Women’s Mountain Biking Day happens every year on the first Saturday in May. Across the country, hundreds of mountain biking clubs and thousands of women around the country gather to ride: for fun, for connection, for fitness and health, and for the great pleasure of doing rad things with other people like them. From small group rides, to solo rides for busy mamas, to large events, IMBA local member organizations honor the contributions of the women in our communities, on our Boards, in our volunteer groups, and on our trails!

Interested in how large Women’s Mountain Biking Day events come together? (Spoiler alert: it takes rad women with a passion for riding and bringing folks together, trail stewardship, advocacy, and support from the trails community, and YOU can do it, too!) Read on to learn about an event in the Des Moines, Iowa area: its champion, the effort, and how it’s bringing women together.

Jolie Costello: Champion for Women’s Mountain Biking Day

Jolie Costello is an avid cyclist, a mother of two, a wife, and an advocate for women on bikes.  She enjoys spending her free time with family doing things like backpacking, camping, hiking, craft nights, and, their favorite: mountain biking. This winter, a full five months ahead of Women’s Mountain Biking Day, Jolie reached out to IMBA’s Advocacy team to ask about ways she might leverage her club’s (Central Iowa Trails Association) relationship with IMBA to bring some awareness to her Women’s Mountain Biking Day events, which have seen increased participation and stoke over the last several years, and to share what she’s done with other folks organizing events. We were stoked.

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IMBA Sat Down With Jolie to Learn More. 

IMBA: Tell us a little more about your trails in and around Des Moines, your club(s), and your riding community.

Jolie: I love to spend time riding with my family, and Des Moines has a lot to offer that most folks from outside of the area don’t know about yet. While our kids aren't fully ready for some of the more challenging trails in our area like Center Trails and Banner Lakes, we find joy in riding around through our casual multi-use trails like Sycamore and Denman's. We [as a family, and the greater riding community] are eagerly waiting for the grand opening of a long awaited local project and multi-use trail system, Fourmile MTB Park, formerly known as Copper Creek MTB trails (an IMBA Dig In project).

While riding with my family brings me joy, there are others to thank for the adventure and trail systems in the area. In Des Moines, we are lucky to have the Central Iowa Trails Association (CITA) who maintains the trails so we can continue to ride, stay educated on trail maintenance, and grow as a dirt community, which is just one of many resources in the area allowing riders to grow. I also race for a local team, ALL the WATTZ p/b Chain and Spoke, that boasts a lot of strong women (and men) - riders who excel on dirt, gravel, and road. Having the excitement and encouragement of my teammates readily available after or before a ride, race, or event has allowed me to become a confident rider, trail advocate, and mountain bike advocate for other women.

IMBA: So, you’ve had some pretty successful Women’s Mountain Biking Day events. Tell us about how you make them happen.

Jolie: I have been hosting International Women's Mountain Bike Day in my area for three years.

Long before riding season starts, and several months before the ride takes place, I meet with local business owners, friends, and local riding teams to gather door prize donations, sponsorships, and volunteers for the day. I invite them to sponsor and to be a part of the event. The prizes I collect are used as an incentive for participants in the Women’s Mountain Biking Day event to show up and to persevere in the ride (for each lap completed, participants get a ticket to enter into the prize drawing).  

In the buildup to the 1st Saturday in May, I leverage social media as our primary marketing tool. I run this event through a social media event page where I post frequent updates, routes, and more. Check out our event page! We also participate in podcasts. Last year, I was on Bike Talk with Dave.

The day of the ride, everyone meets up at the designated meeting point, gets to know each other for 10-15 minutes, and then I make an announcement where I introduce our ride leader, our sweep, our kids' group leader and sweep, and provide a brief run down on the route. Enter the prizes: if participants ride a lap and make it back, they are automatically given a ticket to enter into the prize drawing.

After the ride, we meet back up for snacks, drinks, and good company as we prepare for the prize drawing.

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"I strongly feel that a majority of the success of this event is made possible by the cycling community Des Moines has built, and the businesses that continue to support and grow this community."

 

IMBA: What have been some successes and some challenges for you in setting up these events? 

Jolie: Over the years I have noticed a spike in attendance from riders from here and all over and a spike in community engagement: more women on trails, more children on trails, and more women riding together on dirt. I feel that a majority of the success of this event is made possible by the cycling community Des Moines has built. It's important to me to mention these supportive people and businesses  because they help build the excitement the event needs to be successful. Our partners include people and businesses like Bob Moural from Cumming Tap; Wade Thompson from Captain Roy's; Scott Sumpter from BIKEIOWA; Bif Ridgway from Bike World; Rob Versteegh with Oakley; Kim Hopkins and Lisa Carponelli with Velorosa; Jeff Hoobin with Chain and Spoke; Souryino Chen with Lucky Lotus; Angela Poldberg with MARNE; Eric Ivanovich with Old World Masonry;  Jeremy Wofford with Geared for Change; Rose Wylie with RYLU; videographer Jacob Kuperman; IMBA; CITA; and more! 

IMBA: What’s the “Secret Sauce?”

Jolie: Outside of support from local businesses and clubs, the support from the actual riders is the ticket to success! The women identifying riders that show up despite anxiety or fear of something new, the dad's that bring their daughters to invest in their interest and success as women mountain bikers, the riders who encourage their dirt-curious friends to tag along and open them up to a new hobby. I'd say the overall success of this event is made possible by the people who care to make it that way, and that is pretty special. The community and bike advocacy we have here in Des Moines is special.

As someone who has experienced missing out on things due to anxiety, I make sure I go out of my way to make it clear that this ride is for any and every woman - I wouldn't ever want someone to miss out because they feel inadequate, nervous, or too shy. It seems that those extra steps have made an impact on several riders being able to make it out. This ride has opened windows for not only me, but other women in the area to connect with riders in their riding capabilities. I feel this ride has grown women’s mountain biking relationships and it has been great to see subgroups of women from this event be able to go out and ride a few times a week together after meeting at the event. 

"The secret to success for a Women's Mountain Bike Day No-Drop Ride is inclusivity, patience, and a desire to help grow something you love."

IMBA: What is going to take this year’s event to the next level?

Jolie: This year is the biggest year of the three years, but I said that last year too... let's keep tradition alive! This year, we've had larger companies jump on board with the event - companies like SRAM, Shimano, and Cannondale. Cannondale has donated a brand new Cannondale Habit mountain bike as part of the door prize drawing!

While all prizes are typically handed out during the drawing for riding a lap of the trail system, I've set this prize aside as an opportunity to help grow our kids' mountain bike program in Des Moines. This prize will be a raffle drawing instead of a door prize - you can buy a ticket for $5, or 5 for $20, and do a standard Wolfpack donation through Venmo: @Jolie-Erbacher1 or in person at the event. All proceeds go directly to the league. Des Moines Wolfpack is one of the youngest mountain bike teams in Iowa, boasting more than 50 riders from Pre-K through 8th grade. Last year, Wolfpack took third in the state for the middle school division and had the number one middle school female rider for the state of Iowa. I'm hoping that this event can not only help our women's community, but the kids' league as well.

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IMBA: What’s your best advice for others planning a Women’s Mountain Biking Day event?

Jolie: My major takeaway is to not be afraid to ask for help. I ran this solo the first two years and it's a lot to do - routes, weather planning, keeping track of a large group of riders, wanting to make sure everyone is having a good time, communicating with donors, photographers, podcasters, and more. This year I am happy to have the help of my teammates on ALL the WATTZ assisting in many things like set up, tear down, prize announcements, photography, donation pickups/monitoring, and so much more.

Something else I've learned is patience with the event, specifically when it comes to weather. The day is usually delayed due to rain - but I've learned to take this with a positive stride, to use it as a teaching opportunity to new riders on trail maintenance and respect. Not riding and rutting wet trails, learning how to essentially read the dirt to find a rideable day post-rain, and why this is important. Bad weather = teachable moment!

IMBA: What’s your “why?”

Jolie: This event is important to me because our community is important to me. Being able to help grow our riding community is something I'm happy to be on board with, and seeing the joy the event brings seasoned and new riders makes me feel confident in the future of women on dirt in Des Moines.

Celebrate Women’s Mountain Biking Day on Saturday, May 3rd!

If you’re like Jolie, you may go BIG. If you’re like me, you’ll call the ladies in town and get out for a group ride. Celebrate how it makes sense to you! Celebrate with the women you know who shred, on May 3rd 2025. Plan an event and tag it #WomensMTBDay. Get inspired with ideas and stories on imba.com/for-women. Get out with your gals and enjoy the magic of a ladies ride, or invite a friend to give mountain biking a try.