Last year, the Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation took 250 disadvantaged urban kids on day-long mountain-biking adventures with Trips for Kids. On their adventures, kids learned trail etiquette, rules of riding, bike skills and an appreciation for the environment.
Your gift helps give kids the opportunity to get outside mountain biking with Trips for Kids. Let’s give every girl and boy a chance to grab life by the handlebars! http://www.cascade.org/give
Stop by Saint Andrews Bar and Grill in Seattle’s Greenlake neighborhood on Thursday for the premiere of If She Can Do It, a documentary by filmmaker Mark Brent and Cascade’s very own mountain bike celebrity, Kat Sweet.
If She Can Do It was filmed this past July at the Sugar Showdown, a women’s freeride mountain bike event held at Duthie Hill Park in Issaquah, Wash.
Aimed at providing a venue for professional and amateur female freeriders to compete in a supportive environment while bringing awareness to the ever-growing women’s freeride movement, Sugar Showdown featured a two-day coaching clinic and competition involving 60 women from eight states and two countries.
Backed by Kickstarter funds and community and sponsor support, Brent and his crew of professional videographers were there to document the weekend and the days leading up to the event.
“We got so much good coverage that editing was a daunting task,” said Brent, who also produced the women-focused documentary, Awesomeland, Women Of Dirt. “With over seven hours of footage for a half-hour movie, I was able to distill the Sugar Showdown experience into a compelling story of women inspiring women to push new limits and achieve awesomeness.”
Pro coaches and competitors featured in the film include Kat Sweet, Tammy Donahugh, Gale Dahlager, Lorraine Blancher, Angi Weston, Stephanie Nychka, Cortney Knudson, Chelsey Stevens and local rider and up-and-coming talent, 12-year-old Katie Heinsen.
“The significance of this film is enormous for the women of freeride,” said Sweet. “This demographic has been largely overlooked by the bike industry for a long time, and people want to see women riding bikes, supporting and pushing each other but keeping it fun.”
The documentary screening is open to the public, and if you can’t make it down to Saint Andrews Bar and Grill, people all around the world are encouraged to watch the film premiere online at Pinkbike.com. Both screenings will start at 6 p.m.
Sweet hopes women and men all over the world will watch the online premiere at the same time to build support for what she calls a “sisterhood of shred.”
Summer weather lingered for yet another weekend as hundreds of kids, parents and volunteers headed to Duthie Hill Park in Issaquah, Wash. for the seventh annual Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.
This year’s event included lots of trail riding, an obstacle course for the little ones, music, a barbecue, prizes and a spectacular jump show by local and pro riders.
“The jump show was amazing,” raved Kat Sweet, Cascade’s Youth Program Manager. “Pro rider Phil Sundbaum was throwing huge x-up back flips along with local shredders, Travis Erikson, Jon Steinbis and our Cascade Dirt Camp coaches and junior mentors.”
With not even as much as a threat of rain in the weather forecast, the event drew 180 kids, 80 parents and 40 volunteers.
“I want to thank all of the amazing people dedicated to our sport who came out to support the future generations of shredders,” said Sweet.
Kat Sweet and her volunteers
Special thanks go to:
- Evergreen Bike Alliance – for being our partner, helping with marketing, donating volunteers and fun swag for the raffle.
- Gregg’s Cycles for donating the food for the bbq and doing mechanical work
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day is an annual celebration that strives to encourage communities around the world to join together and ride mountain bikes with youth. Last year, Take a Kid had more than 13,000 participants at hundreds of events across the globe.
Besides being good, healthy fun, the goal is to develop a connection between kids and the natural world around them.
For many years, Cascade has helped host a day on the trails with adults and kids of the Trips for Kids program and the Evergreen Bike Alliance.
This year’s event will include trail riding, an obstacle course for the little ones, an exciting jump show from local and pro riders, a barbecue, and tons of prizes!
Bring your kids, your neighbor’s kids, or your friends with kids and come ride bikes on the trails with us.
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day will take place Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Duthie Hill Park in Issaquah.
Ever out on a ride and see mountain bikers with ear-to-ear grins? Yup…off-road biking is tons of fun, and here’s your chance to get a taste of it. Dust off that hybrid or mountain bike and join Marizel Miller this weekend on the Iron Horse Trail Ride over Snoqualmie Pass. Sunday, Aug. 26 is the day for this 42 miler with an 8 a.m. start at the Iron Horse Trailhead in North Bend.
This moderate-paced ride is a great intro ride for experienced road cyclists. Leave that carbon bike at home and bring your touring, mountain, cross or hybrid bike. Yup…the one with the fat tires. The Iron Horse trail is mostly smooth dirt, with some portions of the trail in gravel.
And, did I tell you about the 2+ mile Snoqualmie Tunnel? Pitch black. Wet. Cold. A good light and jacket are must-haves. Marizel will let you ride near the front if you have fenders…hint, hint! Check her ride posting on the Daily Rides Calendar for her must-read details on the ride and parking options.
Cascade Bicycle Club is a non-profit organization creating more livable communities by promoting health & recreation through bicycle activities, advocacy, & education.
