Jasmine Bigelow

Jasmine Bigelow with an excellent view of Vermont.

• Name: Jasmine Bigelow

• Occupation: Marketing director, Stowe Area Association

• Hometown: Stowe (via Wolcott)

• Number of years riding: 2 seasons. My first single-track ride was July 5, 2014.

• Favorite local trail: You want me to choose? OK. Bears.

• Favorite nonlocal trail: I’ve only ridden local. Well, I explored Kingdom Trails with friends one day, and it was awesome. I wasn’t paying attention to maps and names, though. I was too busy having a blast.

• Riding partners: Lisa Carey and Cathy Hirce were my very first ride partners (love you both!) Now, I’ve got a long list of others. Lots of women, especially. This community loves to ride, and ride together. All season long, my phone is dinging with group texts of impromptu invites. But, I also love to mix in early morning solo rides.

• Smooth and groomed or rough and rooty: Both. Definitely both. Variety is important to me. I think in most situations, you need one to appreciate the other.

• Weapon of choice (current bike, list any fancy or unfancy upgrades): Specialized Myka FSR Elite. Straight up, off the shelf. Myka’s been very good to me. We are buddies.

Most memorable ride: Uh — there have been so many. Lots of milestones for me, and I remember them all. I don’t want to bore you.

• To Strava or not to Strava: Strava for fun only. Not to compete with myself or anyone else. Just for curiosity. (Of course, if I ever showed up in the top 10, I might get more competitive. I’m usually in the bottom 10, so it’s in my best interest to just have fun with that technology!)

• Post-ride beverage of choice: Prosecco. Always prosecco!

• Tell us how you got into mountain biking: Ha! Oh boy. It’s a really long story that involves heartache and thievery and temptation and secrecy and lobbying and friendship. It’s fascinating, but you’ll have to wait for the movie to come out. Or, share a bottle of prosecco with me after a ride and ask again.

In the end, what’s important is that as soon as I rode 20 feet on my first single-track in the woods on a mountain bike, I was totally happy and totally hooked. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s how the story begins, not how it ends — lucky me!

• You’re a big yoga practitioner. Do you think that helps with your skills on a mountain bike? Yoga helps with everything. On a mountain bike and elsewhere. I’m very strong. And that’s because of yoga. But, where I get the most benefit is in practicing my breathing skills. In the yoga studio, Zoe (Bikram Yoga Stowe) will always say, “The only thing you need to do in here is breathe. Steady and calm, in and out through your nose. Everything else is optional. If you get to a point in a posture where you’re not breathing, you’ve gone too far.”

Always go back to your breath. It’s what fuels your body and calms your mind. That is true outside the studio as well. Like, on Snake and Pipeline!

• Some words of encouragement for anyone looking to give mountain biking a try: Don’t let fear stop you! It’s a very supportive bike community. We’re not all hard-chargers and gear-heads, and even the really rad riders are friends with new riders.

Take a lesson. You’ll learn some skills that will give you the confidence to get out there.

Find a riding friend, which will lead to more riding friends.

If you come to an obstacle you’re not ready for, simply get off your bike and walk it. No big deal.

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