April's Featured Rider: Lisa Myklak

Lisa Myklak's profile is going to be a bit different. She's so excited about sharing her love of dirt jumping with others that she's dedicated her Featured Rider Profile to convincing you to try it--and explaining how to get started! Lisa is highly skilled at downhill and gated racing, and her dirt jump skills translate into a smooth, fast riding style. Still, she's happiest sessioning jumps with friends. She recently moved to Santa Cruz, CA from Boulder, CO to take advantage of the year-round riding season. --FF

Name: Lisa Myklak
Home: Felton, CA
Age: 30
Favorite type of riding: Toss up between dirt jump and downhill.
Why you ride: I feel most alive when I'm on my bike; it makes my
heart happy
Sponsors: Fox Racing Shox, Black Market Inc., Industry 9, Crankbrothers, Magura, Profile Racing, Jett MTB, e.13, Lake shoes, Hoven Visio
Website: BlackMarketBikes.com

To all ladies who want to dirt jump — do it. You’ll learn SO MUCH about how to handle a bike. The only thing you really need is a desire to learn – bravery will come. Just start by going out to your local dirt jumps or BMX track and rolling around.

There is so much I would love to share about dirt jumping, but here are a few things that I think are key.

Before You Start, Learn This:
Learn how to bunny hop. No jump involved – just learn how to bunny hop on flat ground (not clipped in). You have to pump with your arms and legs and this is truly jumping your bike. My friend Joanna Petterson and I would stack up inner-tube boxes and see how high we could get before knocking them over. If you know how to bunny hop, then you know the fundamentals to jumping. Every jump at every speed can be broken down by how to pump it.

Practice At Your Own Pace:
Guys are notorious for jumping one thing and then stepping right up to another jump. Only you know the balance between pushing yourself and backing off. Part of the fun is learning to jump something smoothly. Good technique takes time and repetition. You know you’ve found the balance when you’re still having fun but scaring yourself a little too.

Really Concentrate On This:
There is a lot of technique to jumping, but it’s also 100% mental. We’ve all seen that rider who just boldly hucks their meat off anything and most of the time they ride away fine. Why? Because they approach it with confidence and commitment. That’s not all of it though. The real trick is to learn to ride with confidence and commitment and at the same time stay relaxed. If you mess up and you’re relaxed, chances are you’re going to walk away alright. I’m not saying just go up to anything and ride it with confidence. But when you do decide to hit something, take this mentality into it.

Something To Keep In Mind:
Dirt jumping is both extremely rewarding and terribly frustrating. One day you’ll get through an entire line of jumps and the next day you won’t be able to jump the second one. Your skills in dirt jumping are very flippant at first. The best cure for this is to go ride something else — don’t let yourself get too frustrated.

One great thing about learning how to jump is that you start seeing everything in terms of lips and landings. This really helps with trail riding. It translates right over. Happy jumping!

Pan American Championships

The Pan American Championships took place a few weeks ago in Santiago, Chile. Diana Marggraff claimed the championship titles in both downhill and 4x.

Downhill
Elite Women
1. Diana Marggraff
2. Veronica Francisca Miranda Fuentes
3. Rachel Bauer
4. Bruna Ulrich
5. Vanesa Cecilcia Ballarino Kneer
6. Andrea Melian Seguel

Junior Women
1. Diana Lorena Dromundo Vargas
2. Erika Daniela Quintana Sanchez
3. Bruna Somensi

4X
1. Diana Marggraff
2. Veronica Miranda
3. Rachel Bauer
4. Erika Quintana Sanchez

Wear Your Helmet

I like to learn by doing. And this weekend, I learned that helmets are good. I treated a drop like a roller and landed on my face. But the amazing thing is that other than a small bone break, I'm just fine.

Check out my helmet, though. The incident occurred on my cross country bike, on what was supposed to be a mellow cross country ride with friends, so I was wearing my cross country helmet. While my face is a little beat right now, it's pretty easy to see how gnarly this all could have been without an awesome helmet (not like I'd ever NOT wear a helmet on my bike, but you see all kinds of crazy stuff out there).










Another crazy thing is how much sand got smeared into the lenses of my glasses. I'm so glad that wasn't my eyeball!










Anywho, I'm sorry for the lack of riding news in general lately, but on the bright side, you'll be seeing a lot more of it over the next few weeks while I'm on the mend!

Spring Cleaning Sale!

Starting today, almost everything on FreerideFoundation.com is 10-50% off! The last snow storm of the season (we hope!) just rolled through and I'm ready to ride. Grab some new socks, gloves, and jerseys at sweet prices and get out there!
This sale ends April 15, 2009.

Like Riding a Bike, but Better: Gene Hamilton's BetterRide Clinic

I learned to ski when I was 12. Most of my friends were already cruising the intermediate slopes while I struggled to stand up long enough to get pulled to my doom by the bunny hill tow rope. Nonetheless, some saint of an instructor with endless patience managed to mold me into an eventual powder-junkie.

Not taking ski lessons was not an option. There is really no way to decipher the endless amount of subtleties that add up to a safe and proficient skier. Of course, there are examples of people picking up skiing as if they’re riding a bike, but those intuitive folks are few and far between. But when it comes to actually riding a bike, taking lessons is still a new and strange concept. Perhaps because we learn enough skills as kids on cruisers to get us through the initial stages of singletrack mastery, we assume that the way to get better at riding bikes is to keep riding bikes.

That’s what I thought, anyway. If I spend more time on my bike, I’ll get so comfortable that I’ll naturally be able to tackle even the tech-iest of terrain. As my yearly emergency room visits can attest, my method is flawed. So, when Gene Hamilton agreed to hold his first-ever all-women’s downhill clinic at the end of February, I was excited to see what I’d been missing out on for the past 12 years of my riding career.

It turns out that I’ve been missing a lot. I’m actually amazed that I have even made it this far with my riding the way it was. We met Gene in the parking lot at Bootleg Canyon, NV on a Friday morning, the first of three full days of riding and learning. There were 10 of us girls, ranging from pro racers to intermediate riders, and we were all making the same mistakes.
We began the clinic a bike check, to make sure all of our rides were set up properly. Most of us needed to make a few tweaks, like moving our brake levers closer to our bars for easier grip and less arm pump. While assessing suspension on one rig, Gene’s assistant Andy Winohradsky discovered a completely blown fork. Luckily, a quick switch-out with the rider’s (who will remain anonymous to protect the innocent) boyfriend’s bike allowed her to ride successfully for the entirety of the clinic.From there, we worked on mind-blowing exercises like looking ahead, learning to manual, cornering properly, pumping terrain, and braking correctly. You may think I’m being sarcastic, but the truth is that each exercise opened up new doors to confidence and speed on the trail. For instance, actually looking ahead like I’m supposed to proved to be the most challenging task of the weekend. Apparently I like to look about 10 feet ahead when it’s clear, and follow tricky sections with my eyes until my wheel’s made positive contact with the offending part of the trail. I had to try, work, and think non-stop about keeping my peepers on track. But when we combined the importance of really, truly looking ahead with riding some tight, rocky, exposed switchbacks on Sunday, it all came together. Each of us made the intimidating turns with ease when we kept our sights focused.Riding with Gene was great. When we rode singletrack, we rotated through following right behind him, so everyone—even the shyest riders—got a chance to follow someone with proper form and technique. In addition, Gene and Andy gave feedback to every rider as we worked on tasks in the parking lot and on the trail. Even better was the incredible camaraderie that developed between everyone taking the clinic. It was great to see riders improve while practicing each task, and gain confidence throughout the weekend. And, it was inspiring to hear everyone cheering as we each rode down a steep, loose, twisty section of singletrack while applying just the front brake.I wish that a lot of these good habits had been ingrained in my brain from my first day on a bike, like proper ski form and technique were drilled in my head on the bunny hill. However, I’m so glad that I was able to make my downhilling discoveries with such a fun and supportive coaching staff and group of riders. I can’t wait for it to stop snowing in Salt Lake so I can put my new skills to practice on the trail.

For more information about Gene Hamilton's BetterRide Clinics, and to sign up for upcoming events, visit BetterRide.net.

Captions from top to bottom: The crew minus yours truly; Allie asks a question; Learning to corner (aka leaning to corner); Christine cornering the cones.

Southridge Winter Series Finals

The last race of the 2009 Southridge Winter Series was held in Fontana, CA last weekend. Joy Martin took the downhill win over Larua Noonan, clinching her overall series title in the process. Brittany Jackson won in 4X.

To see full results as well as the overall series standings, visit SouthridgeUSA.com.

#6 Results
Downhill
Pro Women
1. Joy Martin
2. Laura Noonan
3. Christine Hirst

Open Women
1. Margaret Gregory
2. Erica Phillips

Beginner Women 34 & Under
1. Rochelle Spranger

Beginner Women 35+
1. Kim Finch
2. Traci Adams

4X
Open Women
1. Brittany Jackson
2. Robin Vold
3. Julia Zavala

CCCX #2 Results

The second race of California's CCCX downhill series was held at Toro Park this weekend. Expert rider Rosie Bernhard posted the fastest women's time of the day. Racing returns to Toro Park on April 11. Visit CCCX.org for more information.

Expert Women
1. Rosie Bernhard
2. Kelly Moore
3. Morgan Compton

Sport Women
1. Heather McFadden
2. Ashley Hernandez

Beginner Women
1. Kelly Johnson
2. Ayshe Tuncer
3. Jill Henrich
4. Kim Krueger
5. Andrea Locke

Oceania Championships Results

The Oceania Championships were held at Thredbo in New South Wales, Australia this weekend. Claire Whiteman continues her regional domination with the downhill win. And Caroline Buchanan remains untouchable in 4X, taking the win there.

Downhill
Elite Women
1. Claire Whiteman
2. Caroline Buchanan
3. Amy Laird
4. Sarah Booth
5. Sarsha Huntington
6. Cara Smith

4X
1. Caroline Buchanan
2. Sarsha Huntington
3. Cherie Simpson
4. Vanessa Thompson

We found these results on CyclingNews.com.

Maxxis Cup International #1 Results

The first downhill race of the Maxxix Cup was held last weekend in Gouveia, Portugal. Tracy Moseley took the win by about 19 seconds over Jessica Stone, who is also from Great Britain. The next round of the series is being held today, March 22 in Vigo, Spain.

Elite Women
1. Tracy Moseley
2. Jessica Stone
3. Sophie Borderes
4. Ariadna De Barros
5. Katy Curd
6. Maria Sanchez
7. Ana Martins
8. Armanet Carole
9. Santo Jullyana
10. Aurea Augostinho

We found these results on CyclingNews.com.

Keyesville Classic Results

The 2009 Keyesville Classic took place last weekend in Keyesville, CA. There were no Pro or Expert women at the downhill race. The fastest women's times of the day went to Sport rider Megan Zemny. The downhill was a two-run format, each run on a different course.

Sport Women 30+
1. Megan Zemny

Beginner Women 29 & Under
1. Virginia Cabrera

Beginner Women 30+
1. Wendy McKeller
2. Traci Adams
3. Kelley Brunson
4. Julie Stiarman

Visit Keyesville.com for full results.

SSL Issues Resolved

Last month when I renewed our SSL (security certificate) for Freeride Foundation, there were some glitches in the installation process. The result was that many users saw warning messages that the site was not secure. Please note that during this time, and information entered was definitely secure, and all payment processes took place on PayPal's secure server.

Allie has been instrumental in fixing the problem, and the entire issue was resolved last night. I sincerely apologize for any concern this may have caused. Thanks to everyone who contacted us about the issue, so we could get it taken care of! If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact me at jackie@freeridefoundation.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

St. Patty's Day Feast Results

I finally found some results from the St. Patty's Day Feast downhill race that took place at Bootleg Canyon, NV this weekend. Melissa Buhl took the win over Jackie Harmony.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Melissa Buhl
2. Jackie Harmony
3. Tasa Herndon
4. Linden Lane
5. Francine Johnson

Expert Women
1. Carmen Bastek

If I'm missing anyone, please let me know! The results are also posted at Crash Innovation's Myspace page.