Thunderstruck
Event: Thunderstruck
Task: Make my daydream a reality by developing New England’s first all-women’s freeride mtb event
Program/Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fresco
Full Send
Every now and again, you get an urge to make a new product after feeling inspired or you’re daydreaming of how you can change the world, even just a little bit or maybe you’re thinking of how to solve the floating trash pile problems in the ocean. Big or small, we all daydream and sometimes we have the opportunity to turn those dreams into a reality.
Late in 2021, there were a couple really hard family deaths (due to covid), I went through a rough time in a relationship, then I was injured during a mountain bike Slopestyle competition; oh yeah, then my bank account was hacked and a bit of money was drained… The damage from the crash ended up being pretty bad and I landed myself right into a full back/neck/torso brace for 3 months. Needless to say, I had PLENTY of time to think to myself.
One of the thoughts that came bouncing into my head was how I can change the women’s mtb scene here in the Northeast. I had been to some ladies’ bike weekends in the past dubbed “women’s free-ride weekend” or “free-ride fest” and it just didn’t make sense because these were all introductory events. Which, don’t get me wrong, is incredible for the sport and we absolutely need a square 1, but I started wondering why there are actually no huge bike events for women here? We have the terrain. We have the talent. We have plenty of women who are badass and chomping at the bit for something bigger. So…I decided to stop looking around asking “why?” and went ahead and made something.
A long and daunting road was broken down into baby steps. In the beginning, I just started doing something and kept moving forward, one step at a time; then, before I knew it, final decisions had to be made and fully commit to hosting the event! The look & feel I developed was intended to be fun, feminine and illustrative (because, of course, I want to hand draw everything!). Taking on the planning, branding, marketing, insurance, development and logistics of an event was overwhelming at times but well worth the risk.
In the spirit of community and lifting women in industry up, the ladies will be pushing each other to progress down the Fort Hill course & inspire those watching. For my first year, Thunderstruck welcomed only 11 riders from across the US, Canada, Chile and Mexico. I’m thankful they trusted me and were willing to give me their time. Year 2 brought an additional few riders, making it to only 14 ladies and I still figured out how to grow the event. Year 3 more than doubled athlete attendance to 25 and year four is looking to host our max capacity of 27 riders.
After the first year, I started to make a custom illustration for social media, limited edition merch, and to distinguish each year.
Thunderstruck is highlighting some of the best and freshest female free-rider mountain bikers to shine on the East Coast’s biggest jump line – Fort Hill.
