Four Friends

Watch four young women from the Kingdom of Bhutan take their very first steps in MTB. None of them have ever ridden a bike before, but they've volunteered to start training, in the hope of becoming the country's first qualified MTB guides. US non-profit World Ride and its founder Julie Cornelius help introduce four female volunteers to the joy, the freedom and the camaraderie that bikes can bring, so they can start their MTB journey in the most inspiring way possible. 

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Osprey partner World Ride(Se abre en una nueva ventana) has been empowering women all over the world through the magic of MTB since 2017. By training women in low-income countries to become qualified MTB guides, World Ride challenges attitudes about who can and should be visible in adventure sports, provides access to bikes and equipment, and helps women break into the industry. 

In December 2024, founder Julie Cornelius and a film crew travelled to the Kingdom of Bhutan for World Ride’s(Se abre en una nueva ventana) first ever project in this remote, landlocked Himalayan country. They brought bikes and equipment to help establish a bike library for any aspiring female riders, and began working with four local women who volunteered to begin training as guides. 

They started at the very beginning. Of the four women who volunteered, only one had ever ridden a bike before, and none of them had ever even sat on a real mountain bike. So the film is an inspiring look at how uplifting those first tentative steps towards becoming a rider can be. 

From building up the bikes to taking their very attempts at trying to stay upright in the saddle, the film shows how powerfully bikes can bring people together. After the very first day of training, all four of the women are bonded together, and inspired to keep working with each other to build up their skills. Despite having full-time jobs and families, the volunteers all manage to get together to practise for two hours every day in the very first week, and by the time Julie and the crew see them again a few days after their first meeting, their progress is remarkable. 

This film is also about the future of MTB in Bhutan. Despite having a tiny local scene and almost no female riders, Bhutan’s international reputation as an MTB destination is growing, and the demand for guides is growing with it. It has hundreds of miles of raw, wild singletrack riding and a unique culture, which is attracting a greater number of adventurous riders every year. So our volunteers aren’t just learning MTB for fun - they’re taking their first steps towards becoming the guides that future generations of riders will follow down these spectacular mountains. 

It’s impossible to predict whether any of these novice riders will end up leading a pack of visiting riders down a steep 25km descent. This is just a tiny beginning - a couple of real bikes, some decent riding gear, and two days training. The real work - the falls, the mechanicals, the screaming legs - is all up to them. But if Bhutan’s MTB future is going to be more female, it’s hard to believe they won’t be part of it. 

You can help support World Ride(Se abre en una nueva ventana) by donating to support their programs, or joining the next mountain bike trip in the countries they work in.

Thanks to https://bhutan.travel/(Se abre en una nueva ventana) for their help and support with this project.

All photos courtesy World Ride.