Sun, Fun and Mountain Biking with Diva Descent
Tempted by a women's MTB holiday but not sure what to expect? How about dry tails and tonnes of fun?
Diva Descent is the only female only Downhill race series in the UK. Started in 2011 by mountain biker, Sarah Muir the event has grown to provide Enduro events and coaching weekends with the aim of encouraging more women to compete.
Sarah created Diva Descent after competing in Air Maiden, realising there was a lack of women competing in mountain biking events – she saw an opportunity to create an event specifically for women. The success of Diva saw it grow into a race series after the second year, as well as branching into Enduro events and girls mountain bike holidays giving women the opportunity to gain British Cycling points from races to help with their racing career.
The race and coaching weekends are held all over the UK to give women a boost and ease them into racing. Now in its third year, Diva has encouraged women to participate in other mountain bike events in the UK, and Sarah hopes to expand the series into Europe in future.
The events are split into two parts, with practice on the Saturday and race on the Sunday. It gives girls a chance to sharpen their skills before putting them to the test in the race with coaching from the top UK female racers and coaches; learning more than just bike skills but also how to mentally prepare for a race. Diva coaches have included 4x National Champion, Katy Curd, Enduro rider, Helen Gaskell and Downhill rider, Bex Reilly.
