I would like to remind everyone that FWD Membership for 2019 is now open. You can officially join FWD with a minimum donation of $20.00 that must be paid cash or check to DHPT: Decorah Human Powered Trails.
There are some great perks to joining FWD thanks to our sponsors: Decorah Bicycles, Impact Coffee, Pulpit Rock Brewing, Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Co., and T-Bock's.
You can get all of the details here.
If you are new to Fearless Women of Dirt and are looking to hook up with a FWD Chapter, you should visit this page. We have official chapters in Cedar Valley, Des Moines, and Chicago.
If you do not live near those areas, check out the FWD Ambassador page to find a Fearless Women of Dirt Ambassador close to your area.
We have a few months to go before the riding season officially starts and we are making a few changes to the setup this year. We encourage you to check out our ride page to see what the updates are. We will create events on Facebook as we schedule them up, but also do our best to post them on our website for folks who aren't on Facebook.
Don't forget to have your ride waiver signed!
I do plan to have a FWD Women's Night, but am looking to switch up the location and format. It's likely going to be more of a meetup format in a casual setting which can make it easier for folks to drop by.
It might seem that we are moving away from introducing women to mountain biking and catering to those who already ride, but that isn't the case. After reflecting on the rides I offered during 2017 and an awesome experience I had working with someone during 2018, I wanted to make events specific to new riders that would really ease them into the mountain biking experience. I don't want to say I went about the rides "all wrong" but I know that I could've done better and aim to do that.
It's very difficult to focus on giving new riders a great experience when we do not have a trail system that works for that. The Carlson property trails will aid in that, but it'll be a while before everything is 100%. I also want to create rides for those who are comfortable mountain biking, so I made the choice to separate the rides/events so there is not a question as to who the ride or event is for.
The beautiful and challenging aspect of Fearless Women of Dirt is that I can change it as often as I want, whenever I want, to better accommodate the needs of the local riding community. Sometimes that means I need to change it to better work with my own life. It's difficult because it makes me feel as tho I'm pulling away from the original goal, but it's evolution. This is just the start and I truly feel that once we have more trails built, FWD in the Decorah area can really take off and start resembling the picture I had in my head.
Until then, we will keep moving forward along with helping other communities establish FWD chapters in their area. I want to give a big thank you to those who have supported Fearless Women of Dirt since its creation and I can't wait to see what the 2019 season brings!
It's very difficult to focus on giving new riders a great experience when we do not have a trail system that works for that. The Carlson property trails will aid in that, but it'll be a while before everything is 100%. I also want to create rides for those who are comfortable mountain biking, so I made the choice to separate the rides/events so there is not a question as to who the ride or event is for.
The beautiful and challenging aspect of Fearless Women of Dirt is that I can change it as often as I want, whenever I want, to better accommodate the needs of the local riding community. Sometimes that means I need to change it to better work with my own life. It's difficult because it makes me feel as tho I'm pulling away from the original goal, but it's evolution. This is just the start and I truly feel that once we have more trails built, FWD in the Decorah area can really take off and start resembling the picture I had in my head.
Until then, we will keep moving forward along with helping other communities establish FWD chapters in their area. I want to give a big thank you to those who have supported Fearless Women of Dirt since its creation and I can't wait to see what the 2019 season brings!