WHEN an Ipswich firefighter borrowed her brother’s hardtail mountain bike for some fitness and fun, she didn’t realise she was about to pedal into a whole new passion.
“I think it started as just something to do to keep fit,” Sophie Crawford said.
“But then it became a way to travel, explore, push myself, and meet great people.”
The Minden resident took part recently in her very first mountain bike race – the Rocky Trail Fox Superflow event at Blackstone – and she won.
“It was more about giving it a go and seeing what racing is like,” she said.
“It’s another social part of the sport. It was so great to win it, though.”
Starting out on the trails of Nail Can Hill in Albury, Crawford quickly developed a taste for singletrack, eventually investing in her first Trek bike.
Nowadays, she rides both a Trek Slash and a Trek Rail e-bike, switching between them depending on the terrain.
“If I’m at Blackstone, I’ll take the e-bike,” she said.
“You can just smash out so many more laps.
“It’s still raw out there – more natural and technical than some of the more maintained trails.”
Her love of the sport has taken her to New South Wales and Tasmania.
She said her favourite ride was at Maydena in Tasmania.
“It’s just wild. But I also love Toowoomba – that’s my go-to locally,” Crawford said.
“People who say e-bikes are cheating haven’t ridden one.
“I always say, don’t ride one unless you’re ready to buy one – they’re that good.”
The added boost has given her more time in the saddle, more runs down the hill, and less fatigue.
“You just get to enjoy the best bits more often,” she said.
Asked to sum up the feeling at the top of a long climb, she said: “Thank God that’s over, now the fun part begins.”
Crawford said mountain biking offered the perfect blend of training and downtime.
“A lot of the guys ride too, so it’s a social thing for us as well,” she said.
“Plus, with the roster, you get good blocks of time to get out and ride.
“I’ve never had lessons, but now I think it wouldn’t hurt to sort out my berms a bit better.”
Her current dream bike?
“The Slash+ – the e-bike version of the one I’ve got, but you can never have too many bikes,” she said.
