December's Featured Rider: Katie Hayes

Katie Hayes hit the Freeride Foundation radar with a promo video she released earlier this summer. I met her at the Slope Sistair event in Grand Junction, CO in August. The first thing I saw her do was tabletop a firepit gap jump at The Ranch, with the smooth style and confidence we don't see often enough from women freeriders. She went on to prove that she has the skill and the eye to put together a tough, but flowing slopestyle run that included drops, jumps, and wall-rides. Katie not only puts together sweet runs on her bike, but she literally builds the trails she trains on. The girl is young and smart, and we can't wait to see her progress over the next few years.--FF

Name: Katie Hayes
Home: Whitefish, Montana
Age: 22
Favorite type of riding: Fast with lots of airtime. Though I do enjoy going out and kicking my own ass riding tech, rooty stuff!
Why you ride: It is a great way to challenge myself, escape, or just have fun.
Sponsors: Twenty6 Products, Hammer Nutrition
Website: Vimeo videos

I grew up riding and racing cross country. Even then I was more stoked on flying down hills, dropping three feet off of the neighbor’s deck, and trying to launch myself off plywood ramps in the backyard. I’m positive my dad was too nervous to buy me a downhill bike. My fondest memory (and probably the one that solidified dad's decision) resulted in me clothes-lining myself on the side mirror of his truck, getting a fat lip, and losing a tooth. As I entered high school, my interests changed, and my parents decided I needed to prioritize my activities. Soccer became a year-round obligation, I had qualified for the Junior Olympics in Jackson Hole, WY for ski racing, and I decided not to get another mountain bike.

Then I started dating a boy that loves to ride. Three years ago, I got tired of shuttling him for rides and decided I needed a downhill bike. It was a huge skill and confidence booster having someone much more experienced to follow around and learn from. I started helping him build and maintain our local freeride trails. I quickly realized that building the features I would ride makes riding them much more comfortable.

Building is awesome, because it allows me to be creative and express myself artistically on the trail. It sometimes amazes me what we can do with dirt and logs. A couple months ago we had the chance to show the Ride Guide crew the two trails we have put the most work into this summer. It is a huge compliment to hear someone, that travels all over Canada and the US say, “Those were two of the most fun trails I have ridden!” You can watch the episode (#162) in January.

I love that riding provides me with a reason to travel! We started the summer off with a trip to Utah, riding in Moab and near Green River. Whistler became my second home for a week every month and I feel like riding there for so many days in a row improved my skills immensely. After closing weekend there, the trails felt more like my home trails than the ones actually at home. At the end of August I competed in Slope Sistair III. It was great meeting and getting to ride with such a fun and experienced group of girls.

Why do I ride? For many reasons, but mainly because it is fun! I love going out for a day, whether it be to ride or to build, and coming back to the car feeling happy and fulfilled. I enjoy feeling challenged and then succeeding. I have learned that with success also comes failure and of course cuts, bruises, and broken bones. To succeed in this sport you definitely have to decide if you're going to be the one that gets knocked down, gets back up and tries again, or just gives up. I want to help the women’s side of the sport grow and see more girls take an interest in our sport.

August's Featured Rider: Britney White

Britney White is an all-around gravity ripper who started her career in while growing up in Wyoming. Britney's a quick descender, an aggressive jumper, and she rides with style no matter what she's doing. Britney recently moved to Bellingham, WA to be closer to Whistler and increase her training program. She's also in the process of getting her personal training certification, so she can help others reach their goals as well.--FF

Name: Britney White
Home: Formerly Bozeman MT, currently Bellingham WA
Age: 26
Favorite type of riding: Downhill with lots of jumps, berms, and flow.
Why you ride: For everyone reading this who rides, this is a silly question! It's so much fun!
Sponsors: RaceFace, Twenty6 Products

I've been riding bikes my whole life, but when I was younger it was just for transportation: like traveling down deep gravel roads, crossing cattle guards and avoiding coyotes (that's Wyoming for ya!). I bought a hardtail cross country bike when I was 18 to ride to school and decided to try it out on a trail one day. Best decision ever! After I got the whole front/back brake thing figured out it was all downhill from there. I haven't put the bike down since.

There definitely are not a lot of girls that ride DH in Montana. But, luckily I have a great group of guys to ride with that push me to progress and keep up of course. We all got lucky a few years ago when my family bought about 1700 acres just outside of Bozeman. Within a few years we built 3 DH shuttle trails, and a really fun freeride jump/ berm track with a bobcat. This was where I spent most weekends in the spring and fall working on trails, and riding of course. In winter, I usually stick to my skis for at least a few months. It makes me appreciate getting back on by bike that much more!

I don't think there's any one skill that makes you great at riding/racing. It's a lot of pedaling, line selection, being comfortable in the air, smooth on the bike. All these skills take lots of practice, practice, practice! I've worked the hardest to learn how to conquer just staying on the bike and not crashing!

I was in gymnastics when I was little and a coach told me something that stuck. I applied to riding my bike and believe it helped me. She said, "Spot your landing and picture executing it perfectly in your head before you go for it." That's what I do with any obstacle put in front of me and, luckily, it usually works!

The feeling of being smooth over the ground on a bike is, for me, one of the best feelings in the world. When I get on my bike and start riding a trail, I leave every other thought or problem in my life behind me. There is nothing else that matters. Being smooth and free on a bike is so liberating and the learning curve happened fast for me, since I only rode with guys who were better than me. I hated seeing them having fun and going big and not doing it with them. So I started scaring the crap out of them and hitting the same drops and jumps, obviously with a lot less style!

I am and will always be progressing on my bike and that's why I love riding bikes. The satisfaction of getting a trick down, going faster, or conquering that big stunt feels so good that I never want to stop riding bikes.