Dirt biking is fast, loud and intimidating — but that’s part of the attraction for the growing group of women riders getting off-road in Squamish.
As the founder of riding club Girls with No Limits, racer MC Boudreau is pushing to get more women into the competitive side of the sport.
When she started competing in events across the province, Boudreau immediately bonded with other female racers, because they are relatively rare. In an event with two hundred competitors, it’s not unusual to see less than 10 female riders.
“The original idea was to start a racing team, but first we needed racing girls, which there aren't that many,” said Boudreau. “We’re just starting to see more girls out there, and that’s when I realized a lot are starting, but they’re always with their boyfriends.”
Like a lot of women riders, her male partner introduced Boudreau to the sport at the time. While some come to the sport independently, many women start riding with male friends or co-workers, brothers or dads.
“Every time I saw a girl at a race I was thinking ‘We should jam together, let’s go ride,’” she said. “But you could see they were shy about it.”
Boudreau said many of the women new to the sport seemed nervous to go riding without the men who had introduced them to the sport — lacking the confidence to load a heavy bike in and out of a truck or deal with issues on the trail.
So she started a Facebook page in the spring of 2017, trying to organize a broader community. The first meetup only had one other woman — but she and Boudreau still went out for a ride. The group has since grown into a network of friends with meetups around twice a month, often with up to 15 locals from Squamish and Whistler coming out for rides and skills training.
At a Tuesday night social ride near Cat Lake outside Squamish, six women arrive in six trucks and unload their bikes — sometimes with the aid of a small step or a friendly spotter.
They share advice about mechanical issues, bike sizes, camping trips and deals on gear.
In a male-dominated sport like off-road dirt biking, most of the equipment is designed for the average-sized man by default. It can be helpful to know other women riders and get advice on gear — there is a lot of padding and equipment involved — and bike models.
When Kayla Nessman takes a minor fall on a steep section, the other women quickly come to help her lift the 250 lb bike and give her advice to make it up the gravity-defying section of trail.
When she sends it the second time, they grab the bike at the last second to make sure she doesn’t slide back down. Every word is encouraging.
“It can be a hard thing to learn with your partner. If it doesn’t go well, there’s a lot of yelling,” laughs Boudreau.
Girls With No Limits is a social club, but it’s also about building skills. Having a secondary source of coaching can help build confidence and turn the sport into a passion, rather than an activity to try once or twice.
At a fundraiser for the Squamish Dirt Bike Association this year, 30 women showed up, some travelling from as far as Surrey and Langley to meet up with other women.
Girls with No Limits is not alone, with similar groups in western Canada, including Ladies Offroad Dirt Biking in Calgary, Kootenay Women on Wheels in Kimberley and the Mudhunniez of Vancouver Island.
In Squamish, Boudreau said men in the community who are excited to see the sport grow have also helped the group.
No Limits Motorsports has sponsored the women, offering prizes and support. At one session, New Zealand off-road rider Chris Birch attended to offer coaching, and service tech Wayne Hodder held a free workshop for the group on general bike maintenance.
“If you’re not mechanically minded, it can be intimidating, especially for a girl getting started,” said Hodder. “There’s a lot of ego in the motorsport industry, so when MC said she was going to do group rides for female riders, I thought it was a great idea. I think it’s helped out a lot of girls.”
“People see the name, and more girls are getting involved,” said Boudreau. With branded stickers and a ball cap, she often gets asked about the club at events.
“It’s fun to see it grow, involving more people,” she said.
“It’s super liberating to get on the dirt bike; you need to have full focus. It’s a really hard thing to do too because it’s a heavy machine,” she said. “You have to have guts. You have to be willing to try. You need to trust you can do it.”
