Graeme Simpson: Who are the mighty Mud Maidens?

Mud Maidens are a group of local women mountain bikers devoted to raising skill levels. Photo / Supplied

Who are the mighty Mud Maidens?

They're a group of local women mountain bikers devoted to raising skill levels.

"I've been riding road and mountain bikes for the past 15 years, for fun and competitively," Cati Pearson said.

"But the thought of stepping out of my comfort zone and participating in a downhill event was terrifying. I had the skill, I had ridden the track before, but I was still scared.

"I don't want to be that awkward newbie slowing everyone else down."

In spite of these misgivings, Pearson signed for last year's National Downhill series round in Rotorua, turning up with a trail bike and "a huge amount of fear".

"Because of the lack of female riders on the day I raced Elite. Better to be last out of three than first out of one, right? It wasn't nearly as scary as I had thought it'd be.

"The other girls were so supportive, offering me food and water (which I had forgotten to bring), a downhill bike to borrow, coaching for the faster, more technical sections and they even swapped race order to remove the stress for me.

"It was an amazing experience," she said.

Pearson and her friend, top downhiller, Amanda Monk, wondered where all the women riders were.

"There are lots of girls out there in Rotorua who ride bikes. Why weren't they participating in events like this, pushing boundaries and showing the boys that girls can shred, too?"

They decided to work together to create a group to support the progression of women's mountain biking and get more of them along to events.

"Amanda has amazing bike handling skills and knowledge of racing, nationally and internationally…and I have a bossy attitude. We focused our sessions on encouraging women to progress past steep and technical grade 4 trails."

To make them accessible for everyone, the sessions are free or as cheap as possible and open to anyone willing to try new things and attempt to ride trails grade 4+.

"Our first session saw one girl turn up, but that didn't stop us with regular sessions on the National Downhill trail, looking at how to choose lines and be supported safely down the hill," Pearson said.

"On International Women's MTB Day, 16 women all rode the national downhill trail. With the support of a few sponsors we were even able to send everyone home with goodies…cheers, Feed Your Fuel, Tailwind Nutrition and Giant Bikes."

They decided that bigger was better.

"We held our first skills session at Skyline with 45 women from Rotorua, Cambridge, Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Taupo and our next session in August sold out in 24 hours.

"We now alternate monthly skills sessions focusing on pumping, jumps, drops and steep riding with group rides.

"The progression in people's confidence and riding ability is outstanding.

"And Amanda and I have improved our skills as both riders and coaches. We now have new friends and riding buddies and are reducing their fears of tricky trails and competing in races."

Check out Mud Maidens on Facebook for information about the skills sessions and more.