Last year, I launched the Ride Fierce Women’s Race Scholarship. My hope was that I would be able to help a few women overcome a few of the barriers that may have prevented them from otherwise doing their first mountain bike race. With the help of a few friends and sponsors, I was able to provide a free race entry, six months of coaching, a sports psychology master class, and some gear to four women in the region.

Coming off of the success of year one, I posted a story to my Instagram asking for connections and help in making the scholarship bigger for 2026, which resulted in several cash donations as well as connections to various race directors–all of which means that the Ride Fierce Women’s Race Scholarship is back for 2026!

The Backstory

In early 2024, I posted a reel of me freaking out before a trail feature with the sole purpose of being vulnerable and drawing attention to the fact that everyone gets scared sometimes. Within hours, I had thousands of internet trolls telling me that, as a woman, I shouldn’t ride bikes, and should go back to the kitchen. 

Rather than selling all my bikes as the haters encouraged, this lit a fire in me to use my voice to get more women on bikes, and more women racing mountain bikes. 

I get it. I was an “adult-onset” athlete myself. I didn’t start racing mountain bikes until I was almost 30. Racing mountain bikes isn’t easy. It takes time, effort, and money, luxuries that not everyone has. It also means doing something that not a lot of other women around you are doing. It can be scary at times. 

But it is also SO rewarding. 

The community of women in mountain biking is really that: a community. On the race course, we are competitors, but we are also friends, and just want to see more women joining us on the trails. 

And that’s what I want, too. And thus, the Ride Fierce Women’s Race Scholarship: a personal project to help get at least a few more women racing here in Appalachia / the Mid-Atlantic.

The Ride Fierce Women’s Race Scholarship is a grassroots initiative to provide a pathway for more women to race mountain bikes here in Appalachia / the Mid-Atlantic. For 2026, I am able to offer entries to the following events:

• The Shed Enduro – Enduro MTB Race, Frederick, Maryland – August 1-2, 2026
• Slatyfork Enduro – Enduro MTB Race, Slatyfork, West Virginia – August 8-9, 2026 **PRO RIDER ONLY
• ORAMM – 100k MTB Race, Old Fort, North Carolina – July 26, 2026
• Monday Lick Enduro – Enduro MTB Race, Marlinton, West Virginia – June 20-21, 2026
• Wormhole – 50k or 100k MTB Race, Arcadia, Virginia – April 11, 2026
• Michaux GRVL – 15, 45, 65, or 100mi Gravel Race, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania – September 26, 2026
• Middle Mountain Momma – 11, 21, or 44 mile MTB Race, Clifton Forge, Virginia – May 3, 2026
• Black Bear Enduro – Enduro MTB Race, Charleston, West Virginia – April 18-19, 2026

Whereas the 2025 scholarship only allowed one woman per race, for several of these events, I am able to sponsor multiple entries–20 in total–which will hopefully have the added benefit of creating a bit more community for scholarship participants by allowing women to connect before, during, and after the events (and, for all women racing these events, create bigger fields!). Like before, I will be providing coaching for each woman in the lead-up to their events, and several of my partners, including Handup Co., Black Ox, and CarboRocket, have donated a small “prize pack” of gear, and Skadi Sport Psychology is providing each scholarship recipient with their Ultimate Guide to Race Day course.

This sponsorship is specifically for adult women (over 18) who are new to mountain bike racing. The exception to this is the entry for the Slatyfork Enduro, which is an entry to the Pro Women’s class and reserved for riders willing and able to race in the pro field. 

Applications will open on December 1st and will close on December 31st. Scholarship recipients will be notified the first week of January.