Over the past several years, I have been invited to various trail building events to photograph and document what’s happening. That includes many women-only events ranging from teaching trail building basics to opening a women-designed and built trail to bike shop maintenance clinics and more. I was intrigued by these events because of the excitement from the participants and what they shared.

Typically, when events kick off, there are the customary introductions where the participants introduce themselves and share why they signed up. One theme that kept cropping up was how much these women valued these women-only events. During their introductions, they would share how they love these events, why they feel more at home and find community and camaraderie among other women. The light went on for me. When I had the opportunity to do a preliminary qualitative research project involving a specific target audience by conducting in-depth interviews, I knew immediately I wanted to explore the topic of the attitudes and perceptions about being a woman in the mountain biking and trail building industries.

As a researcher, I’m not only on the outside looking in, but I’m also a male. I am grateful for all the women who gave space for me to show up to take photos and chat. Since I also lead Trail Builder Magazine, I knew this was a topic I wanted and needed to explore more. When we posted our very first interview with Heather de Choudens for the series on Women Trail Builders, I was not prepared for the outpouring of support and excitement. To date, that has been our most shared and liked post on Instagram. At the International Trails Summit last year in Reno, I connected with even more women trail builders who commented about our interview series.

This article reflects Part 1 of this study. I actually published it in Volume 1, Issue 1 of the magazine last year. As I’m writing my findings for Part 2, which included a survey component, I want to bring this article from behind the paywall of our magazine and share it with more people.

In the mountain biking industry and the adjacent trail building industry, there’s a growing movement to be more inclusive to women and the Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community. I also note that I’m writing from the United States, so this needs to be contextualized. There’s a longstanding perception that mostly white males lead and populate these industries. However, events such as Roam Fest are gaining momentum, which hosts women-only mountain bike events. “Roam Fest is a fun-first mountain bike festival that creates space for women, marginalized riders, and genderqueer femme folks to build community while riding in world-class bike destinations.” Another example of new events pushing back on these entrenched perceptions is Rezduro, a mountain bike race that has garnered much national attention. On the Navajo Nation in Arizona, Rezduro is “The first Indigenous-led mountain bike enduro race.”

This study aimed to interview women who are members of the Northwest Trail Alliance (and Northwest Trail Sisters) to uncover their perceptions and attitudes about being a woman in the mountain biking and trail building industry. Also, to explore the obstacles or barriers women face in mountain biking and trail building. Lastly, this study examined how women-only events have helped or changed perceptions of women entering mountain biking and trail building. Listed below are my research questions that guided this project.

RQ1: What type of communication has been effective in convincing women to get involved in mountain biking and trail building when they have been viewed as male-dominated industries?
RQ2: How has online communication through social media improved or reduced the barriers (both real and perceived) women must overcome to participate in mixed-gender trail building events?
RQ3: How has the communication of women-only events on social media changed or improved their perceptions of mountain biking and trail building?
RQ4: What communication content can be used to increase participation in trail building among diverse audiences?

I had 5-7 questions for each research question that I asked each participant. I recorded each interview and afterward transcribed them. From there, I coded the interviews and broke their responses into themes. Throughout the remainder of this article, I synthesized and summarized the participants’ responses under each research question.

RQ1: What type of communication has been effective in convincing women to get involved in mountain biking and trail building when they have been viewed as male-dominated industries?

Participants were asked a series of questions to uncover the communication that has been effective in getting women involved in trail building. The first question was a baseline assessment to discover who the female participants perceived as the target audience in communication regarding mountain biking and trail building. One participant was quick to answer, “Men, for sure.” Another echoed that sentiment and added, “A lot of times, their target audience is like the super shreddy guy. Or, just like that genre of men … like the super sick sender-type guys.” While two of the participants mentioned that they follow women-focused brands and other female riders and trail builders, as a whole, most communication is still male-oriented. As to what kind of communication would be more inviting for women, one of the women noted that seeing women out digging, smiling, and having fun is appealing.

Regarding whether women are well-represented on social media in mountain biking and trail building, the participants pointed out that women are not. While one of the women quickly answered “no” initially, she added, “You know, traveling, like traveling across the country. I will say we’re really fortunate living in Portland, and I’d say even like the Seattle, Bellingham areas, I think like the PNW, we do have a great representation of women.”

Lastly, there were two responses when asked how mountain biking and trail building organizations could communicate more effectively. Regarding more co-ed communication, One participant mentioned, “I feel like it’s that fine balance, right? Like, you don’t want women to feel like they have to be this separate group and excluded, like, the male population, or there to be a hard division between males and females. But also, too, you want to acknowledge that there’s a difference.” Another shared how she instead curates her social media to reflect more women-specific brands. She noted, “I particularly tried to follow women like female-founded companies, companies that support women in the outdoors. And so I think I’m the lucky one where my feed is a lot of women.”

RQ2: How has online communication through social media improved or reduced the barriers (both real and perceived) women must overcome to participate in mixed-gender trail building events?

Research Question 2 honed in on online communication. Participants were asked who they thought was the perceived target audience for mixed-gender trail building events. One participant explained, “My first instinct is probably they’re still catering to white dudes.” When asked what they wished mountain biking and trail building organizations knew about reducing barriers for women, there was a flurry of responses. One participant said, “Can we do better with a welcoming message? Like all abilities welcome. No stupid questions. How do you create a welcoming catchphrase that lets people know it’s a safe space at the end of the day?” Another suggested “more women in leadership positions for those co-ed events.” Lastly, one participant had much to say regarding this question. She mentioned, “You can invite people and be inclusive. But unless you are actually affirming their presence and actively making sure that, once we as women show up to the event, we are still feeling invited and welcome.”

It is worth noting one of the participants went on to explain that simply because organizations create women-only events, there’s more to think through. “And then the other thing that I wish others, other trail associations knew, is that just because we’re women doesn’t mean that we’re beginners. Always having everything be beginner-only because you’re a woman, at times, almost feels condescending because I’m experienced. I’m not a beginner.”

When asked what the significant obstacles or barriers women must overcome to participate in these events are, one participant said, “Yeah. I think the first and obvious one is just that fear, right? Of showing up to a space where you’re probably going to be the minority, and you’re going to be around a lot of potential testosterone. And are you comfortable with that? So like, kind of that initial fear and nervousness, I would say, is certainly the barrier.”

In light of that fear, participants were asked about the last mixed-gender trail building event they showed up for that was well-represented by women. None were. One shared, “So I would say a majority of the co-ed events I’ve attended, I’ve either been the only female or there’s been one other female.” Another reflected, “I think there were three of us. Four of us and about 15 other guys.” The theme of fear popped up in another’s response as she shared, “It can be super uncomfortable. And it’s, you know, there’s the thought, there’s always the thought in the back of your head, like, am I strong enough? Are people thinking about me differently because I, you know, might not be able to shovel as much dirt as the guy next to me? And there are in there’s always that feeling like I need to overcompensate for being a woman in those situations.”

When asked why being intentional about being inclusive to women in these spaces is essential, another of the ladies suggested, “I think it’s important because it’s not just a white male sport.” Another smiled and said, “Because we’re smart.” When it came to offering suggestions to mountain biking and trail building organizations to reduce barriers so more women can participate, one of the participants honed in on the importance of representation and women in key leadership roles. She asked, “Can I see myself in the people in charge?” Another shared, “I think the way that you grow the overall representation in the sport or trail building, right, is you have first to create, kind of that safe place to introduce it to people.” She went on to talk about other groups doing this and how powerful that is.

RQ3: How has the communication of women-only events on social media changed or improved their perceptions of mountain biking and trail building?

Knowing the importance of women-only events, the participants were asked to share who they thought was doing these types of events well. Most of the answers revolved around organizations like NW Trail Sisters (local), Evergreen (Washington), and Roam (national). When asked what made those events appealing, the participants were complimentary of the efforts of these organizations. One participant elaborated, “The Roam Fest. Yeah, I think they are, by far and away, one of the best. And, you know, the reason is that they have found a way to market to every skill level. So they’re not just beginner-oriented, they have an event for beginners, for intermediates, but then they also have an event, you know, for more advanced ridership. But just the space they create, how inviting they are, and how welcoming they are is incredible.”

RQ4: What communication content can be used to increase participation in trail building among diverse audiences?

Lastly, the focus of Research Question 4 was to explore what kind of communication content can be used to increase participation for trail building events. When asked who was missing out due to a lack of inclusive communication, One participant said, “Yeah, I would say entry-level riders or trail builders are missing out.” She elaborated, “I sometimes think in like broader announcements, we’re not very good at saying, ‘no experience needed,’ like, ‘just come have fun.’ So I think the expectation is that you have some experience, which was why I lean towards women-only events before I even went to co-ed events is because I need to understand the lay of the land.”

So what is the most effective way to communicate to increase participation among women at trail building events? One of the women focussed again on leadership. “As I get to know an organization a bit more, I’m mostly like, let me look at their staff. Let me look at clinics. How many females do they have in leadership? Are they running where the language is inclusive? And that drives me to support them and attend events.”

Participants were asked how the trail building organizations can be more inclusive and effective in communication with women. One participant shared, “I feel like it’s such a tricky question because I feel like I’m stereotyping women, but I feel like you’re damned if you do damned if you don’t like. Don’t make us feel like we’re less than, but also make us feel like we have a special platform.” She added, “But then at the same time, we don’t want to be told we can’t do the same level work or the same thing as men. But yeah, I think it’s like, all genders welcome, all skills welcome.”

When asked what effective communication can be used to garner more participation from women, one participant shared, “If we’re labeling women-only events, women-only events, like do we start labeling co-ed events, co-ed events? How is there phrasing that feels inclusive and not belittling? So like, thinking of phrases that feel inclusive. Whomever we’re trying to capture.” Another appealed to the use of inclusive language and representation on social media, “Um, in terms of like the communication, I think just underscoring, like, ‘hey, we all are welcome to this,’ like, ‘we really want to see.’ … you know, ‘women, non-binary, all of you,’ like underscoring that in the words and language used. Um, I hate saying it because I don’t ever want to tokenize. But obviously, like in the image, right? And in the photos, if it’s just a photo of a bunch of dudes like ... not gonna go.”

Discussion of Findings

The findings uncovered through in-depth interviews were insightful regarding the perceptions and attitudes of women involved in mountain biking and trail building. There is uniform agreement that most communication from mountain bike brands and trail building organizations targets predominantly white males. While strides among some organizations are being made to show the representation of women trail builders, as a whole, the industries of mountain biking and trail building are still male-dominated. As a result, it isn’t always appealing to women. However, women have found alternatives in women-specific organizations and brands, where they find their inspiration. According to the participants, women are not well-represented in the media for mountain biking brands and trail building organizations. Effective communication with women needs to have adequate representation of women involved in trail building and mountain biking.

Barriers, both real and perceived, hinder or prevent women from getting involved in trail building. Some have to step out and overcome fear and intimidation to get involved. For the participants interviewed, it was less about effective communication that got them to sign up, but instead, something personal prompted them. While women-only events and spaces are effective for getting women out for trail building work parties, co-ed work parties are still male-dominated. In other words, even with women-only trail building work parties, it hasn’t translated over to co-ed events.

The participants quickly pointed out other women-only brands and events that proved inspirational for them. These brands and events were deemed successful because they communicated with women and created safe spaces for women to participate in mountain biking and trail building without fear of intimidation or embarrassment about learning in front of men. The participants all agreed that groups like the Northwest Trail Sisters were effective in getting more women involved and only had positive things to say. The only questions or comments for recommendations were regarding how to grow these kinds of women-only groups to get more women involved.

On this topic of communication, these women had a lot to share regarding what brands could do better. It goes beyond simply inviting but being intentional in effective communication throughout the process, even during the events themselves. These women want to be viewed as equals and don’t want to be treated differently or lesser simply because of their gender. More than that, these women are confident they are intelligent, skilled, and have much to contribute to trail building.

This study revealed how powerful communication is regarding websites and social media. This is often the starting point for women exploring mountain biking and trail building. Representation, or lack thereof, powerfully influences the responses of those looking in from the outside. With the barriers and hindrances these women communicated, overcoming them and showing up to dig takes a lot. Organizations need to keep this in mind in their communication. Representation matters. The more inclusive brands and organizations are, the greater the likelihood of greater participation of women.

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