2025 Ride, Empower and Connect (REC) Women’s Mountain Bike Camp

This is the third annual REC Camp, in which 24 local women ages 18 and up will connect to their community, have fun, and build skills. Four groups of beginner to intermediate+ riders will be taught by PMBIA-certified coaches, get amazing swag, and rip it up on Cochrane’s local trails.

The application will be open June 22 to July 13: Participants are sorted by skill, chosen by lottery (e.g. not first-come-first-served), and can live in any neighbouring municipality.

New this year: Returning participants are welcome to apply, and if selected will be asked to pay a fee of $120 that will be donated 100% back into the program to make it more sustainable for future years. 30% of spaces are reserved first for LGBTQ2S+, low-income, and BIPOC participants; non-binary folks who are comfortable in women-oriented spaces are welcome.

All of our coaches are local, certified mountain bike instructors through the Professional Mountain Bike Instructor Certification (PMBIA) and are certified in Standard First Aid or higher.

Weekend Schedule

*exact schedule subject to change

Friday, September 26th

5:30 -6:15pm - Check-in (get packages, jerseys, mingle), welcome, review of weekend 6:15 - 8:15 - Big Hill Cycle’s bike repair session, and a nutrition for mountain biking talk 8:15 - Prize draw, goodbye until tomorrow!

Saturday, September 27th

9:00 - 9:15am - Welcome/Safety/Bike Check/Land Acknowledgment 9:15 - 10:00am - Group sorting ride 10:15 - Noon - Group assignments and clinic #1 Noon - 12:45pm - Lunch: Donated by Cochrane Coffee Traders!
1:00 - 3:00pm - Clinic #2 and ride
3:30- 4:30pm - Yoga for Mountain Bikers Session donated by Alchemy Yoga!
4:45 - Day Wrap Up, prize draw

Sunday, September 28th

9:00 - 9:15am - Welcome/Safety/Bike Check/Land Acknowledgment
9:15 - 10:45am - Clinic #1
10:45 - 11:00am - Snack Break
11:00 - 12:00pm - Clinic #2 12:00 - 12:45pm - Lunch
12:45 - 3:45 - Longer trail ride, apply skills 4:00 – 5:00pm - Weekend Wrap-up

All instructors/coaches are certified mountain bike instructors/coaches through the Professional Mountain Bike Instructor Certification (PMBIA) and are certified in Standard First Aid or higher.

Mandatory Gear List for Clinic

1 Mountain bike in good working order. If you are not sure, please feel free to email grants@bikecochrane.com with a photo and description of your bike, and we will help you determine whether it’s good to go. To ensure a fun, safe, and smooth weekend, all bikes should:

Have had a recent service at a bike shop (or equivalent)
Be a true mountain bike (no fat bikes)
Have disc brakes
Have front suspension
Fit you properly: In order to have the best and safest experience it is important that your bike fits; if your bike is an older bike and you haven’t taken it to a shop to see if it is set up for you, this is something you may want to consider so your riding experience will be safe and enjoyable.
For Level 4 (intermediate+) participants only: Because you are learning jumps and drops your bike should have front AND rear suspension, with rear travel preferably around 140mm (120mm is the lowest acceptable range).
If you do not have a bike, we do have limited available funds to help with rental costs for those who need financial support in this!
We currently don't have the capacity to coach newer riders on e-bikes, as this is a separate skill set with unique needs. If you are an experienced rider and are very comfortable on your e-bike, please email grants@bikecochrane.com and we can chat!

2 Bike helmet – fits properly and is no more than 5 years old

3 Appropriate riding clothing such as cycling shorts/pants and jersey. We also request that you carry a jacket and everything you will need for the weekend (we will ride in almost any weather!)

4 Appropriate foot wear (we recommend a MTB shoe such as a Ride Concept with a flat, soft, sticky sole). Running shoes are not ideal. Clipless shoes are fine as long as this is normally how you ride and are comfortable doing so.

5 Full fingered bike gloves

6 Backpack or hip pack that can fit snacks, extra clothing and water

7 Flat tire repair kit

a spare tube - even if your bike is set up with tubeless tires, it is a good idea to carry a tube as a back-up
bike pump or CO2 Inflator
tire levers
a bike-specific multi-tool

Sounds amazing, how do I join?!

The application will be available on this page from June 22nd to July 13th, so set a reminder and bookmark it! Please set aside a good chunk of time to fill out this form; although we select participants at random, we do need to make sure that all applicants are invested in the idea of the program and can 100% commit to it! The application also contains some extra information on REC so read it carefully and if you have any questions, email Bri at grants@bikecochrane.com.

Recipients will be notified by July 30th, 2025