Inside the Trek Momentum Women’s Camp 2022
Last year, Harriet Burbidge-Smith approached her sponsor – Trek Bicycles Australia – with a concept shaped by her own experiences as a female slopestyle/free-ride athlete overseas.
Words: Georgina von Marburg
Photos: John Prutti
We’re all aware that women are a minority in the competitive cycling scene – just take a look at your local club’s most recent start list. For many women, this can be a barrier in learning and developing new skills; trying new things in life is always easier when you’re surrounded by others who are standing in or have been in your position.
For years, this disparity has been particularly prevalent in the freeride and slopestyle scenes. And this is where the Trek Momentum camp steps up to fill a critical role. Last year, Harriet Burbidge-Smith approached her sponsor – Trek Bicycles Australia – with a concept shaped by her own experiences as a female slopestyle/free-ride athlete overseas.
Harriet, aka “Haz,” is an ex-BMX racer who has found herself at home amongst the wildlings of mountain biking. But it wasn’t a smooth transition for Harriet, who’s journey was splintered with injuries, sponsor rejections, setbacks, and failures – the pre-hallmarks of any successful athlete. The success came after Harriet threw herself into a series of “camps” overseas aimed at female free-riders.
“With Trek Momentum, I basically started off with an idea from a bunch of camps and events I did over the last year. It brought on this idea that when you get together as a group of young riders with similar interests… you’ll just sort of thrive.”
Trek Australia – who’s global brand is heavily present in the free-ride scene, sponsoring athletes such as Brett Rheeder and Casey Brown – were instantly sold on the idea. Trek had yet to officially “own” an event in Australia, and a women’s specific free-ride camp sounded right up their alley. For example, last year Trek-Segafredo became the first world tour road team to align the base salary of their women’s team with that of their men’s. For this brand, supporting women’s cycling is more than just marketing arsenal.
Ashley Longshaw, an avid mountain biker herself, is the Brand Marketing Specialist for Trek Australia and New Zealand. “I had Harriet and Caroline (Buchanan) come up to me and talk about how back in the day, when they were upcomers, they didn’t actually get a lot of support in the sport,” she recalls. “So [we wanted] to have something where we’re focusing on female progression and having everyone come together, be together, and ride together – that’s what it was all about.”
The Location
With an idea and sponsor in place, a venue was the next requirement. While locations in the US or New Zealand spring to mind as the ideal hosts for such a camp, Australia does not. But it was essential to Harriet that the camp take place in her home country.
“With all the women’s free-ride events that I went to last year it felt like everyone just progressed so much as a group. And I thought, that’s something that’s never happened in Australia before.”
While slopestyle courses are virtually nonexistent here, there is one event bucking this lackluster trend. The Highline Mountain Biking Festival is an annual Crankworx style event which takes place in the Victorian high-country town of Mansfield.
“In Australia there’s one clear team and location that’s really doing something for slopestyle and free-ride and I feel like that’s Highline in Mansfield,” Harriet claims. “From riding it last year at their first contest, I knew that they knew how to put a course together.” And with an exquisite glamping site across the road, the Highline course was the unquestionable candidate to host the camp.
Read more about the annual Mansfield Highline event!
The Team
Harriet called upon Trek riders Caroline Buchanan, Zoe Cuthbert, and Mike Ross to provide mentorship during the camp. Mike is the undisputed king of big air in Australia; Zoe is an extraordinarily well-rounded XCO rider with successful forays into enduro and downhill; and Caroline – well, Caroline needs no introduction.
10 girls were then handpicked from across Australia from various backgrounds. There were downhillers, BMX riders, ultra-distance bike-packers – you name it. One thing they all had in common what that illustrious Send It attitude, with a sprinkling of youthful stoke and promising talent. These girls would form the first ever batch of Trek Momentum graduates.
Pulling into the Mansfield Glamping site, I had a minimal understanding of slopestyle and free-ride. Over the course of several days, I would learn as much about the skills and mindset required for these extreme disciplines, as about the riders themselves. The sheer risk-taking nature of this extreme end of mountain biking means emotional and psychological support is even more important, for both men and women. Unlike endurance athletes, riders in these disciplines spend much of their time on mental training: their feats are performed in a matter of seconds, meaning visualisation and confidence are muscles in themselves.
A mindset performance coach was therefore a natural addition to the team of mentors for the camp. Maddy Costanzo from Costanzo Fitness and Performance would provide the girls with valuable psychological tools and lessons from her years of experience in the world of two-wheeled racing. “I give them tips and tricks on self-talk, visualisation, how to handle emotions or nerves,” says Maddy. “I think this camp is a great benchmark for other sports to go ‘this is what we need to be doing for our female athletes. We need to be empowering them.’ Even though this is an individual sport we need to make a community so that they can all come together and help each other.”
Pushing Limits
On the first day of camp, the girls walked the newly devised slopestyle jumps at the Highline course. If you’ve never seen one of these courses, they’re essentially a series of purpose built drops and kickers designed to produce enough airtime in which to perform tricks and flips. Sound intimidating? It is. But this is where the wisdom and experience of Harriet and Caroline enveloped the girls like a cool, calming breeze. They knew exactly how many pedal strokes and what speed were required throughout the course, under any given wind direction. Being a camp and not a competition, it wasn’t about doing the jumps; it was about wanting to do the jumps, and knowing how.
“This is definitely the perfect environment for any female to come together in a non-competitive environment where we’re not worried about competing against each other,” said Caroline. “It’s just an environment where we can all shine and all support each other. The end goal is just to walk away better than you came.”
And after one day, all the girls were hitting features as confidence rebounded through the entire group. “[After] day 1, every single girl has not only blown my mind, but I’ve seen so much belief grow within all of them. They’ve all ticked over some little hurdle with themselves.”
Forming Friendships
Large groups can often be an intimidating place to try new things or push new boundaries. While some individuals have enough bravado to thrive under these conditions, skeptics of the “camp” strategy might wonder how the girls could conquer the slopestyle course under the gaze of huge brands and celebrity riders. But this was the magic of Trek Momentum. Despite the apparent prestige of the event, it was really just a bunch of girls riding bikes and gas bagging around campfires.
While many riders are used to socialising at races, an uncompetitive event is the chance to unite in more meaningful way. As one of the girls, Katie Lawler, reflected “I go to races and I never get to know who [other girls] are, and they don’t get to know who I am. And I feel like that’s a massive barrier for women because… you never connect.”
The week’s atmosphere was relaxed and flexible, encouraging the girls to have fun and leave any performance worries behind. Each day would begin with breakfast and a sunrise through the serene valley which Mansfield Glamping overlooks. The more “anaerobically-inclined” riders (read: endurance nerds) would then ride the heart-breaking climb to the course; the downhillers, dedicated to their craft, took one of the many shuttles on hand.
However you reached the first drop-in, everyone was welcome. Individual talents and quirks were praised and amplified by the collective stoke, the perfect recipe for growth and success. Apart from the slopestyle course, there was also a natural and off-camber Downhill course; myself, Zoe Cuthbert, and my good pal Lucie van der Schalk all earned our turns while enjoying Mansfield’s finest jank. And while we did receive strange looks from the shuttles as we rode up the hill for the third time, we knew in our hearts they were impressed. Sort of.
The evenings were centered around sumptuous meals from the Kitchen Door, followed by premium and banter and hysteric laughter around the campfire. Each night, a different mentor would share experiences and lessons from their respective journeys in the sport. The girls would learn directly from their heroes and idols exactly what it takes to become the best version of themselves. Talks would range from goal setting and career advice, to mindfulness and meditation. At the beginning of the camp, everyone was given a small notebook in which to record their key learnings from each day; this could be anything from obvious successes like “I landed that trick,” to internal imperatives such as “I maintained positive self-talk on the bike.”
While Trek Momentum was a bicycle-centered event, it was these off-bike experiences that seemed to be cultivating confidence and kindling progression. This was the environment Harriet had thrived in overseas, and what she wanted to provide here in Australia. “I was really happy how all the girls seemed to be getting along and just having a really good time, and just stoked on each other’s progress – which is exactly what I expected because it’s what has been happening with me over the last year.”
Why “Momentum?”
With so many key takeaways and fun time arising from the camp, it begs the question as to where the event will go from here. But the answer is alluded to in the title itself.
When asked how they came up with the name “Momentum”, Harriet explains the term was chosen very consciously. “It really resonated with me because it kind of felt a lot like what I did over the past two to three years. It was really slow momentum to start with, but it just progressively got bigger and bigger – and the bigger it gets, the faster it happens.” Success stories need to start building momentum somewhere, and for many of these girls, it may be this camp.
Trek see the camp itself snowballing into an annual event across the country and extending invitations to international riders. “We just really want to share the stoke of female riders,” says Ashley Longshaw. “They’re killing it out there… and we just want to focus and support as much as we can.” While Momentum is undoubtedly focused on free-ride – where women are particularly underrepresented – Ashley alludes to broadening the scope of the event. “It’s great to showcase not only free-ride or downhill, but get a lot of the different biking disciplines involved. It’s just about the community that we have, and the sisterhood.”
The Riders
Elise Empey
Age: 17
Home: Mansfield, VIC
Favourite place to ride: Mansfield, specifically “some secret little tracks I built – which are pretty mint.”
Riding style: “Direct and non-steezy”
Favourite snack: Ice-cream
Idol: Tahnee Seagrave
Matilda Henness
Age: 14
Home: Jindabyne, NSW
Favourite place to ride: Maydena
Riding style: “Aggressive – I like downhill!”
Favourite snack: Popcorn
Idols: Caroline Buchanan, Harriet Burbidge-Smith, Miriam Nicole
Georgia Henness
Age: 16
Home: Jindabyne, NSW
Favourite place to ride: Maydena
Riding style: “I like to just go straight and fast.”
Favourite snack: BBQ Shapes – “they always fill you up.”
Idols: Harriet Burbidge-Smith and Sian A’Hern
Lucie van der Schalk
Age: 24
Home: Canberra, ACT
Favourite place to ride: Majura Pines, Canberra
Riding style: “Relaxed? Relaxed.”
Favourite snack: “Crisps – crinkle cut. Aldi only.”
Idol: Lael Wilcox and Zoe Cuthbert
Sarah Nicki
Age: 14
Home: Canberra, ACT
Favourite place to ride: Skateparks
Riding style: “Style.”
Favourite snack: “Anything mint flavoured.”
Idols: Caroline Buchanan and Natalya Diehm
Layla Sharman
Age: 15
Home: Tasmania
Favourite place to ride: Maydena
Riding style: “Progressive. Gradually getting better I guess.”
Favourite snack: Avocado and toast
Idol: Vero Sandler
Ruby Jacobson
Age: 15
Home: Tasmania
Favourite place to ride: Maydena
Riding style: “Having as much fun as possible!”
Favourite snack: Grapes
Idol: Vinny Armstrong
Katie Lawler
Age: 27
Home: Tasmania
Favourite place to ride: Cairns
Riding style: “Plow. I need more rear rims. Anyone got a rim for me?”
Favourite snack: Chicken Crimpy Shapes
Idols: Tegan Molloy and Rachel Atherton
Ellie Smith
Age: 21
Home: Central Coast, NSW
Favourite place to ride: Whistler
Riding style: “Smooth – most of the time.”
Favourite snack: Chocolate and hot-cross buns
Idols: Harriet Burbidge-Smith, Caroline Buchanan, and Miriam Nicole
Sacha Mills
Age: 15
Home: Queensland
Favourite place to ride: Boomerang Bike Park, QLD
Riding style: “Jumps.”
Favourite snack: Maltesers
Idol: Tahnee Seagrave
