3/16/2020 0 Comments Happiest Trails Hey y'all it's been a minute... over a month! Things have really started to pick up around here at the shop and in my personal life. We have had two more classes since I last posted, Brakes clinic and a Drivetrain class. There has also been a quick up-tick in repair work at the shop too. My roommate got a sweet new dog and we've been working on the new guy, Foster, and Mel-dog becoming good buddies. I also got a new bike! There was a demo Surly ECR at the shop that I finally found all the right reasons to rescue ;P But I'm super stoked to say I am looking forward to a vacation here soon (if all goes according to plan, fingers crossed.) My boyfriend and I are gonna take the newly, sleeper converted Honda Element, and go ride the trails around North West Arkansas, Bentonville in particular. Not only do they have awesome trails there with funding from the Walton (Wal-Mart) family, but my best friend lives there too! And she's been working on building those exact trails!!! Morgan and I met through bikes and mutual friends and worked together at the former, non profit co-op, the Spoke Folks. A few years after turning wrenches she decided it was time to go explore some other parts of the world and pursue other aspects of the bike life. She's now found herself in Bentonville as a hand builder. With the anticipation of being able to experience her work and see what the hype is all about I asked her a few questions about her experience in this realm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Morgan Barkley Rock Solid Trail builder- Hand Worker Enduro MTB racer Dog mom What are your top 5 Songs to dig to? Tempo + Fitness - Lizzo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srq1FqFPwj0 Spice Girl - Amine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3AVtQkEHaE Anything Ata Kak (some super spicy African hype) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd0PV82e1jE Chun Li - Nicki Minaj https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpm07-BGJnE MOOD 4 EVA - Beyonce JAY-Z, Childish Gambino, Oumou Sangare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i978rjXw3P0 What are some surprising things you learned about trail building? I think the most surprising thing about trail building so far is just the fact that I’ve been able to do it! I was super nervous to make the switch from shop work to chopping up dirt with hand tools. The first few weeks were really hard, and its still the most intense job I've ever had, but seeing just how much physical labor my body is capable of has been pretty empowering What has your favorite project been so far? My favorite project so far has been a black diamond trail in Minnesota where they're in the early stages of developing a bike park at a ski resort called Giants Ridge. Tiny little town just north of Duluth. I was only on the project for a couple weeks as a sub after another crew member quit but it was THEE BEST two weeks. I absolutely loved the crew, and even though we worked 9+ hours days in sometimes knee high mud, I’d do it all again. Morale was high even when the weather was garbage and we were building some seriously sweet shit. Gigantic berms, chunky glacial rock gardens, 30+ ft jumps, and my favorite - a big ol’ drop / step down. Have you found that your riding has improved since building? I think my riding has definitely improved since I’ve started building! I think its especially pushed me to hit features I might not have otherwise gone for. The best example is probably that drop / step down at Giants Ridge we worked on. It was so big and intimidating, but when you spend days and days grooming it and looking at it from every possible angle you get the feeling that you have to hit it, you know? You just get to know it so well that it seems strange to just walk away from it! What’s your experience as a woman out there? I feel extremely lucky to have been paired with the foremen that I have so far. The first two I worked for were extremely encouraging, put me in leadership roles, and gave me the feedback I needed to be more efficient. Their input combined with the empowerment I’ve gained from my body’s ability to “keep up” with whatever the day demands have given me a ton of confidence to work on things I’m not as good at. Like - navigating how to communicate in a way I’m not used to. I’ve learned to speak up, to openly disagree and not shy away from conflict, and to continue to look for opportunities to learn everyday. It seems often women are taught to be much more agreeable than men. That having an opinion or staking claim to knowledge you trust you have makes you difficult or bossy. I’ve had more “difficult” conversations since I’ve starting trail building than any other time in my life - and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. Whether its with my peers - fellow hand workers that I disagree with and force myself to speak up so that hopefully we can work more cohesively together, or with leadership - as a strong leader myself I expect a lot out of my foremen. And it has been such great and uncomfortable practice to speak that truth to power. Because plain and simply, they out rank me. But that doesn’t mean that they are not also held to expectations. I care very much about the product we produce, the quality of the trail reflects on all of us. I want to be nothing but proud of what we attach our names and efforts to. It is honest and humbling work that is systematically attached to my absolute love of bikes, and because of that I will always do the uncomfortable but necessary action of growing where I’m weakest. I feel incredibly lucky to represent women in a male dominated industry and I try my best to do so with all the energy I can muster. My competitive nature makes it mandatory, personally, to not only be “good” at my job, but very good. And as a woman I feel it mandatory to be even better. One day I will be a foreman and I hope to god that I get to train the next generation of women in the industry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THANK YOU MORGAN!!! I seriously cant hype up Morgan enough, its been so exciting watching her glow up and see where her courage and tenacity and passion takes her. I feel like part of how we've grown to be so close is due to our interest and hype for bikes and community. Morgan and I seem to be kindred spirits in our need to go out and try things first hand. We follow our hearts and our strong minds. So so proud and continually impressed with her. Morgan has also been a part of a sweet documentary called Stay Wild!! Their Facebook describes this film as: Stay Wild is a documentary about the barriers women face in and out of the mountain bike industry. Follow along as we unfold the stories of 5 incredible women as they rip down some of the most wonderful trails in Northwest Arkansas. It's currently being edited, keep your eyes out for it! https://www.facebook.com/staywildfilm/ Morgan currently works for Rock Solid Trail Contracting LLC. Here is their portfolio of work and other projects! https://www.rocksolidtrails.com/project Look how awesome these trails are!! So rad omg!
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AuthorLiz is a bike mechanic in Grand Rapids MI. She is one of two female mechanics in the city. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Drawing and has one dog and one hedgehog. Archives
March 2021
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