Words by Lisa Mason

All photos by Ronia Nash

The annual migration to the desert for Red Bull Rampage was something special this year. We got to watch women write history, ride bikes with friends, connected with the bike community and ride the emotional rollercoaster that is Rampage.

The build up before you leave, seeing this brand new venue for the ladies, watching them build their lines, test them, and then crush their Top to Bottom runs for all the world to see. That was an epic day of most emotions on its own, and we’re just watching!!

Can you imagine being an athlete?? A ten day battle with the mtn, your emotions, pressures from all sides, and the weather, plus the intense build up to comp day.

Let’s unpack some of the emotions we/they might’ve been feeling on game day/week.

Joy- Joy to the World the women are finally here! After 15 plus years of dreaming, hard work, waiting for the chance, and never giving up. The ladies have made it and they have represented women mountain bikers in the best light!! Bravo!!

Joy is never giving up!! Lisa Lefroy, Ashleigh McIvor, Casey Brown and Katrina Strand know a thing or two about that. Can you feel the joy radiating from this picture.

Jitters - Who wouldn’t have the jitters!! It’s a lot for the athletes, mentally and physically!! These are real mountain lines with real exposure and real consequences. Training and exposure therapy is required. The more days you have in the mountains exposed to steeps, cliffs, chutes, the smaller they seem.

‘I was doing a lot of training, like gym kind of stuff, riding as much as I could, riding steeps, trying to scare myself riding different things, doing different tricks. I just spent the whole summer trying to push it.’ ~ Chelsea Kimball

Crowd support can definitely help with the jitters, who wouldn’t get stoked with signs like these!!

Fear - Fear can come in so many forms. There are lots of variables going on and they add up. Exposure, people watching their every move, cliff drops anywhere from 15 - 51 ft, wind, sun stroke, the short and specific braking points, big emotions like letting your team/sponsors down, is there enough time, or did I bite off more than I can chew with this build, and not providing a good show! Just some of the things that could be adding to ‘fear’ as things build to competition day!!

*Chelsea uses her rock climbing skills to self arrest after the wind caught her on her second run.*

Pressure - Never before has there been pressure like this before for women in mountain biking!!

‘I think I will feel a lot of pressure tomorrow. I think everyone will, and I think pressure is a really good thing. And it’s an honour to be able to have that kind of pressure on you. And not often that you feel that kind of pressure on you. And not that often that we get that kind of thing in our lives and that we may feel uncomfortable. It is an honour!’ ~ Casey Brown

Drive - Robin Goomes has a tonne of drive. Did you know she taught herself to backflip!! No instruction, just solo figuring it out!!! For anyone who has ever backflipped, you know how much this is mentally!! You have to want it, and keep wanting it everytime you flip. It never gets easier!!
‘I did come here, and I wanted it so badly, but it doesn’t feel real having done it!!’ ~Robin Goomes on winning Rampage as the first woman ever!

*Those backflips are paying off for Robin!! First woman to backflip at Crankworx slopestyle and now first woman to backflip at Red Bull Rampage!!!!!*

Sense of pride - We all feel a sense of pride for these ladies!! They’ve designed, built, and tested it, all while thinking about what type of run and tricks they will put together for their comp runs. Can you imagine the pride they feel, they’re making a legacy!!

We’re so proud of these women making mountain biking history and it’s an honour to capture their story!

Envy - We all feel envy just a little because we all wish we had opportunities like this when we were young. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t envious too! Being the first woman to win at Rampage, or even compete on this world stage!! Legends, all of them now!!

Who wouldn’t be envious of Vinny’s style…

or Vero's creativity adding to her skills as an amazing digger/designer/rider in this desert terrain which is dirt is nothing like the UK or New Zealand.

Sadness - Sadness for Cami Nogueira, crashing in practice and not making it to competition day. Micayla Gatto for being the next alternate in line to compete and being so close to getting in. And any other women who wanted to be on this historical stage but the cards didn’t line up right. Big ups to them all! So many incredible riders will be gunning for a coveted spot next year.

Cami put in the work, built a line and a distance calculation in practice would end her quest for a Rampage title. She received the Toughness award and she will definitely be back next year!!!

Confidence - Vaea brings confidence to everything she does, and shares it readily with her team and other mountain bikers. Here are some nuggets of wisdom from Vaea!

‘Visualisation is a good tip for anyone trying to be successful in their first hit at anything. Doing it in your head is the biggest part! Seeing it, accepting that you are capable of doing it, then working the steps to do it, that’s the biggest piece of the cake. Physically laying off the brake is the very last one. Once I have worked out the process, I just do it.’

‘I brought people in that could benefit so much from this experience. They could totally be future Rampage riders and also with that being a cool feature for them. They’re also insane riders who look at things like riders and I can benefit from their experience, their knowledge in how to build this feature. The intel, the speed checks, I know they are looking at every feature, wondering how they would go about it. And so It’s just a lot of positives that build on top of each other, and builds up my confidence.’ Vaea Verbeeck on her build crew/team.

‘I don’t get scared of things I am not capable of. If I am scared, it means I am thinking about doing it, which means it's in my wheelhouse and I can use that as a confidence builder.’ (Some paraphrasing happened here, this is from a ladies session I coached with her in NZ, in 2020.)

Vaea showed us confidence on competition day, just missing the podium and landing in fourth.

Gratitude - So much gratitude for bikes and the life changes they can affect, and gratitude for the changing landscape that is mountain biking. Women are being invited to all the biggest events now Red Bull Joyride, The Nines, Darkfest, and Backyard Battles to name a few. And they are not just the token rider they are all battling for first place!

Thanks to everyone who helped to open those doors and will continue to do so!

*Also, I am also grateful that I am not drinking champagne out of a dusty, sweaty shoe aka shoei!! Well done Robin. Such a G!!!*

Love - Nothing but love for all the women who stepped up to the plate, and continue to step up to the plate, and all the people who supported them on this journey. From the event organiser and sponsors, to the dig teams, their family and friends, the media, and the fans watching the show. We need you all to make this sport grow.

*Much love and respect to all these Rampage ladies, (Cami too, she’s missing from the pic) and a little extra love for my Canadian girls! So proud of you!!*

Excitement - Excitement for what’s to come for women’s freeride and future female athletes. The ladies are already planning on how they want to improve their runs and the groms are already thinking of how they can get here one day. It’s just going to keep building!!!

*Chelsea set the bar high for next year, with this 51 foot drop that stoked everyone!! Exciting to see what will happen next year. In this competition, size matters!!*

Respect!! - I’ll give you 8 reasons to respect the women of freeride below!

What incredibly strong women to take on this challenge with only a few months to prepare. It was the right time, the right place, the people were hungry for it, and the women were more than ready!!! Imagine what a year of training, prep, planning, and visualisation will give them!!

Robin, Georgia, and Casey can already start planning their lines having earned their spot in next years’ event!

We’ll still be processing all the feels and more as we wait until next year's rollercoaster in the sun! Until then it’s auto replay of the women’s event on Red Bull Bike’s YouTube channel and soaking up all the media from this event!!

See you next year for the best party in the desert, as we wait to see who will be crowned the next queen of freeride!!

Women at Red Bull Rampage: All the Emotions!