On February 4th, Wood Fest Indoor Mountain Bike Festival returns to The Wheel Mill. Throughout the day, there will be skills clinics, bike demos from brands around the region and local bike shops, challenges/contests, The Dirt Rag Garage Sale, food and drink (Full list of food and drink to come) and indoor camping!
Any individual can set up a table for the Dirt Rag Garge Sale and/or get a campsite but spots are limited. REGISTER HERE.
Schedule:
10:00am: Doors open and demos start (Demos next to Fundamental Skills Room)
11:00am: Skill Clinic (Fundamental Skills Room)
12:00pm: Secret Challenge
1:00pm: Skill Clinic (Fundamental Skills Room)
2:00pm: Game of MTB
3:00pm: Skill Clinic with (Fundamental Skills Room)
4:00pm: MTB Gauntlet
5:00pm: Dirt Rag Bike Garage Sale Opens (Fundamental Skills Room). Food and Bar Open. Beer served to 21 & over only with proper ID. Drinking ends your riding for the rest of the day, so get all of your riding in before you grab a beer!
7:00pm: Cross Country Loop Time Trial
8:00pm: Demos End
9:00pm: Dirt Rag Bike Garage Sale Ends
10:00pm-10:30pm: Camp Set Up (Must reserve).
10:30pm: MTB Movie on the Big Screen.
*All contests will have a male and female mountain bike and unicycle division.
Demos:
Morpheus Cycles
Pro Bikes
TrailFlo
SR Suntour
Specialized
Novatec
*REMINDER: Most demos take a form of collateral. Make sure to bring an I.D. or Credit Card.
Rates/Info:
To Ride: Normal riding rates apply.
To Compete: No Charge.
T0 Camp: $15 (Must reserve).
Clinics: No Charge. First come, first serve (spots are limited).
Waiver required. If under 18 and have never been to the park, please check out this LINK.
Any camper that is under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Camp spots 13-18 will be reserved for quiet and family friendly camping.
Food and Drink: Assorted Prices. Cash only. Beer: Southern Tier, New Belgium and Yuengling.
No Dogs.
No Outside Alcohol.
Must be 21+ to Drink.
Sponsors:
Over the Bar Bicycle Cafe
Dirt Rag
Bicycle Times
Point Brugge
Jaunt
G-Form
Morpheus Cycles
Pro Bikes
SR Suntour
Novatec
TrailFlo
Industry Nine
Yuengling
New Belgium Brewing
Southern Tier Brewing
*Schedule of events, times and demos are subject to change without notice. Must be 21 + to drink. Camping spots nonrefundable. Children under the age of 18 must camp with a parent or guardian
Back again by popular demand for 2017, Lumber Cross is an indoor cyclocross race at The Wheel Mill Indoor Bike Park. Reimagining features and courses, the cross course will span the entire park. Practice starts at 5pm and races at 6pm. Racers will qualify through heats to make it to the final. We will break up into classes dependent upon rider turn out. There will be cash prizes awarded to the winners.
Spectator are welcome! Heckle groups encouraged. The best heckle group will be awarded a prize.
For those who are over 21 and have finished racing or are there to spectate, there will be a cash bar with Southern Tier Brewing and Yuengling.
General Information:
– February 18th, 2017
– Practice: 6pm
– Races: 7pm
– Fee: $35
– Classes: Dependent upon rider turn out
– Racer Prizes: Cash & Swag
– Best Rider Costume
– Best Heckle Group Award
General Rules for Racers and Heckle Groups:
– No Spikes
– Any Bike. More than 5 bikes we’ll break up into a classes (I.E. Fat Bikes or Unicycles)
– Helmet and waiver required. If under 18, please check out this LINK.
– We reserve the right to remove a rider from the race if the length behind is unsafe.
– No outside alcohol
– No spraying beer
– No nudity
Sponsors:
Live Jaunt, Iron City Bikes, Over The Bar Cafe, Apothocary Muse, Ink Division Printing, Yuengling, Southern Tier Brewing, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Cocoa Elite, Aero Tech, Specialized Bikes and Pro Bikes.(More to come)
A friendly reminder that bike storage at the park is only for current season pass holders with valid stickers. No other season pass holders or day pass holders are permitted to leave their bike at the park over night. If a bike is left without a proper sticker, it may be removed from the park at the owner’s expense.
It is an incredible feeling to be so excited to sit down and put into words how an event made such a positive impact in the lives of so many women this weekend. The Wheel Mill, located in Pittsburgh, PA, brought together an amazing group of six coaches for the Ride Like a Girl Women’s Weekend, January 7-8.
The Ride Like A Girl Weekend was developed to help women and girls become comfortable in the park and, more importantly, better educated about the fundamentals of riding a bike. By closing the park to the public, the coaches were able to split participants into small groups to work on a variety of skills, free of distractions and in a supportive environment. Small groups let the coaches see that “ah hah” moment in each student’s face!
Each day was structured to make the best use of the time. Fundamentals came first, to get everyone warmed up and on the same page with the building blocks of bike and body positioning. Next came two sessions focusing on different skills relevant to both mountain bike and BMX riding. Our morning sessions included Bike Handling, Balance, Cornering, Introduction to Pumping, and Jumping. Our afternoon sessions took skills to the next level, with Lifts and Logs, Drops and Rises, Line Choice, Advanced Cornering, Pumping, Jumping in the Woods Room, and shredding the Park Room.
Between sessions, all of the ladies were treated to a delicious catered lunch thanks to Nick at Fischer Nutrition. He closed our lunch break with a talk about nutrition and answered interesting questions.
Once the lessons were over the coaches spread out into six different areas of the park for the Challenge Hour, an opportunity for the ladies to show off what they learned. It was fun to hear the roar and screams coming from each room as riders accomplished challenges in different areas of the park!
Coach Kathi had the ladies in the beginner jump line getting rad and forming endless lady trains. Some worked on rolling through the line and others showed Kathi their sweet new jumping skills and tricks.
Coach Karen challenged the ladies to do the whole pump track without pedaling, to manual sections, or to try riding the pump track for the first time. Warning: it’s addictive!
Coach Nina brought the stoke by having the ladies conquer the legendary The Woods Jump Room. While some were working on getting through for the first time, others were working on throwing tricks and blasting jumps.
Coach Carley set up a bunny hop bar on the resi ramp and pushed the girls to improve their jump skills. Each time they cleared the bar, it continued to rise until there were no more pegs for the girls and all that was left was to jump over Carley.
Coach Hillary invited the girls to test their balance skills on the skinnies, then build up enough confidence to try the skinny foam pit. The highlight of some riders’ weekends was getting over the fear of trying that technical MTB room.
Coach Cory motivated ladies to take the plunge into the foam pit for the ultimate challenge of the day. Dropping into a 10-foot roll-in and then hitting a 4-foot lip into a pool of foam had ladies scared at first, but stoked as they threw their hands into the air once they landed.
If you are reading this feeling like you missed out on a coaching experience of a lifetime — you should trust your instincts! This weekend inspired, motivated, and educated ladies from all cycling disciplines. We redesigned this year’s event based on the feedback given to us last year: ladies asked for fewer riders, more personal instruction, and to have the park closed for more comfort. As the ladies were leaving the park with their goodie bags, challenge prizes, and brains full of six hours of education each day, they all agreed that this years event was the best yet.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Ladies’ Jam in March — check The Wheel Mill’s social media pages and website for more details, coming soon.
Summer Ride Like A Girl Weekend with indoor and outdoor coaching sessions — details coming soon.
Buy a 2018 calendar now and mark the weekend of January 13th and 14th for the Winter Ride Like A Girl Weekend.
Women’s Night, every Monday — join Coach Karen for a discounted rate after 6 p.m. and a free skills session 7:30-8:30 p.m. focused on getting more comfortable and confident riding the park.
PHOTOS
Photos from the weekend were provided by The Wheel Mill staff Michael Potoczny and Chris Squier. We also had a passionate father by the name of James Pennucci who captured some amazing moments throughout the weekend — his photos are available for purchase. Please visit his Facebook page to view (Day 1 & Day 2). James was kind enough to put this rad video of the girls together — please check it out on the Ride Like A Girl YouTube Channel.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Ride Like A Girl founder Carley Young has a BMX racing background and is a certified USABMX coach
Karen Brooks is an IMBA and PMBIA certified mountain bike coach with a cross country and commuting background
Nina Buitrago is a BMX coach and an ultimate ambassador for women in BMX
Kathi Krause is an IMBA and PMBIA certified coach who runs Dirt Rock N Root Training at the Mountain Creek Bike Park
Hillary Marques is a IMBA certified coach with a background in racing XC, downhill, and dual slalom
Cory Coffee McGee is an IMBA certified coach with experience in coaching both BMX and MTB riders
We would also like to thank Hannah Roberts for coming out to be a guest coach and build the stoke of the more advanced girls. Hannah Roberts is the first UCI Women’s BMX Freestyle Park World Cup Title winner. While some were conquering fears of just trying new things, girls like Hannah were getting riders to throw barspins and try backflips and tailwhips into the foam pit.
