiking is a great equalizer.
And I absolutely love that quotebecause it doesn't matter what
you look like or what you do outthere.
or your level of fitness.
Um, we all get together and wehave so much fun on the trails
and we make these lastingfriendships and just, we just

(14:50):
meet extraordinary women and wesupport each other.
So I just absolutely love thatsport because of that reason.

Kush (14:57):
Great answer.
finally, Jessica, you left aperfectly good career.
One that we shared a littletenure

Yeah.

Kush (15:07):
to take up this cause full time.
What was maybe one key reasonwhy you did that?

I have to say my mom probably wouldn't have
approved of me doing that.
My traditional mom, but youknow, I've been thinking about
this for a while and yes, you'reright.
I mean, yeah, I was, you know,being Paid pretty well and
managed a large team.
And I've been thinking aboutthis for a long time and, you

(15:34):
know, I'm hitting my 50, hitting50 this year.
And, uh, you know, I thought Ishould try it, you know, why not
just do it?
I mean, this is something Ireally believe in.
Um, you know, while I wasworking in the corporate world
at Airbnb, I had started.
Teaching already.
Um, and I've been, you know,with girls rock for about nine
years or so.

(15:54):
And so I kind of knew what I waswalking into, but it was also
just, um, you know, sayinggoodbye to something pretty big
in my life that took up, I don'tknow, a huge part of my life
walking away from the corporateworld and, you know, doing
mountain biking full time.
Um, but yeah, I mean, since I'veleft the corporate world and
taken this up, I'd say I have noregrets at all.

(16:15):
I absolutely love what I'm doingand I'm just inspired every day
by what I do.

Kush (16:19):
You are evidently touching and influencing people in a very
fundamental way.
And this is a great segue tohear a little bit about Girls
Rock, this organization that youjust mentioned.
So maybe turning this over toAlexis, can you tell us first,
who are and why did you foundGirls Rock.

(16:44):
And what does Girls Rock dotoday?

so my name is Alexis Morgan and I live in
Santa Cruz.
I was not technically thefounder of Girls Rock.
My friend, Jessica Klodnickifounded it when she was running
Bell Helmets.
And the idea was that she wouldShe wanted to get women together

(17:07):
to ride bikes, uh, and she wasjust starting out in her own
mountain biking journey and haddiscovered it and wanted to get
more women out there because shethought, um, it would be a way
for her to learn how to mountainbike.
she was right and she continuesto mountain bike today, but she

(17:30):
had to move away for work.
And so when she moved away, shehanded off the keys to the
organization to myself and to awoman named Julianne Klein.
And together with a bunch ofwomen who were involved in the
group already, we decided,really the way to keep this

(17:51):
going, When people, you know,inevitably move on and have
other things to do is to createa non profit so they would have
another life, um, beyond us.
And that's what we did in 2017.
And So the whole purpose ofGirls Rock is to provide rides
and resources to women andfemale identifying people.

(18:15):
and we, our core offering is amonthly social no drop ride
that's free.
Uh, it's hosted by various,businesses and Santa Cruz.
And what we do is we meet at thehost and it's usually a
restaurant, a brewery or a winetasting room.
And we meet there in themorning, we break out into

(18:38):
smaller groups by ride level,and then we go out to the trails
and we have a great time.
And when we come back to ourcars, we usually stick around
for a bit and socialize.
So that's what we do, and we'vebeen doing that for 10 years in
June, so we're really excitedthat it keeps going.

Kush (19:01):
Well, early congratulations on your upcoming
anniversary.
I was doing a little bit ofresearch this weekend for our
chat this morning, and Ihappened to chance upon this
lovely little video of a groupof you guys going out for a
ride.
And, the energy and theexcitement was contagious.

(19:24):
I am wondering If you've had acouple of moments recently where
you felt, aha, this is why I dowhat I do.
It could be where perhaps youfelt transformed personally, or
it could be, one of yourstudents or fellow writers go

(19:48):
through this big elevatingchange.
Would love for you to share.

so many moments where I'm reminded of,
uh, why we do what we do.
Um, I can't even count thenumber of times I've said to
myself, well, that was totallyworth it.
And usually the scenarioinvolves me guiding a group of
women and there's somebody Who'svery quiet and they're in the

(20:20):
back and they said they were notsure that this was right for
them and then by the end of theride they're smiling and they're
giving people high fives andthey are totally engaged.
And, um, participating with, uh,with the rest of the group.

(20:43):
So I just, I like to see peoplebrought along and realize that,
yes, this is for them.
Uh, the sport isn't necessarilyabout, getting rad and going
fast Be loud and gnarly, um, it,it's perfectly fine to just
ride, uh, off road in the dirtand enjoy the trees and the blue

(21:07):
sky and hear the birds and bethat kind of rider too.
So,

Kush (21:12):
Hang on.
So can, can just anybody likeshow up if they are female
identified and they areinterested in mountain biking?
What is like the, uh, like ifsomebody is listening to this
podcast, it gets inspired.
Can they just go to yourwebsite, sign up for a ride?
Uh, do they need to have amountain bike with them?
Do they need to pay something?

(21:33):
Like how does, how does just anaverage person, uh, engage with

It's completely free to register and
show up.
Uh, we do ask that you bring amountain bike, uh, but we do
point people to area shops andbrands that demo bikes, so you
don't have to own it, just bringit.
Um, to the ride and you'll befine.
So, uh, your mountain bike, yourhelmets, and, uh, some water,

(22:00):
and we provide basically therest, a guide to make sure that
you get home safely, and, um,we'll make sure you have a good
time out there on the trails.

Kush (22:10):
Sounds very enticing.
I, I'm sure like when I startedmountain biking, this was such a
big question, Mark, like how do,how do I get started?
You know, I was just askingquestions around and I finally
ponied up the money and this wasduring COVID.
I got myself a mountain bikeand, you know, took some steps
and.
It was always a little scary,you know, going out and learning

(22:30):
things on my own.
So the fact that you providethis platform and this community
where people can just, uh, comein and learn from others, I
think it's a gift.
So it's a gift to the community.
Another organization that isvery cool in our midst, it's
called Morca.
we have the founder of Morkahere.
Lisa, are you the founder ofMorka?

(22:51):
What's your engagement withMorka?
What is Morka and who, who areyou?

so Mark is the Monterey Off Road Cycling
Association.
I'm not the founder.
I'm the current president in my3rd year.
I think I'm the first femalepresident.
I'm looking over at Henriettabecause she's been on the board
for a couple of decades.
and the year that I joined, wewent to a majority of women at

(23:16):
that time on the board.
So four out of seven, I thinkwe're currently at three out of
seven, but it changed thedynamics quite a bit in terms of
representation.
And the organization that's inMonterey County and there's
probably three things that wespend our time on.
It's a fully nonprofit volunteerled organization, excuse me.

(23:39):
And 1 of them, this is a cultureof mountain biking is to be a
community and nature minded andto give back.
So we actually groom, maintain,repair and create trails.
With full cooperation andblessing of the land managers,
and we represent the mountainbiking community in the area

(24:01):
when we have the input from themright for that.
So, many, many, many volunteerhours throughout every week go
to trail maintenance and trailwork.
And that's maybe one of thethings that I think people who
don't mountain bike don'trealize because a lot of times
when we're working in trailsystems, they're multi use trail
systems, like they are in ourlocal area, right?

(24:24):
It's for hiking, it's forequestrians, um, runners, as
well as biking.
It's all multi use and we're notdoing it so that just bikes can
be on the trail.
It's got to be open to everyoneon the trail.
And so we're also promoting aculture of You know, like
mutually greet people andwelcome them and, uh, oftentimes

(24:46):
when the, when the land managerswant help with trail systems and
local stuff, you don't see hikergroups showing up to help that
you don't see equestrian groupsshowing up to help that they
don't rally around in acommunity.
The way in mountain bikers willshow up and give their blood,
sweat and tears and their freetime to maintain trails for
everyone to be on.

(25:06):
I know Alexis has sore forearmstoday from working on creating a
new trail this past weekend.
Um, so that's one of the mainthings we do in the Monterey
County.
We also lead free rides monthly,and we break it out by beginner,
intermediate, and advancedgroups.
And it's the same concept asGirls Rock, except that it's co
ed.
But we have the leader, and wehave the sweep.

(25:29):
We make sure to cater towardkeeping the group together.
Everybody's got to have fun.
Everybody's got to feel safe.
They've got to come back in 1piece.
In fact, not just come back in 1piece, but come back, looking
forward to signing up for thenext 1.
That's the ultimate goal.
Um, so that's the 2nd thing wefocus on.
And then the 3rd thing is reallyon exploring new opportunities

(25:50):
for relationships with localland managers so that we can
expand access to some of these.
Public lands or even privatelands, um, just based on good
reputation and good partnershipwith land managers and with the
community.

Kush (26:03):
so many good gems you share that I want to pick on a
little bit.
One of the points I can agreemore is I, feel that the
adventure sports communities,the niche ones, we have to work
double as hard to claim ourspace and not just claim our
space, but maybe extend thathandshake.

(26:24):
even further out to demonstratethat the work we're doing to
protect access and maintainthese systems, they improve
things for everybody, not justfor these, uh, obscure, uh, you
know, thrill seekers, assometimes, uh, these, these
sports are labeled as.

(26:44):
One is of course, thank you for,for all the things you do.
One thing I noticed is, forexample, I live in San Francisco
and I, I like to ride aroundhere a little bit.
I find that Marin County, justnorth of us, which is ostensibly
the, uh, the birthplace ofmountain biking has so many

(27:04):
single tracks that are closed,right?
We, we find that, you know, youcan hike there.
You can even ride your horsesthere.
But you can't ride mountainbike.
So I'm wondering why, why didthat happen and what are
organizations such as yoursdoing to maybe reclaim, uh,

(27:25):
trails that are either closedoff or not available to mountain
bikers and bring them back intoplay.
it

to others, but at a high level, um, there
are at least two main kind ofchallenges when it comes to
mountain bike access.
One of those is The speeddifferential, meaning when a
mountain biker comes down atrail and suddenly comes upon a
hiker, that speed difference canbe quite startling.

(27:55):
Right?
And so if you don't have areally good etiquette, uh, that
we advocate, like having a bellthat people can hear you coming
and that bell doesn't mean youhear me.
So get out of the way.
That bell just means I don'twant to scare you.
And when I do come up to you,I'm going to pass you slowly.
I'm going to say hi.
I'm going to be nice.
Right?
So some of that comes down toculture.

(28:15):
Horses are, you know, preyanimals.
Uh, they're flight based.
And so everything scares them.
And that also comes down toetiquette.
When you approach a horse on abike, don't assume that the
horse is comfortable with abicycle and look to the rider to
tell you what to do.
Right?
And so a lot of theseorganizations like Morica.

(28:36):
And Girls Rock and many otherseducate the writing community on
how to be a good and responsiblepartner in the community so that
you don't scare and evenunintentionally scare or
endanger someone else.
So that's 1 thing.
And we make a lot of inroadswith land managers when we have

(28:56):
official policies that we'resharing and socializing and
putting out there.
And not just that, but weourselves are ambassadors for.
for listening.
Um, the other thing is thatmountain biking can, I mean,
really hike, I would arguehorses as well, um, contribute,
can contribute to a lot oferosion, depending on how the
trail system was built.

(29:17):
Okay.
And so it can be quitechallenging if, especially if
you're not a mountain biker andyou don't really understand.
Um, what does and doesn't causeerosion on a trail from a
bicycle any more than, say, ahiker or an equestrian?
I think mountain bikers ormountain bikes get a bad rap for

(29:38):
some of that, that they don'tnecessarily cause.
So that also comes not withjust, hey, we have a bad
reputation, let me change yourmind.
That comes with going and beingthe first one to reach your hand
forward, right?
And joining the conservationgroups and preservation groups
for nature.
and being a part of the solutionand, you know, standing out
front with that.
and I do see minds slowly beingchanged.

(30:00):
I just, uh, you know, like.
The Bureau of Land Managementjust made a policy where,
depending on, you know, thelocal land manager, e bikes are
allowed, certain classes of ebikes are allowed, which was
something that, you know, wasconsidered both of those
challenges.
One is the extra potential speedof an e bike and also the extra
weight of an e bike, potentiallycausing more erosion, right?

(30:22):
A lot of these maybe aremisconceptions.
They come down to how the rideruses them, how the individual
uses them.
So it comes down to educationand relationship building in a
lot of cases, but I'm sure notin all cases.
And Alexis and Henrietta havelike probably more history on it
than I do.
you know, these trails, toLisa's point, are very multi
use.
And so a lot of times, you know,there are different user groups

(30:44):
that have differentmisconceptions, right, among
different groups.
And so Silicon Valley MountainBikers is actually going to be
doing an event in June, wheremountain bikers are going to
work with equestrians.
We're going to have horses outthere and we're going to be
handing out bike bells.
And so the idea is that mountainbikers can work with
equestrians.

(31:04):
Um, you know, we can providebike bells to mountain bikers so
that they can, you know, have a,you know, nice ring when they're
coming down the hill andequestrians can be aware, right,
that a mountain biker is coming.
And just some etiquette and sometips to mountain bikers that,
you know, a human's voice isactually very calming to a
horse.
So, um, you know, to educatemountain bikers to let them know

(31:27):
when you're coming down thetrail and you see a horse, Um,
you know, if you just speak, youknow, instead of the horse
seeing.
You as a machine with a helmeton a machine, if they hear your
voice, Calms them.
And you know, this kind ofworking together mountain bikers
along with equestrians will, um,I think will do a lot for the
community.

Kush (31:47):
Sure, I think what you're doing is so important because
the education goes both ways,you know, it's not just
educating other user groups,lane managers, it's also
educating us ourselves on how weneed to exercise proper
etiquette and you're right,horses are skittish.
Lisa, going back to you, anotherthing that I wanted to ask you

(32:09):
is something pretty important.
You talked about how once youjoined the board and maybe at
that time or over the, over timerecently, the, the gender
Dynamic shifted, right?
So now maybe the representationof a female identifying writers.

(32:31):
improved for your org.
How has that shifted the workthat you do and how has that
shifted the relationships youhave with, uh, again, these
organizations, land managers, etcetera, that allow us to keep
playing.

Yeah, I'm, I might let Henrietta add some
things on, but it, it certainly.
has made a difference in termsof, at least on the board, um,
personality wise, the way womencollaborate can be different
from the way men collaborate.
And so I do feel like I observedmore kind of creative

(33:13):
collaboration.
Um, and in working with landmanagers and other organizations
now, I find that We're workingmore directly with some of the
women in those organizations,like some of the major rangers
in the Fort Ord NationalMonument, um, our relationships
with Girls Rock, for instance,things that I don't think we're

(33:36):
nearly as prominent.
They were more of a 1 boardmember had a relationship, but
now it's more of theorganization has these bigger
relationships.
And then, in terms of attractingwriting community.
I noticed that it went fromprobably mostly women only in
the beginner group to now Iusually have at least half my

(33:59):
group and intermediate is women.
I usually see women joining theadvanced group.
That's quite common.
So I think the representationmatters and helps as well as far
as growing the community.
And, yeah, I, I would like tosee personally more diversity in
terms of ethnicity, you know,um, more underserved communities

(34:23):
coming forward and joining andbeing part and having a voice at
the table.
I see that as definitelysomething that more guys working
on.
I know that something girls rockworks on that.
It matters a lot to have thatdiversity and inclusion in the
community.
So I, I do see a shift in thetides, at least at I'll just add
to that and kudos to Lisa, she'san excellent project manager as

(34:46):
her, um, her job, but she's alsoa wonderful project manager as a
board member and someone whoreally is, has enabled us to
reach out to certain groups thatwere a little leery of Morca.
Because of certain personalitiesare viewed as sort of this male
dominated and in a small groupof guys sort of in charge, now

(35:07):
she has reached out in a varietyof different ways, to other
groups, some of which are moreof people of color, uh, women's
groups, that type of thing.
So.
You know, kudos to Lisa forreally changing some of those
dynamics.
Also, if I might add just to theother question you asked, Morca
as well as another group I'minvolved with called Fort
Friends, Fort Ord RecreationTrails Friends.

(35:30):
Morca and Fort Friends cosponsors the Safe Passages
Program, and that is somethingthat the Bureau of Land
Management started, but it is,um, encourages people to have
good trail etiquette Encouragespeople to view a video of how,
whether you're a, uh, if you'rean equestrian, if you're a
mountain biker, if you're ahiker, what are the do's and

(35:52):
don'ts on the trail andencourages a, sort of a mindset
of mutual respect andconsideration.
And we co sponsor this by anyonewho takes a little quiz, watches
a video and takes a little quiz.
has a, uh, free opportunity tobecome part of a monthly drawing
where the winner gets a 50 giftcertificate to REI.

(36:13):
So, Morca and Fort Friends cosponsor that by paying 300 each
to the program to, to, um, havethe 12 months of the 50 gift
certificates for people wholearn about safe passages.
So, everyone feels safe andsecure and having fun on the
trails.

Kush (36:33):
Henry, thanks for, thanks for sharing that.
Uh, we will definitely includeinformation about this program
in the show notes for this.
So more and more people are, uh,Made aware and maybe apply for
this program and, I thinkgetting the word out is so
important and.
The work that you and Lisa andothers do, it's evident how

(36:55):
powerful that work is in, in, ina three dimensional way.
You know, uh, going back to you,Lisa, uh, switching gears kind
of narrowing down the focus fromyour work as an advocate and,
uh, as a community builder to,to your journey as an athlete.
I believe you grew up writing.

(37:17):
dirt bikes

Yes.

Kush (37:18):
and skateboards.

Yes.

Kush (37:22):
Yeah.
Awesome.
Awesome.
what I was going to ask is,those are not spaces, you know,
where we again, tend to see themplay and more so, you know,
again, maybe going back a coupleof decades, was it a big deal
for you to discover this worldof women mountain bikers?

Yeah.
So that was, that was a verydifferent moment for me
discovering women mountainbikers because I definitely grew
up not ever doing organizedsports.
They were always solo sports.
They were always go out on myskateboard.
And I had two brothers that werea year and a half younger than
I.
And so we were often to trio,and riding a lot of dirt bikes,

(38:04):
doing a lot of motorcycling, andthey were all solo sports.
And they were generally in maledominated spaces.
Pretty much every sport I'vedone has been male dominated.
And I'm used to it.
I grew up with brothers.
I grew up with lots of, youknow, that was what my family
was.
That's what our friends were.
And the first girls rock ridethat I did, it was, it's very

(38:28):
unlike me to sign up for somelarge event with a lot of people
in one shot.
I'm an introvert.
I'm, I'm not shy at all, but Iam an introvert.
So I'm, Not going to go forlarge crowds.
It's not going to be my go to,but I really wanted to, how am I
going to learn the trail system?
How am I going to even knowwhat's out there?

(38:49):
And one of the things I'dalready learned from Morca rides
as a, you know, just an attendeewas I learn a lot just by being
around other riders.
You learn etiquette that youdon't know by just reading or
figuring it out online.
So when I went to this firstgirls rock ride, I was like,
there's a, there's a lot ofreasons for me to do this.
Let's show up.
And yes, it's a very large crowdbecause it seems like it's more

(39:13):
than a hundred riders oftentimeswhen we're there, especially pre
pandemic.
and I'm tend to be quiet anddon't open up quickly.
Um, but I'm there to ride andthat's what I'm used to doing.
Right.
I'm there to do my sport.
Um, They couldn't help but likemelt that outer shell on the
ride like much as I tried to belike I'm here to ride Right.

(39:34):
It was like hey, you know, whatwhat kind of bike is that or I
like your helmet or so and I wasjust kind Of like, okay, you're
all so nice You know likehalfway through the ride I'm
finding myself chit chattingwith them and friendly and going
home with a couple of numbers ofthem people, which like the
numbers on my phone were likemaybe 10 and they are family

(39:56):
members, you know?
and so I really, at the end ofthat ride on the drive home was
like, Wow, I have not been in aspace like this before, ever,
and it made a huge impact on meso much so that by the time you
guys came around and did yourJanuary ride in Fort Ord, I
signed up to be a guide becauseI was like, I know the trail

(40:17):
system.
I can help that way.
And if I could make anydifference, have any other women
have the same experience wherethey show up and realize.
This is supportive.
It's uplifting.
It's friendly.
It's infectious.
No matter how grumpy you are,you're probably going to smile.
Um, and you're just going towant to come back again.
So yeah, I immediately wanted tovolunteer and be part of it

(40:38):
because that was such adifferent experience for me.
And I just wanted to put in aplug for what Alexis does for
these rides, um, you know, Lisamentioned, you know, over a
hundred women or close to ahundred women show for each ride
and these rides are allcompletely volunteer run.
So, um, what that means is, youknow, from set up to taking

(40:58):
people out on the trails,everybody's a volunteer and we
do this every month.

Kush (41:02):
Lisa, thank you for sharing that.
I was getting goosebumps hearingyour story and the part about
being a volunteer.
I think it cannot be overstated.
I think sometimes when we dosomething without the
expectation of a reciprocalreturn, it touches us deeply.

(41:22):
And we yeah, we give in a waythat.
I think infects the person who'sreceiving it.
And I think they in turn try todo their best with the gift that
they get, they're gettingAlexis.
Let me ask you this.
So in addition to what Lisa justshared, how important is the
support of women in creating apositive and encouraging

(41:49):
environment for other women forlearning and growing?
and growing in this sometimesscary, sometimes obscure world
of mountain biking.

my personal experience, I've noticed that
women tend to be morecomfortable and more
forthcoming, um, moreextroverted, more vocal when
they're in a single genderatmosphere.
when I was in high school, Idecided to go to a girl's

(42:21):
school, so I voluntarily didthat on my own and it was a
great experience.
I observed that, uh, the girls.
Seemed more likely to speak upin class to volunteer to be the
one solving the problems andmath class, to be presenting in

(42:43):
history class and so on.
And so when, as I've gottenolder, I've sought out, um, all
women, uh, spaces when possible.
And so I was really happy to bepart of.
Girls rock.
When my friend started these,um, all women's rides, I thought
how refreshing, you know, I'mgoing to get to meet women who

(43:04):
were riding at my level and Iwon't have to be chasing, uh,
these boys around the trails.
And that's exactly whathappened.
So I think you're, you're justmore likely to find people who
are riding at your level andtherefore you're more likely to
have more fun.
And I think that women tend tobe supportive of one another

(43:27):
when they're trying to tacklefeatures.
and they give each other thetime and space to do that.
Uh, they are, they like tocommunicate with one another
and, uh, ask questions.
So it's really just providesmore opportunity for learning
and makes people have a verypositive experience.

Kush (43:48):
Such an excellent point where, yes, where if you level
the playing field, then somebodywho might be a minority in a
different, in the same space cansuddenly find their vocal cords.
and, uh, you know, grow inconfidence and grow in courage.
Any cool story that you canthink of where you found this

(44:15):
new mountain biker come to yourorganization and transform from,
let's say, you know, a littlemouse into a tiger.

I have a couple of favorite examples.
Um, Fife, who's not here, butwho's part of the class of
instructors that, uh, theseladies, um, all became certified
together.
Uh, she started with our groupwhen she was a graduate student
and she hadn't mountain biked,but she was a climber.

(44:46):
So outdoorsy, but, um, new tomountain biking.
And I remember her showing upand, you know, barely owning,
um, a bike.
I think maybe she was borrowinga bike and now look at her just,
you know, a few short yearslater, she's, uh, able to
instruct people on fundamentals.

(45:07):
Uh, Emma from, um, Santa Cruzmountain trail stewardship is
another example like that.
Same thing.
She's showing up.
Hadn't been mountain biking fornow.
She is involved at the highestlevel of that organization, um,
working full time to expandtrail access in our area.

(45:28):
So, I'm really happy to have,um, to see these women grow into
those positions.
And I think that, um, our groupwas pretty instrumental in that.

Kush (45:41):
This is a theme that I hope we have time to explore a
bit further on some of these.
character, and maybe even careerbuilding aspects of mountain
biking.
Talking of career, we havesomebody here, I believe, who
besides being an extraordinarymountain biker is also a

(46:03):
firefighter.

Hi, Kush.

Kush (46:05):
Jenna.
Hi, Jenna.
Yes.
Uh, please tell us who you areand what do you do?

I am an avid mountain biker, but I have also
spent 24 plus years working inthe local Bay Area Fire
Department through all ranks.
I started as a firefighter EMT,shortly thereafter got a
paramedic license, and six yearslater I became an engineer
paramedic, so I was driving thefire engines and trucks.

(46:32):
Uh, 16 years into my career, Ibecame a fire captain, and then
a few years ago I promoted fromcaptain to battalion chief.
So I run the EMS and trainingdivision for, for this fire
department.

Kush (46:48):
Wow.
That is amazing are there anyparallels between your
experience as a firefighter?
and your passion for mountainbiking.

I do believe that there's a lot of crossover,
just the perseverance that'srequired, the determination.
Um, for me, I have spent a lotof time teaching and coaching a
whole bunch of different thingsfrom, uh, rock climbing.
I do that too.
I know that's one of yourfavorites.
Um, from climbing to adaptivesnow sports to field hockey,

(47:22):
soccer, Um, and a lot of, a lotof teaching in fire service.
I'm currently run the trainingdivision, but in every rank that
I was in, I have spent a lot oftime teaching those, those
around me, just, I, it's part ofa passion.
I come from a long.
lineage of teachers.
My mom's a teacher, my grandma,my uncle, whatever.
So I just ended up with the bestof both worlds by having this

(47:45):
awesome career in the fireservice where I get paid to help
people.
It's ridiculous.
it really is just fortunate tohave that honor and privilege.
Um, and then it translates intomountain biking.
I spent a lot of years riding bymyself.
Um, it's this thing that I'vebeen doing since I was 14.
I've done a lot of other stufffrom division one field hockey

(48:05):
to, um, all those other sportsthat I mentioned.
Um, and then when I moved toAptos in 2020, I saw that Girls
Rock had a bike mechanictrailside clinic going on and I
signed up and I was so excitedbecause it was COVID, right?
So they weren't doing the ridesinitially, and then they were
doing the rides.
With restrictions, you know,masks and how to have your

(48:26):
vaccination and, and that kindof stuff.
But the first thing that I gotto do was the trail side
mechanic clinic.
And even partway through thatday, um, I realized that I had
some things to give there too.
So I started helping the leadinstructor and, um, you know,
helping to teach some of theother students in the class.
Cause, uh, let's see if Istarted when I was 14 and I hit,

(48:49):
hit 50 years old last week.
Um, so I've been riding for 35years and you have a lot of
incidents on the trail wherenecessity is the mother of
invention and you better learnhow to fix your chain and you
better figure out how to, how tomake a bike go without a
derailleur on it.
And, you know, some of the fixedflat tires and all the, all the
other things.

(49:11):
So it's, it's make it happen.
Sometimes you just have to makeit happen.
And that's what firefighters do.
We roll around in those big redthings, the engine, the truck,
and there's a whole bunch oftools on it and medical gear.
Um, so I've, I've joked a lotabout being a guide with girls
rock, who's always lost.
Cause I don't, I don't usuallylead.
I usually sweep I'm in the backand I, I say that Alexis lets me

(49:33):
do it because I have a first aidkit and I have tools and I know
how to use them both.

Kush (49:39):
I love that answer and almost a little unexpected in a
way because I did not thinkabout The aspect of being
resourceful and knowing how to,fix your, more than fix your own
flat, fix your own bike has inparallel with being able to be
resourceful with, you know, withfirefighting.

(50:02):
I know nothing aboutfirefighting, but I can see that
you have to deal with some ofthe most unexpected of
situations, you know, fromsomething maybe as, you know, I
don't know, ho hum, as rescuinga cat stuck on a tree.
To situations which are, youknow, let's say way more, uh,

(50:23):
serious with human life and thatability to be ready is such an
asset and, you know, again,talking of, you know, Just
tactics, being able to know howto fix one's bicycle is so
important.
I mean, I can, you know, fix myflat and I can, you know, lube

(50:43):
my chain.
But one of the things that'skeeping me from planning this
bike packing trip to Guatemalais that I haven't yet learned
some of the more involved kindsof things with like, you know,
Repairing brakes and changingchains and you know finding
things on the side of the roadto fix my bike up in the

(51:04):
mountains.
But anyway, another thing I wantto talk to you about is again
maybe this is Because you as anathlete, you are not sitting at
a desk like some of us, youknow, when you're not on the
trails, you are, you know, youare dousing fires.
So what have been maybe some ofyour hard won strategies to

(51:26):
staying fit?
To staying healthy and for beingable to stay fueled so you can
give your best whether at workor whether on an epic ride.

I will start with food, um, because in the
fire service, since you said youdon't know anything about the
fire department, um, in fireservice, uh, we're kind of a
secondary family and cookingmeals is something that has
transformed over the years thatI've been in.
When I started, we often had twoloaves of bread and two bottles
of soda and two pitchers ofjuice.

(52:03):
And, um, we had oftentimespretty heavy meals, but in the
last 24 years, we've reallytransitioned.
There's water on the table andsometimes like, uh, oh, some of
the, like LaCroix or the, wecall them work beers because you
can't have beer at work.
Um, but the like, waters andsome of those kinds of things,

(52:24):
electrolytes.
Much more lean meats and lots ofvegetables and that kind of
thing.
And, and we do that typicallyvery much as a, as a family,
but, uh, we'll rotate who'scooking and everybody puts in
their, their money for the meal.
And one crew will go to thegrocery store and shop together.
We often get a question of whydoes everybody have to come

(52:45):
together?
How come you can't just sendone?
And that's because we'll put ourgroceries down and.
Run to the rig and respond to a911 call if one comes in while
we're taking care of that task.
Uh, so we take it prettyseriously, um, feeding the crews
and having adequate nutritionand making sure that we are
consuming things that are goodfor us, that fuel us for the

(53:06):
incidents that we run on.
And we put out fires, we runmedical, medical calls, hazmat
incidents, confined space, lotsof auto accidents, um, and you
have to be just, you have to beready to go at, at any given
time.
Um, so eating the right thingsto keep your body and mind
ready, ready for that space andplace.

Kush (53:26):
actually on that note, this is a question I would love
to kind of pick everybody'sbrain on if, if they have had
any, uh, important lesson toshare.
So yeah, so the nutrition, thefood is good.
Um, any supplements that havehelped you or have helped
others.
And then finally, yeah.
Any, any, um, mobility or crosstraining regimen that you

(53:51):
advocate, uh, to stay again ingood shape.

I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily an
expert on supplements.
Um, I definitely am a big fan ofgood quality, nutritious food.
and trying to get the vastmajority of my nutrition
through, through that, um,exercise, I, I was very heavily
involved in CrossFit for anumber of years, and, uh, I come

(54:15):
in a five, two buck and aquarter package, um, and it's
quite unlikely, and sometimespeople even have a hard time
believing what they're seeingwhen I pop, when Off of a fire
apparatus in my full gear.
And they're like, really, thisis, this is nuts.
This, this person is prettycompact.
Um, and in order to be able todo that, the high intensity,

(54:36):
constantly varied, functionalfitness in CrossFit is just a
brand.
There's a lot of different waysto get that, that kind of thing
that, um, Moving weight becausefire gear is very heavy.
When I put on my fire gear, theboots, the structure gear, the
helmet and the SCBA is almost 70pounds of gear and then you pick
up tools and equipment.

(54:56):
So, chainsaw, rescue saw, or aladder, um, typical chainsaw or
rescue saw is approximately 30pounds.
Uh, 24 foot extension ladder offof a fire engine is 71 pounds.
Um, so you really have to beable to move inside your gear
and carry equipment in order tocarry out the objectives at any
fire scene.

(55:17):
Um, you you mentioned that I'mnot typically at a desk, but I
am currently in a position whereI'm at a desk.
So I have to be a little bitmore intentional about my
fitness off duty.
So the mountain biking isactually really excellent for,
um, having the kind of strengthand stamina that's, that's
needed for the job as well.
Yeah.
But I do supplement that withweight training and some rowing

(55:40):
on rainy, muddy days here.
I can either go to Fort Ord withLisa or I can hop on my rowing
machine and, and get some, uh,additional strength training,
fitness.
And then of course the mobilityis a really big issue.
So my best way of finding that,um, Mobility piece is to do a
little bit of yoga, and I thinkwe have that in common too, I

(56:00):
think that you have, I, thatdefinitely is a great way to
help the body recover andstretch out and find the, the
mobility that somewhat decreaseswhen you're throwing around
heavy weights.

Kush (56:14):
Yeah.
you know, I, I agree.
Like many of, maybe some of uson the call.
Yeah.
I also sit at my desk a lot whenI'm doing this podcast.
So it's important to, uh, to beintentional about the cross
training and the mobility andany other like high intensity
exercises.

(56:34):
Moving on to being able tocontinue doing sports and
athletics and stay healthy, Iwant to ask Henry this question.
Henry, you have been an athletefor the greater part of your
life, right?
You, I think you have beensurfing and you've been

(56:56):
snowboarding.
And I am guessing that you'vehad your fair share of injuries
and setbacks.
What's been the most significantsetback that you have had to
fight back from?

I'm an emotional person, so just let me
cry for a second.
Oh, I was.
I'm, first of all, I'm not anational ranked, even though I
did win nationals one year atthe beginning, but, um, I'm not
a national ranked athlete, likemany of the people who've been
on your podcast, but I was apretty good cross country racer

(57:32):
for several years, and I'd winlocal races, I'd win sea otter
classic, which is a pretty bigregional race, actually people
come from all over the country.
So I was, you know, a very goodclimber.
Kind of a, a scaredy cat goingdownhill, but I did one year in
2010.
I won sea otter the next year Iwas dead last.

(57:54):
and I was dead last because Ididn't realize it that I had
been dealing with atrialfibrillation for several months
and couldn't quite understandwhy some weeks I'm just on fire
and other weeks I could barelymake it up the hill.
And it turns out I was cartedaway in an ambulance at the
finish line of that 2011 SeaOtter Classic.

(58:15):
not able, you know, with a veryIrregular heart and passing out
and not being able to even getup.
Um, there's a funny story.
I, you can edit this out, but Ihave to say it just because I
think these folks will get alaugh.
I'm on the ground.
We had just taken, we meaningmany folks in our Morca group
had taken wilderness first aidand my one excitable friend is,

(58:39):
um, trying to find a pulse tomake sure I'm okay.
And I, I can't find a pulse, youknow, and, and I remember laying
there I am conscious.
I'm speaking.
Do not start CPR.
Anyway,

Kush (58:57):
That's crazy.
Yeah.

they carted away, you know, in an ambulance
and up in the hospital and thatstarted a whole saga of You
know, medications, feeling very,um, depressed, very suicidal in
that my whole identity and worldand social life and everything
that was wrapped around ridingmountain bikes and stuff at that
time was gone.

(59:19):
And I remember hearing a guy asthey were sort of carting me off
in the ambulance saying, oh, herracing career is over.
And I remember thinking, no, itisn't.
But he was right.
It was at least that type ofracing.
In many tears, two heartsurgeries later, um, you know,
coming back slowly.
I did start racing again at the,and this was when I was 57.
This hap, this happened when Iwas 65.

(59:41):
I thought, you know, I can doEnduro because at that time I
had taken more clinics.
I had gotten more proficientgoing downhill.
And the Enduro racing is, youknow, roughly 15 miles, maybe
lots of different hills andDales, but you're not, Racing
the entire time you're onlyraced racing the four mostly
downhill time segments and youcan take your time going from

(01:00:04):
point A to B to C to D.
And so I just fell in love withthat immediately, especially the
second, um, At least this pastyear.
The second, you have a downhill,the classic downhill course at
the Sea Otter Classic.
Dual slalom, which is built justfor those four days.
And then a few trails at theFort Ord National Monument are
the course and then a long rideback.

(01:00:25):
But again, you're not racingback.
You're just getting back.
So that really evolved intodoing that.
ever since, since I was 65, Idon't travel all around the
world and the country andwhatever to do it.
It's, but it also has justopened up such a wonderful world
of traveling and going toDowneyville and Mount Huff and

(01:00:45):
Lake Tahoe and all thesewonderful places where now I'm a
relatively slow climber.
I do have to be aware of myheart rate, but I'm a much more
proficient Downhiller.
And um, it just brings me atremendous amount of joy to do
that.
And just this year, to celebratemy 70th birthday, because I
volunteer a lot at Sea Otter, Ihaven't been able to race the

(01:01:06):
dual slalom, but I said I'm notvolunteering as much, and I
raced the dual slalom, which Ijust absolutely love, and had a
lot of fun, and Jenna and I werewith it.
in that together.
We actually had to race for thebronze medal and she won.

Kush (01:01:23):
What a beautiful and powerful story, Henry.
And I was actually alsomarveling that you were able to
share, uh, you were recountingthis medical catastrophe that
you went through and you weresmiling and, and.
You know, just almost gigglingthe whole time.
I think it just shows your, yourability to take maybe what has

(01:01:48):
come your way with this level ofpoise and demeanor.
One thing I want to make sure Iunderstand is you said earlier
that you were maybe not asproficient at going downhill.
You were maybe better atclimbing up hills.
Then this episode happened andit changed, let's say your

(01:02:12):
physicality.
And you then started taking partin races and events where you
had to specialize in goingdownhill.
Is that, is that correct?
Because I'm trying tounderstand, did you have to
reorient your, modern biking soyou could cope with this?

(01:02:33):
Medical event.
Mm

Jessica & Friends (01:02:34):
I won't say I, it, your question makes it
sounds like I became thisdownhill racer and that's not
the case, but I did become amuch more proficient Downhill,
or maybe not racing, but justbeing able to go in areas such
as various places in Utah for my65th birthday, a bucket list
event was doing the, um, not thewhole enchilada, but the

(01:02:58):
porcupine, uh, What is thatcalled?
Porcupine Rim Trail, which is,has a lot of very technical
sections and it's a big deal.
I wasn't able to do the wholeenchilada because the snow level
was 8, 000 feet at that time andthe whole enchilada goes to 11,
000.
So the shuttle only allowed usto go up, but that was a really
big deal.
I remember hooting and holleringat the end of that.

(01:03:18):
And that has some very technicalsections of, you know, coming
through that final little, youknow.
tunnel.
It's like, I'm 65 years old andI just did this and just feeling
very happy.
But the way I was able to dothat was taking clinics and,
with my quote unquote racingcareer over the cross country
racing, I actually saw sort of ahealer type lady.

(01:03:40):
And she said, what is the giftin this?
And my response is this is not agift at all.
I've lost, you know, what I liketo do.
I've lost my social group.
I've lost this.
I've lost that, you know, it wasnot a gift.
But then I started thinkingabout maybe now I can enjoy,
instead of being in trainingmode, and I have to do a certain
ride in

Kush (01:04:00):
mm

level of effort, I can literally go out
and smell the flowers.
I can start aiding beginnergroups.
I can start giving back to thecommunity.
I feel I'm kind of a naturalteacher.
but to be a halfway decentteacher, I needed to get better
skills.
So I know that I'm properlymaking suggestions and

(01:04:22):
recommendations to people.
That has evolved.
And I wanted to do a kudos to.
Alexis and Girls Rock.
They are the ones who reallyhelped co fund all of us taking
this, the BICP certifiedmountain bike instructor course.
They've also had a ride guideseminars and, um, first aid

(01:04:46):
clinics and really helping usbecome not just folks who are
taking women out for rides, butfolks who know what we're doing.
When we're taking women out forrides, and it's been especially
wonderful to become a certifiedinstructor, um, learning.
I had a few bad habits andreally, um, being able to pass
on that knowledge.
So, I just wanted to add that onto some of your previous

(01:05:09):
questions that Girls Rock hasinvested in its guides and its
volunteers by really enabling usto be, um, you know, literally
it.
at some levels of pro level.
Um, so that's really neat.
So going back in terms of thosechallenges, um, I just had to
literally pivot in terms of howam I going to, um, use my

(01:05:30):
mountain biking skills and howam I going to become a better
mountain biker.
Because I can't just sort ofpower up the hill the way I used
to, I have to have bettertechnique.
So I have to really up mytechnical skills.
And, um, I remember justrecently Lisa and I were on this
one little trail segment.
It had some really tricky littleuphill.

(01:05:51):
Roots and things and I made itup it.
I was just so thrilled.
Um, and I did that partlybecause of technique, not that
I've become this, you know, realstrong person, but, you know,
the technique really makes adifference, um, and helping to
make up for the fact that I justdon't have the raw muscle power
to just power up something.
So that's pretty cool too.

Kush (01:06:12):
That was great.

want to make it super clear to the listeners
that this is Henry at 70, and onApril 1st, we're out in Soquel
Demonstration Forest, riding theflow trail, and she's hucking
off of jumps behind me on thetrail, like, like a teenager
would.
So she speaks as, She doesn'thave power and strength, but

(01:06:35):
this woman actually climbs hillsvery well.
And she is, she has a mastery oftechnique in her downhilling
that is astonishing for any age,not, not just a 70 year old
woman.
She's a powerhouse.
So I don't want that to be loston any of the listeners or you.

Kush (01:06:54):
Mm.
Thank you for jumping in thereand, uh, Jenna and, uh, yeah.
Making that point, abundantlyclear that yes, you know, you
are a.
power of force, Henry, andsorry, just to go back to that
point again, it sounds like youfound almost some kind of

(01:07:17):
liberation in your medical eventwhere you were freed up from
like, let's say the, uh, thepressure of competition to go
back and, and thrive in thefundamentals of the sport again,
where now, you know, so I justtake a funny analogy, you know,

(01:07:39):
you.
And in the surfing world, thereis this thing called free
surfing where, you know, youkind of take a break from
competition and you, then you gotravel, you surf on your
schedule, you know, you're notworried about like turns and
things you're doing.
It sounds like that's almostwhat happened to you.
You're like, wait a second,there are all these beautiful
places around the world that youwant to go mountain biking and
they suddenly opened up to you.

(01:08:00):
So I'm not going to say thatwhat happened to you was
something, you One would wishupon anybody else, but I think
there's like a really stronglesson here, which is sometimes,
you know, when like life closesone door, you know, it opens up,
uh, you know, another door.
what message do you have Henryfor older women, maybe older men

(01:08:21):
also, who might be hesitant totry mountain biking or let's say
other similar physicallydemanding And sometimes, yeah,
risk producing activities.

Probably the most important thing is the Take
a clinic with a knowledgeableinstructor because especially as
a beginner and an older beginnerwhere certain mistakes can break
your bones and you really don'twant that.
Um, we've been teaching our, ourwomen's fundamental skills for
the last almost year now throughGirls Rock and the city of Santa

(01:08:58):
Cruz.
And we've seen what the, thething I like to say is two
things.
One, um, you can teach an olddog new tricks because I am an I
am constantly learning newrefinements to technique just
through working with Lisa thelast few months on, we're co
teaching, uh, the part two ofour, our series, just wonderful

(01:09:22):
refinements and, and, like, wow,I didn't realize that.
And it just opened up a wholenew world in terms of a
technique called the rear wheellift, for example.
So that's really important is,uh, find a, a private coach,
find a clinic.
And learn how to do it properly.
Um, the other aspect is fromfear to fun.

(01:09:43):
If one does take a clinic andlearn it properly, and we've
seen this over and over again,thinking of one particular
person who is very fearful, tooka part, what are part one basic
fundamental clinics.
And, um, And just like, Oh myGod, this is so fun.
Why didn't I do this years ago?
And she was going through adivorce.
Her, we teased that her bike isher new boyfriend and she rides

(01:10:06):
every day.
And she's just, her whole lifehas been so enriched and
enlivened.
And this is someone in herfifties, um, you know, by.
By learning the mountain bikeand learning the mountain bike
properly that she isn't holdingon to the bike and it's taking
her for a ride that you'redancing with gravity.
You're dancing with the laws ofphysics.

(01:10:26):
I guess your dance partner andyou learn to become the lead.
Not not the one being taken fora ride.
You are directing that bike andyou dance together and make
beautiful music.
And in terms of one of yourquestions is for me.
And your thing is called theageless athlete.
When I'm on my bike, like on theflow trail and what Jenna was

(01:10:47):
describing, I'm not Henrietta,an age 70 woman.
I'm just this spirit.
I'm this, this out of bodyexperience almost where I did
grow up surfing.
So coming off these berms, it'slike banking off a wave.
I'm like a little dolphin, youknow, going over these spires I
just become a spirit and it'sthat feeling that it's worth the

(01:11:11):
two hours of climbing to getthere, you know, and hot and
whatever to, to have that, thatout of body experience where
we're not limited by our, ouridentities as you know, gender
and age and whatever, we're justbecome one with the trail and
it's beautiful.

Kush (01:11:28):
Your words move me the same way they are going to move
people listening to you talk.
Your metaphors are powerful.
And so is your energy andenthusiasm for the sport.
We are nearing the end of thisconversation.
I had one last question.
general to ask you guys, any ofyou can, um, take the mic, which

(01:11:50):
is, you guys have been athletesfor a long, long time.
You have been mountain biking.
You've also been doing othersports as well.
Whenever you do something for along time, you know, you hit.
mental plateaus.
I've hit those myself.
So any, any strategies that youhave found and learned from that

(01:12:12):
have helped you or have helpedothers you know about, shake
yourself up from those mentalplateaus.
And get back into, get back onthe trail with the, uh,
enthusiasm of Henry and the restof you.

Something that I came across when I was in
the middle of my grad schoolprogram was a program called
Mindful Badge, which was atrauma informed mindfulness,
program, um, 48 hour immersion.
And prior to going to that, Ihad.
I've been the kid in gradschool.
I was like when I opened, like,are you kidding me?
This is crazy.
Like, why are we wasting allthis time?

(01:12:51):
Um, but after having, like goingto some place specifically to
actually study and learn aboutmindfulness, I realized how
powerful it is, even if it's asshort as just taking a few deep
breaths before you startsomething.
Um, re reigning in thatwandering mind and it can be.

(01:13:14):
Powerful, whether it's calmingyourself down before an
emergency response, you'rerolling out the door on an
apparatus and you're going to acardiac arrest or a big fire or
something where you don't knowwhat you're anticipating, or
you're about to do a new featureon a trail, or you're about to

(01:13:34):
get up in front of a group ofpeople and teach them something,
you know, taking a few deepbreaths and, and really
breathing into, you know, Uh,your, your power as an
individual to impact others is away that I have, that I have
learned.
So I'm, I'm grateful for thatexperience because I've learned
to translate it not only from myprofessional work, but into a

(01:13:55):
lot of other things that I do onthe, on the side.
Yeah, I'd say for me, um, youknow, becoming a mountain bike
instructor has really helped mekind of overcome these mental
plateaus.
I think as Jenna mentioned, youknow, sometimes on the trail,
there are technical featuresthat seem scary and when you

(01:14:16):
teach somebody how to tacklethese things, it's kind of
teaching people, you know, Imean, there's a parallel to
life, right?
Um, you know, life, sometimesthere are things in life that
are scary.
you know, you, you look at thisfeature, you know, I, you know,
In my mind, I'd break down howam I going to show somebody a
technique, right?
You're breaking down, you know,how do you tackle If you have a

(01:14:39):
plan to how to tackle somethingscary, whether it be in life or
mountain biking, and justbreaking it down, um, you know,
looking at it, figuring out,having a plan how to tackle it.
Um, and the repetition, thinkingabout it, preparing yourself on
how you're going to tackle itand being able to successfully

(01:14:59):
tackle it.
Being around people that arethere to support you, um,
watching, watching somebodytackle it, that confidence is
absolutely infectious.
So, um, I think sometimes Ireach a plateau.
I watched Jenna clear it.
And you know, I'm like, Hey,Jenna did it.

(01:15:21):
I can do that.
So, you know, I think justsurrounding yourself with people
who push the envelope, um, helpsme, um, push through those
mental platforms.

Kush (01:15:34):
That makes so much sense.
Yeah.
Structure, repetition, and then,uh, you know, some good old peer
pressure can Can move mountainsor can take you over the
mountain, uh, whatever the casemight be.
Jenna, that point you made aboutI think mindfulness or yeah,

(01:15:55):
like any specific ways you doyour, uh, you know, your
breathing exercises.
is it like something like you'refollowing an app and you're
doing a certain number ofbreaths?
are you doing some sort ofbreath holds, some
diaphragmatic, uh, exercisesthere?
Like, how do you do that?
Like if somebody was to learn

there are some excellent apps out there.
Headspace, Insight Timer, Calm.
There's a, there's a bunch ofdifferent things that people can
access easily via theirsmartphone that are very
helpful.
And for me, my mind is so crazythat guided meditations are
really important.
And I tend to choose some thatare very short, you know, five

(01:16:34):
or 10 minutes of a guidedmeditation.
And I probably squeeze it in afew times a week, but if I am
even just in an intense orstressful kind of environment or
whatever is going on, then asimple like box breath of where
you're, you take a nice deepbreath in over four seconds,
hold it for four seconds, exhaleover four seconds and repeat

(01:16:58):
that.
That'll clear the mind andprepare the body well to do a
lot of different things.

Kush (01:17:05):
Yes.
I do a little bit of, uh,meditation myself and, uh, um, I
will admit that I don't alwayslook forward to it, but I always
enjoy the, uh, the headspace itputs me in afterwards.
Closing questions, you guys,mountain biking takes us to
these incredible places all overthe world.

(01:17:28):
And you guys obviously love thesport and are so good at it.
So I have two questions for samequestions, but for each of you,
first question, What is a dreammountain bike ride you can't
wait to go on at some point inthe not too distant future?

(01:17:48):
It could be anywhere.
The second is one word whichcaptures why you are so obsessed
with mountain biking.

I'll answer the easy low hanging fruit here.
I'll say it's joy is the oneword that captures, and it's the
comradery and the, the places wego.
Um, I do have a trip planned inAugust, uh, to Mendocino to a
demonstration forest up therethat I'm really looking forward
to.
for me, the word is flow thatembodies what makes me want to

(01:18:25):
get out there and ride my bike.
I'm also going on that retreatto Mendocino.
It's a multi day, um, thingwhere we stay in a rustic cabin
and then we ride in theRedwoods.
So I'm really looking forward tothat.
And I'd like to ride in Norway.
I've been there and I wasn'tmountain bike.
Well, I was mountain biking, butI did not mountain bike while I
was there.

(01:18:46):
And that was a missedopportunity.
That it looks pretty incredible.
I'm an instigator on that tripto Mendocino.
So yeah, it's a beautiful,magical place to be and to be
riding your bike.
And I'd say community is myword.

(01:19:06):
Um, because that mountain bikingis amazing.
The movement, experiencing themovements in your body and being
in that flow state, all that isamazing.
But then being able to talkabout it later with your buddies
and revel in those moments isthe best part.

(01:19:27):
I'd say for me, the word isempowerment.
Um, and, uh, really every ridewith these ladies is a dream
ride.
It really is.
So I can't think of anythingelse.
I was going to say flow, but ohno, great minds, great minds
think alike.
So how about, um, how aboutfreedom or free flow as a, as a

(01:19:50):
hybrid of the two, becausethat's really how I feel.
Um, in terms of a dream, I too,I'm going to the Mendocino
retreat, but also I, I wouldreally love to take a clinic in
Sedona.
And work on some of those realtechnical, rolly, rocky features
and that kind of environment.

(01:20:11):
I've been there twice, but onlyfor like a couple hours in the
morning.
And so I'd really love to domore of a weekend type thing and
experience that environment.
I mean, there's so many, there'sso much beauty.
I want to go to Tahoe.
I want to do those big graniterocks.
You know, I want to, it's justso much, we're so lucky.
We in California, especially.

(01:20:32):
You know, that within, you know,an 18 hour drive in whatever
direction you've got Oregon,which I'm going to next month
and, um, you know, we haveMendocino, we have the whole
Southwest, this just, we're solucky.

Kush (01:20:48):
Yes, we only have one lifetime though.
That's maybe the only drawback.
There's so many amazing placesto explore.
It's been a wondrousconversation.
I feel I could have each of youin an individual podcast because
you have so much enthusiasm,knowledge, and inspiration to
share.
Thank you so much, each of you,for coming on Ageless Athlete

(01:21:10):
today.

Thank you.
Thank you.
And actually learned stuff aboutus that I didn't even know.

Kush (01:21:19):
I've had people tell me that they have learned things
about themselves.
Because, I don't know.
Wow.
I am still feeling thegoosebumps from the shot.

(01:21:39):
The energy and passion thesewomen have for mind biking and
for each other.
It is so contagious.
I was particularly moved byHenrietta's story of overcoming
a life.
Altering medical event torediscover her love for riding
in a whole new way.
Her perspective and findingliberation and joy.

(01:21:59):
After setback is such a powerfulreminder that it is really never
too late to redefine what ispossible.
Indeed.
And I think we can all learnsomething from all of their
unwavering dedication toempowering women through my
biking.
Breaking down culture.
Cultural norms and creating asupportive community where

(01:22:21):
everyone feels welcome andinspired.
I hope you're feeling as stokedas I am to hit the trails.
After hearing these far-flungstories.
Remember to check out the shownotes for the links to gastroc
more.
And all the other organizationsmentioned today.
Thanks again for listening in tothis episode of, is this

(01:22:43):
athlete.
A huge, thank you to Jessica.
Jenna Henrietta, Lisa.
And Alexis for sharing theirstories, their wisdom, and their
infectious enthusiasm forrecreating in the beautiful
wild.
Outdoors through my biking.
Until next time, keep exploring.

(01:23:03):
Keep pushing your limits.
And keep chasing those joyfulmoments on and off the trail.
my friends.

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#22 Jessica, Jenna, Lisa, Alexis, Henrietta - Changing the Face of Mountain Biking in Northern California

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#22 Jessica, Jenna, Lisa, Alexis, Henrietta - Changing the Face of Mountain Biking in Northern California