Home > MTB

Ridelab bring’s B.C.’s first women’s mountain bike festival to Squamish

Three days of rides, demos, discussions, camping and music on tap for 2023

Photo by: RideLab / Instagram

There’s a new mountain bike festival coming to Squamish, B.C., with a twist. Ridelab is a three-day festival geared towards “women who love bikes, beverages, food, camping, music and good times.”

Ridelab is open to all who identify as female and will have programs for all levels of riders, including traditional and electric mountain bikes. The festival, the first women’s-only mountain bike festival in B.C., aims to provide a “welcoming, inclusive, supportive environment” and serve as an “opportunity to connect with like-minded women with a shared passion for mountain biking.” All that, plus Squamish’s legendary trail network, sounds like a real good time.

On top of organized rides, Ridelab will include bike demos, tech talks, panel discussions, music and camping.

The first Ridelab festival will take place over three days from May 15-18, 2023.

Registration opens September 6, 2022. Details and registration are through Ridelab’s website. Only 150 spots are available for the first year of this new mountain bike festival.

Here’s the official word from Ridelab:

RIDELAB is a new mountain bike festival for women who love bikes, beverages, food, camping, music and good times.

This brand-new event will take place on the land of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw next spring. Squamish, British Columbia (B.C.) is one of the most amazing places in the world to ride mountain bikes and the event is supported by the local trail association SORCA and Tourism Squamish. Join the party and find yourself in a welcoming, inclusive, supportive environment that is guaranteed to be a lot of fun.

In addition to 3 great riding days, good vibes, the day event will also offer bike demos, tech talks, panel discussions, music and camping. It’s a great opportunity to connect with like-minded women with a shared passion for mountain biking in a safe and inclusive setting.

This is the first women’s only mountain bike festival in B.C. and is open to all who identify as female. The event will take place May 15-18, 2023, and welcomes beginners, intermediate and advanced riders. E-bikes are welcome too.

Dialed-In Cycling, a local guiding operation, will handle all the guiding for the event. While the event focus is guided rides and getting the most riding time on this great network of trails, there will be opportunity for sessioning features and receiving skills tips from your PMBIA (Professional Mountain Bike Instructors Association) certified guides. RIDELAB is partnering with Indigenous Women Outdoors (IWO) to support its community members in gaining greater visibility in the mountain biking industry. IWO is a non-profit organization that strives to support, encourage, and provide Indigenous women and non-binary folx living on the territories of the sḵwx̱ú7mesh, líl̓wat, səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm nations with low barrier access to outdoor recreation.

RIDELAB has been created to showcase the enjoyment of mountain biking and the women who ride. The event will bring more women into mountain biking and foster development of riding at every level. In addition, they aim to empower women riders with not only trail knowledge, but technical knowledge as well. The workshops are designed to equip women with the information and understanding they need to confidently make choices about bike maintenance, safety and new purchases of bikes, gear and more.

Mixed in with the learning, RIDELAB’s goal is to foster connection among women riders while exploring this mecca of trails.