Hello folks! Thanks for joining me. Last time I wrote about a new program that I started called Joyride. Bike rides for girls. I have been wanting to do it for a while. Then I saw a video from the PNW of an actual girls mtb club that's just crazy! These girls are pulling off tricks and handling the bike with some mad skills. I was super impressed. I'll add the video so that you can see it as well. These girls rock! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0jf2KgLXxY
I also wrote about my experience as part of Roam Fest '23 in Knoxville, TN. While I was at the festival I met a couple of the coaches as they led a couple skill sessions. Amazing amount of skill amongst them. One of them is a mtb instuctor in Brevard, NC. I have spent a little time in Brevard. Looks like I was there before the mtb boom. For as long as I can remember mtb has been popular in Brevard and surrounding areas however, now it's a popular destination for mountain bikers. I really enjoy the trails and miss not having them nearby.
The lack of good mtb trails in Panama is something that kinda bothers me. There's some trails that I really like in what was Howard now called Panama Pacifico. In the rainy season it's almost impossible to ride. There's so much water that all the trails are just mud. I don't enjoy it and I don't enjoy cleaning my bike afterwards. I don't consider these few trails that we have as beginner friendly. It makes it difficult to lead mtb rides that folks will have fun on and want to return.
I have seen videos and read articles of mtb communities coming together to build trails. Sometimes it's with private landowners, or with land management organizations. I'd really like to try something like that. Land is used for stupid things here like strip malls/shopping plazas. We have an incredibly high number of them and many have a high turnover or are consistently empty. There's absolutely no need for that many here. That land could be used for green spaces, parks, playgrounds, and sports fields.
When I returned to Panama back in 2014 I moved to the El Cangrejo area. It's an area that I slightly remembered from when I was young. It was also the area that I lived in when I moved back briefly in 2010. This go around I had an apartment. In 2010 I didn't. I was living in short term rentals. I think I lived in 3 different short term rentals back then. I got to know the El Cangrejo area well. Anyway, back to 2014 where my apartment had easy access to many things. One of those things happened to be a mtb shop.
MTB Panama. Probably the best bike shop in Panama at least at that time. What made it so good? The people that would stop by to hang out. The camaraderie, the get togethers, and the group rides. There was an actual community of mt bikers. The shop is now closed and all of the folks who used to hang out there now have dispersed to do other things, or are part of some of the bike clicks that exist here. What was once a mtb community is now several small communities based on the bike shop that you frequent or the trail that you ride.
There's quite a bit of folks that ride bikes, if we can come together as a biking community there's a lot that we can change. I for one would like to see some more trails. Because of our long rainy season I think we need an indoor park. Like in Sweden and some of the midwest states. That way rain or shine you can ride your bike. As well as bike lanes in the city to allow for more bikes and less cars.
Joyride is on pause right now as the rainy season is in full swing and only increases until December. My plan is to change it from single rides to an after school club. On Saturday's they'll be rides for women. I'm on the hunt for places to ride.
Thanks for making it to the end. Enjoy the rest of your day or night. Until next time.
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