Meet 6 of the Ladies Sending the Joyride Features
It wasn't exactly publicized through the week, but the Joyride boys aren't the only ones who threw down last weekend on those big features. Sunday morning, after the dust had settled from Saturday evening's fanfare, a crew of ladies showed up ready to show what they're made of, then did exactly that.
I was lucky enough to be there to watch them, and had the chance to catch up with some (though not all) of them before and after the riding session, so not only did I get to watch them break barriers but I had the chance to learn a little bit about what's happening in their heads behind the scenes.
Kaia Jensen
Kaia Jensen is someone who can stomp big jumps with a smile on her face, so it's great to see her - once again - stomping big jumps with a smile on her face.
How's your day going right now?
It's going pretty well. Yeah, yeah, going good.
What are your biggest goals in freeride?
To have as much fun as possible.
How are you going to get there?
Smiling, hitting big stuff, riding with the homies, just trying new things and pushing myself as often as possible.
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I think that having people out there in the world stoked on seeing us hitting it is going to be a big part of it. I think the ladies are ready for it. I think that, especially by next year, there'll be even more ladies ready for it. So I think just people being stoked to watch us, us being stoked to do it, and then Joyride, recognizing that should mean we should do it.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
Hannah Bergemann's definitely been a big one, especially getting into freeride and showing me that there's a space there for women. Casey Brown is a classic. She was really out there putting it down, and earlier than a lot of other women were even thinking about it.
Lucy van Eesteren
Lucy van Eesteren has managed to do more on a bike in her teen years than most of us will do in our lives, and we love to see it.
How's your day going right now?
It's going really good. I woke up not too long ago, and I'm here, just cruising, stoked to see some of the first hits go down.
What are your biggest goals in freeride?
My biggest goal in freeride is to do something different, maybe something that's not seen all the time. I really want to bring a lot more creativity into the stuff I do, and make it more expressive.
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I'd say for Joyride to have a women's category, it would be just about doing it. The women are ready, and I'm sure there's a bunch that want to do it, so I'd say whenever you've got a good stacked field of confident women who want to do it, do it. I don't see why not.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
Over the years, I've definitely most looked up to Casey Brown. Casey Brown's just a woke, great human, and an insane sick rider, and super stylish as well, and I take so much inspiration from Veronique Sandler. She's just so dope, and very, very cool, fun to be around, so yeah, definitely those two I've looked up to the most over the years.
Patricia Druwen
Patricia Druwen earned her Red Bull helmet at Crankworx, and she's shown that she's not slowing down anytime soon. We're excited to see what the 16-year-old German rider does next.
How's your day going right now?
Actually pretty good. We have so much fun, but it's a little bit windy so we can't ride the whole course every time. But yeah, it is so much fun to ride Joyride.
What are your biggest goals in freeride?
Definitely more contests on FMB and hopefully Crankworx, slopestyle women's category in the next years maybe?
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I think the jumps are pretty big, so maybe not every female can ride it or trick it. Yeah, it's pretty hard to explain it. It's pretty big jumps and they're super hard to trick for a good contest. But maybe we'll see Alma Wiggberg. Kathi Kuypers, she's good on big jumps. Maybe some other girls, Natasha Miller.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
From the girls, I don't know, but from the boys Thomas Lemoine because he is riding so good and hit the tricks so insane.
Mia Moore
Mia got up from a crash, headed back up, and checked off an impressive amount of the course. Showing us how it's done.
How's your day going right now?
It's going good. I hit the step-down and the drop a couple times really clean. And then ended up going down and just went down on my side, scuffed myself up pretty bad, so I'm just going to chill for the rest of the day. But stoked, hit the top, a couple features and I had a lot of fun.
What are your biggest goals in freeride?
My biggest goals are to just go to every competition I get invited to, do as much as I can, meet more people, make more connections. And just have as much fun doing it as I can, which I already am. And I just love it. Biking's so sick. Everyone's so supportive and dope.
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I just think we need space to get out there and throw down and really showcase what we can do. And I think we're getting there. I think in the next couple years it would be insane to have a woman's slopestyle category on the Joyride courses and just the world tour. I know the ladies are getting ready and we're all keen for it, so hopefully I get to be involved in that when it happens.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
Over the years, I've really looked up to Casey Brown and just how she moves with so much grace and is just such a dope person on and off the bike. And I really look up to my big brother, Chance. I'd say he's my biggest inspiration. When I look at riding, I want to want to be on the same level as those top dogs and just do what I can to get there one day. And yeah, everyone's so dope. Love all the ladies, all my friends are insane at riding, so it's cool to be around and cool to get support here.
Kathi Kuypers
Kathi Kuypers has been at the forefront of freeride for a long time, and it's exciting to see her continuing to push the sport forward.
How's your day going right now?
It's very nice. I've look forward to this session to ride the Joyride course for a long time now. Actually, I don't know, probably my whole career for 10 years now. It's very emotional. I'm stoked how good it's running. The course is really good, very well-built, not dangerous, just cruise in, in one speed and then you're fine, and it just gives you so much confidence.
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I think we could just have one now or next year. The progression will be crazy when we have five days of practice because then you focus on the first two days on get getting through the course and get comfy, and then you start doing your tricks. There are no FMB events where we have that long practice time. And I think if you would just have five days of practice, we would be crushing it probably.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
My homie back home, Angie Hohenwarter, is like my best friend, my best riding buddy. She showed me everything. She brought me to Crankworx 2014 or so. Another person from back home, Peter Kaiser, he's helping me so much. I learned so much from him. And yeah, my big heroes were Brandon Semenuk and Brett Rheeder.
Blake Hansen
Blake Hansen doesn't consider herself a slope rider, but you'd never guess that from watching her ride.
How's your day going right now?
Oh my gosh. Hello, Alice Lego. My day is going so well. I showed up to this Joyride course session with no expectations because I had no idea what I was capable of, though the first little bit of the course was maybe my loose goal. So yeah, I did that and I'm feeling really good, so my day's going very well.
What are your biggest goals in freeride?
I think it's the same goal I've always had since I started riding bikes, and that's just to learn my limits, which are constantly changing. Just constantly staying in search of where that is and that kind of keeps me progressing, even if it's conservatively.
What do you think it will take for Joyride to have a women's category?
I think more of this kind of stuff. I mean, at the end of the day, how are we supposed to fathom being able to compete in this kind of thing if we're not able to come ride it and session it and have more opportunities to ride bigger stuff? For me personally, I'm not a slope rider, but to be able to have the opportunity and see that the slope rider girls who do want this to have the opportunity is sick to see, and we just need more of it.
Which female riders have you most looked up to over the years?
I look up to a lot of people. I look up to people who are kind and who have been nice and helpful to me over time. That's been Katie Holden. It's been Hannah Bergemann. Lately it's been peers actually. Right now, this week here at Crankworx, I've been looking up a lot to Kaia Jensen, who's just showed up this week with the best attitude. It's been infectious and I think like me feeling a little bit intimidated by this week and physically a little rundown, her attitude has definitely picked me up and helped me to get through and meet some of my goals this week. So that's kind of sick.
Photos: Tyler Ravelle
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
never actually heard the term woke used positively. interesting.
Because most are boring as fk.