HOPE WOMEN WEEKENDER

After drying off from the weekend in the Lakes we caught up with some of the riders, here’s what they had to say….

For me the highlight of the weekend was meeting and getting to know so many lovely and inspiring women. 

The weekend best described as: Hilarious,  Wholesome, A tad moist 

I learnt bike packing is absolutely up my street however I also learnt I need to pack less 🙈 the buzz from the rear bag was slightly off-putting on descents 🤣 Can't wait for another hope women's adventure!! 

 Becky Preece

I loved the weekend, especially meeting so many new people! There's something special about riding with a group of women, i find it so inspiring and i feel i learned a lot from them. Seeing another woman ride something or do a cool trick makes me want to try it too, in a way i don't really get from watching guys ride, no matter how good their skills. It was also really nice to ride with people who have such different specialities, and learn about other areas of the cycling world, whilst all coming together to push bikes through bogs in the rain and share good food together.

Annie Evans

There wasn't any particular singular moment that stood out as a highlight, the whole trip was just fantastic. There were many little moments that were memorable for me. It was really inspiring meeting the other Hope ambassadors, hearing some amazing stories and getting helpful advice. It was the second time that I’ve bike packed now, I’ve learned that I love it very much and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much.

Jess Stone

The highlight for me was the reminder of how awesome bikes can be as a way to bring different people together. It doesn't matter where we are from or what our background is, whether it's racers, guides, coaches, influencers, industry bods or bike enthusiasts, on trips like this we're united in the shared joy of riding bikes and having fun in the hills together. When you put such a strong, badass, fun group of women together then no amount of torrential rain or endless deep front-wheel grabbing bogs can dampen the spirits of the group! The smiles, laughs and positivity radiating from everyone, and how we all instantly got on despite lots of us never having met in person before, made me feel privileged to be part of such an awesome crew. Can't wait for next year's gathering!

Julia Hobson

My highlight of the weekend was definitely meeting all the other wonderful women in cycling. It was awesome to meet women who are passionate about cycling and from all different sectors of the sport.

 Three words to describe the weekend: Inspiring, Fun and bogtastic.

 This was such a great insight into the world of bike packing. I have done a couple of bike-packing trips and this really inspired me to do more. There is something really wonderful about being miles from anywhere in the mountains with only your group, bikes and bags for company. It really brings you back to the present. We can all be a bit guilty of living in the past or future but bike packing hits differently and puts you right back to the now.

Laura Martin

 The company is what makes both the good and the hard times on the bike so much better. The girls on the trip were all so enthusiastic, passionate and fun, with everyone having an interesting story to tell. This made the boggy hike-a-bikes more manageable and the descents insanely fun! 

Ffion James

The Lakes trip was a properly memorable experience. I felt so lucky to be able to be involved despite being slightly encumbered by being about 8 months pregnant! Having a fully Hope-d up lightweight e-bike to pootle about on definitely contributed to my enjoyment, but the thing that made the experience super special was the fantastic bunch of women I was riding with. I knew about half of the gang already, but within about 15 minutes of meeting everyone else, I knew it was going to be an awesome weekend of daft laughs and silly bikes.

I'd been feeling like I'd lost my riding mojo a bit recently and was worried that my mountain days were already behind me as my general fitness and more recently my lung capacity has been pretty much written off, first by some savage IVF synthetic hormones, then by a growing human. As it turned out, a silly, boggy, soggy, hilly e-bike assisted weekend away with an incredibly funny, supportive and absolutely pinned group of like-minded women was just what I needed. I felt so empowered and supported; throughout my pregnancy, lots of people have defaulted to surprised/judgey when I've mentioned going running or biking - but not a single eyebrow was raised all weekend, despite some of my sketchier line choices. The trip reset my love of bikes and taught me a lot about letting myself ask for and accept help when I'm feeling a bit feeble (especially if that help is in the form of a shiny borrowed e-bike!). "Epic" bike trips look different to different people, and being OK with letting yourself take the easy option and max out the snacks has been a lesson I'm really grateful to Hope for helping me learn.

I also learned that it's very possible to whittle a surprisingly life-like and entirely edible rose from a humble swede - which felt extremely profound at the time!. 

Rosie Holdsworth

The weekend for me was a super fun, soggy, boggy bash! It was great to meet so many amazing women from all of the country. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the riding that everyone enjoys and does in their home areas, as it inspired me to ride further afield and explore more. My highlight of the weekend was the final decent on the first day leading towards the hostel. The decent was a lot of fun, with lots a boulders and loose rocks to negotiate. The other highlight of this decent was that it led to a warm drying room where we could change out of our wet boggy socks and head to the pub 😝. 

This was my first bike packing experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although challenging at times, I realised it’s such a simple way to see more of the world and to get you to places that you might not get to on a normal ride. I will defiantly be planning more bike packing adventures in the future. 

Thanks again to everyone involved in organising! It was a great weekend! 

Hannah Davies

Photos: Sadie Aldridge

The biggest highlight for me was bike packing for the first time ever (I have been told it was posh bike packing as we stayed in a YHA haha!) But I’ve definitely got the bug & excited for future adventures, maybe even up for trying a bothy next time!

Funniest moment of the weekend was definitely watching Becky ripping down the descents bike bag buzzing on the rear tyre laughing our heads off so much fun!

Ruby James

Highlights of the weekend: strangely, the bog hopping- I loved it! 😄 and catching up with teamies, meeting the other ambassadors- everyone has a wonderful backstory and that makes Hope WMN special. 

3 words..  impossible to choose 3 so here are a few more: no such thing as bad weather!

I've struggled with confidence riding on rocky terrain in the relatively short time I've been riding so being able to set off down an unknown (to me) trail and race with my team mates, purely out of our own competitiveness, it pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I without even batting an eyelid, I rode much gnarlier features than I normally would.

Vic Peel