Success comes two-fold for Laura, as she loves helping people succeed and getting to be a part of their small and large victories. Focusing on women, Laura loves coaching because she finds not only can she help women learn new skills but these new skills also help their self-esteem and more confidence in other facets of life. Having coached springboard and platform diving for 7 years competitively, Laura has also been coaching with the Spin Master’s Mountain Bike Club skills clinics for the past 6 years. As if that doesn’t leave her résumé impressive enough, Laura is also working with the Alberta Children’s Hospital to develop a mountain biking program for children struggling with mental health issues as a form of treatment. She is adamant that an out of the box treatment like this will have great benefits to children, as all of us bikers already understand the mental health benefits biking innately has.

Laura’s goal and focus with coaching is for women to feel supported so that they can push themselves to try something new thereby these women are creating a strong foundation to build a healthy and hopefully lifelong love for the sport of mountain biking. Mountain biking is much more complex and dynamic than a simple set of skills—mountain biking is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. According to Laura,

“My teaching philosophy at its roots is to help meet women where they are at, physically and mentally, and work together to progress through skills, fears, or anything that may pop up. Learning a new skill on a bike leads to improved self-esteem, confidence, and joy, which directly impacts a person’s life on and off the bike. My philosophy is to provide a safe and fun environment where people keep face fears or hesitancy’s and rather than avoid them, work with it, and overcome them. My intention would be for women to harness that confidence and spill that over in to all facets of their lives.”

All of this stems from Laura’s background in mental health, holistic life coaching, and her goal to help create the mountain biking program for children. Through these experiences Laura’s philosophy has come together on its own.

Climbing is usually the hardest thing to teach people to enjoy at times, is Laura’s favorite skill to help women master. When it’s done right, climbing can be exhilarating and reaching the top fills you with a sense of accomplishment. Laura has two pieces for advice, one for new riders and one for experienced riders. For her new riders, Laura wants them to know that “this is about you. The fresh air, the gorgeous landscape, and trying something new.” For her experienced riders, she imparts that “proper rest is key! Burning yourself out training is not the way to get faster”.

Laura is thrilled to return for her 4th seasons with Shred Sisters. Referred to us by a friend and coach, she is excited to be returning for another year and share her passion with her students.