Actually, I Can Find a Community
As the “Director of Inspiration” for the Liv Ladies AllRide mountain bike clinics, I travel the world teaching women how to get rad on their bikes. But more importantly, it is my goal in life to help grow the community of female mountain bikers across the globe. Alongside my partners, Meredith Brandt and Summer Holland, we create events for women to come together and share the joys of mountain biking. Our camps help ladies understand mountain biking and discover how mountain biking relates to life, while making new like-minded friends, facing fears and learning to believe in themselves – on and off the bike.
I do what I do because mountain biking completely changed my existence. It helped me see myself more clearly and it became a catalyst for change and growth in many aspects of my life. It has also given me lifelong friendships with amazing women who share my same joy as we zip through trees at high speeds!
What does it mean to find a community? To me, it means finding a place where I fit in amongst my peers. It means surrounding myself with like-minded, supportive people who don’t judge – rather they cheer each other on, lift each other up, offer shoulders to cry on and endless high fives. I didn’t know a world existed where women play nicely together and truly support and encourage each other.
Through mountain biking, I found my people. But, I didn’t want to stop there – I wanted to help other women find their community as well! I spent over a decade working in the bike industry and I saw a huge void in female participation in mountain biking. I knew more women weren’t involved because it can be intimidating, hard and scary to get into. I wanted to change that. I wanted to end the days of women feeling like they can’t “keep up” and provide them with a place to feel included. I wanted women to see mountain biking as accessible, attainable, a place to make great friends and an awesome, fun way to get exercise!
We want to inspire women to try something that scares and challenges them so they can see what they’re really made of. When I see women learn how to ignore the negative voices in their heads and only think thoughts that serve them, on and off the bike, I see them change. Especially when they nail that gnarly rock garden or big drop! I see them realize what they’re capable of! Getting through life takes understanding and effort and so does mountain biking. When we see women come together to support each other in growth and change, we see happiness. And when more women in this world feel happy, confident and capable, the world is going to be a better place.
We’re just trying to change lives with two wheels and some dirt – hoping more and more women can see the powerful truth in #RideBikesBeHappy.
-Lindsey Voreis, Director of Inspiration, Liv Ladies AllRide Tour. Learn more about Lindsey HERE!