Event Report: The World’s Biggest Women’s MTB Festival
 | I don’t even know how to explain it. It was off the charts. Blew all of my expectations out of the water, it was seriously a million times better than I could have ever imagined it would be. |
This past weekend over 350 womxn traveled to Sedona, Arizona to partake in Roam Fest, a three-day mountain bike event curated for experienced female riders. Progression, world-class riding, fun vibes, and community building were all important aspects of the festival. Participants had the added benefit of nearly two hundred demo bikes with hand-selected frame sizes for the female riders in attendance.
“I thought the festival was amazing to have such an awesome group of women together that could shred on every level,” said Jen Zeuner, a former pro DH racer and co-owner of Hot Tomato Pizza (of Fruita, Colorado fame), “I don’t even know how to explain it. It was off the charts. Blew all of my expectations out of the water, it was seriously a million times better than I could have ever imagined it would be.” Zeuner came to the event as a panelist for the event's SHREDTalks influencer panel; one of the dozens of pre and post-ride activities offered at the event.
| We're just throwing bike parties for lady shredders. |
"When Roam Fest launched in 2017, it was the only event of it's kind in the world. To my knowledge, we continue to be the only dedicated large-scale event aimed at seasoned female riders looking for a fun-first, non-competitive experience to enjoy with other women." festival co-founder and co-director Andi Zolton said, "That sounded pretty serious, but really we're just throwing bike parties for lady shredders," she laughed.
The festival hosted dozens of small-group rides led by volunteer ride leaders throughout the weekend. Although geared toward established riders, the event hosted participants of every skill level from nearly-first-timers to World Champions, with the majority falling somewhere in between. Organizers created a detailed series of Trailforks routes utilized during group rides, as well as by riders who were happy to adventure out on their own outings. Hermosa Tours was on hand to get riders to and from trailheads with shuttle drivers doubling as hype-girls and route experts. There was also an opportunity to attend over 30 workshops hosted by participating bike companies with topics like bottom-bracket removal and trail building techniques.
Onsite activities ran well into the evening, with participants suiting up in puffy coats and wool caps to ward off the desert chill. On Friday there was a raucous meet-and-greet Happy Hour followed by an outdoor all-womxn's adventure film screening.
"We invest in a lot of evening infrastructure," said Zolton, "we want the event to feel like summer camp for adults, so we corral activities into all-festival gatherings in the evenings. We bring in the food, lights, space heaters, blankets, and campfire to set that tone. It isn't surprising to us that next to riding, the evening is nearly everyone's favorite part of the festival."
After a long day on the bikes Saturday, ladies enjoyed a warm catered dinner together while listening to a hilariously empowering keynote speech titled "Elephant in the Room" from Lisa Slagle, founder and CEO of creative agency Wheelie Creative. Then it was time for the aforementioned SHREDTalks discussion panel where Zeuner and her wife, Hot Tomato co-owner Anne Keller, joined reigning Queen of Crankworx Vaea Verbeeck and 4x World Champ Anneke Beerten. The crowd, full of stoke from the presence of several legends, was fully hyped for a raffle giveaway with all funds raised donated to the non-profit World Bike. The evening continued on its upward swing with a culminating animal-themed dance party just steps away from racks of demo bikes. A group of Sedona tourists on a Javelina safari stumbled upon the crowd.
| You can't help but be stoked! |
"Roam Fest was hands down one of the most epic experiences I have ever had, " said festival attendee and Paralympic snowboarder Heidi Dent, "words don't describe how amazing it is to be in one of the most awesome places on the planet surrounded by three hundred plus badass womxn. You can't help but be stoked!"
Roam Fest will be hosting two events in 2020: May 1-3 in Brevard, North Carolina and Sedona, Arizona in the fall. Registration for Roam Fest Brevard opens December 2nd, 2019 while the fall festival will launch tickets in early May. For more event information visit the Roam Events website or follow @thisisroam on Instagram for the most up-to-date announcements.
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Will put next year's event in North Carolina tentatively on the calendar ,but that's a much bigger trip for us.
Super cool that this is a thing!!! Nice work!
I would agree that maybe a marketing firm could help as 350 women is a good number but it has the potential to be some much bigger then that.
Not ripping on the event at all. The female riding population (mtn & road) is expanding quickly so capturing the potential would be great. If the idea is to keep it small then I get it.
My thought is if 2019 yielded 350 and 2021 grew to 1,000 then the industry would take notice. The industry would start to loom at the segment and devote more attending to women's products, marketing, and outreach.
Quick question for the Roam organizers-
"Gals", "Women" ("womxn"), "Ladies", "Girls", "Gurls" -- which do the organizers of Roam prefer?
I'm a relic of 2nd-wave feminism & am sensitive to naming. I'm noticing a LOT of lady shredders like to use "Girls", but I'm remembering loooong discussions in college which argued that's not the best term (ie infantilism, etc).
btw, you lefties, with your rhetoric of love and equality, are always first out the gate with abuse. weird..
tobiusmaximum is absolutely correct on this and opinions otherwise are just divisive, 3rd wave feminism bullshit that you’ve been conditioned to believe.
There is a terrible car accident, requiring emergency care. A boy and his father are rushed to the hospital for surgery. The boy is in more critical condition and rushed into the operating room first. The doctor on duty is shocked at the patient and says to the nurses, I cannot operate on this patient. When asked why, the response given is, "because this is my son."
How is this possible?
so they want to selectively include and exclude? and its acceptable when they dictate it? tosh.
all i hear is 'men and women are the same', then in the same breath.. 'men aren't invited'. how come? they're just the same as women apparently.
as for decades and centuries or marginalised and discriminated against.. i'm willing to put money that the women at the event largely live in safe, equal societies, drinking cappuccino, eating avocado on toast and riding thousands of dollars worth of push bikes. think about that. they aren't suppressed or oppressed.
btw, its hypocrisy by definition. nothing to do with having anything to lose.
You need to meet my wife of some of the local fast girls around here.
p.s. nobody cares if you're 'disgusted', other than the rest of the outrage brigade. but lets be honest, you're just signalling to them anyway. thats a pathetic dig. what, honestly, was said, that was disgusting?
People are going crazy with this equality thing, and I can't blame them because there is a constant eqaulity bombardment coming from the media.
I have zero problems with women having their own event.
My initial comment was just trying to make an absurd statement, in an attempt to make fun of that bombardment.
This is a sport that's 80% male, I have a good amount of female friends in the sport and encountered plenty that feel more comfortable and accepted when they're included in these women only events or clinics. They're not forcibly being "segregated" by their own mountain-bike community, and if you feel left out go sign-up for literally any mountain-bike event where it's so male dominated you could go the entire day without even speaking to a woman... I have a feeling you go multiple days without speaking to a woman anyways, but maybe you need even more separation who knows.
But it seems to me, that it only has to do with less people being interested in their races.
If they performed better than men, I am sure they would earn more than the men.
would you expect a ten-time title winning sports team to be recompensed equally to an also-ran in a lower league? no.