Martha Hucker interviews Sara Burdon

 

 

UK mountain biker Sara Burdon left her marketing job in London to live and ride in Morzine, with a few trips to Alpe d’Huez, the south of France, Italy, Spain and Morocco each year. Sounds like a dream, right? Sara’s made that dream come through with a lot of hard work – she and partner Guy run flowmtb, a guiding company that serves clients with a range of riding experiences for a base right by the chairlift at one of the best riding areas in Europe.

Hey Sara! Can you tell us about what you do in Morzine, and how it got started?
Hi! Myself and Guy run flowmtb, a mountain bike holiday company. We’re based in Morzine year round and running holidays through the summer season here. We do guided and non-guided trips; catered accommodation and B&B. Our accommodation is all in chalets close to the lifts. Guests rent rooms, but everyone eats together so it makes for a really sociable holiday. Everyone gets to know each other over dinner and hooks up for riding the next day. Most flowmtb guests tend to be British, but we’re also getting quite a few Canadians, Americans and Australians and a few other Europeans.

It all started 5 years ago. We wanted to move out here and had dreamed about it for years so finally took the plunge. We haven’t regretted it!

 

What does a typical day in your life involve over summer?
Wow, there’s no such thing! Usually we get up pretty early and get into the flowmtb chalets. I do breakfasts on the staff day off and we’re often in to sort out routes for people to ride, help with bike fixing or anything else that needs doing. There’s generally a bit of riding in the day, emails to people wanting to book and guests about to come out with questions about their holiday, then dinner in the chalet. A couple of nights a week we head out for a few beers with guests in the local bars, but other nights it’s back home to more emails and bed.

As often as we can we try to get out for a big exploratory ride. Maybe to spend a night in a refuge, or just ride somewhere new, or try to find more trails around us.

How did you get into riding mountain bikes?
I’d always ridden bikes, but Guy got me into mountain biking properly many years back. First a few rides in the Surrey hills, then a holiday to Morzine that got me hooked. I’ve never been much of a racer. I’ve done a few races – some 24 hour team events, a couple of downhills, and I’ve done the Alpe d’Huez Megavalanche 3 times – but prefer riding trails with friends. I get too competitive and then also get bored and frustrated when I’m waiting to race. I’d prefer to be riding more! I really respect the racers and the way they’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The Norco World Cup team (top rider Fionn Griffiths) use flowmtb as their European race base. Last year both Fionn, and Joanna Petterson were out with us for quite a while and the dedication and determination (and speed and skill!) of those girls is incredible. Sadly, I just don’t have it in me!

What’s the deal with DirtGirls? How’d it go in ‘09?
When I first got into riding I rode all the time with blokes and wanted to find some girls to ride with and maybe somebody that hadn’t been riding for years, more my kind of ability level. I decided to look for a holiday to somewhere different, with a bit of coaching included. I searched everywhere and found nothing, apart from a trip in Whistler, and at that time, living in the UK, I couldn’t afford the flights. I couldn’t believe it when years later there was still nothing available and so dirtgirls was the first thing I organised when we decided to set up flowmtb. Luckily Bex Hopkins (then of SheCycles, now BikeEnvy) came on board.

Now there are loads of girls skills days and trips, but it was different back then. In our first few trips riding in Morzine and in the UK you could go all day without seeing another girl! Now, while it’s still very male dominated, there are more of us on the trails.

2009, as with previous years was a lot of fun. I love the dirtgirls weeks as I get to ride all day with a great bunch of girls and meet more cool people to hang out with. And I always get a lot out of the coaching from our top coaches.

Is it very different dealing with an all-women group of riders?
Definitely. Every group is different of course, but you do see some overriding differences. So to generalise a little…..
Almost every dirtgirl we get worries she won’t be good enough. I get inundated with emails on the lines of ‘I want to come, it sounds great, but I’m worried I won’t be able to keep up / I fell off last week and my confidence is knocked / I’m not sure i’m good enough / the boys I ride with are all faster than me ‘ etc etc. Then they get out here, get riding and find they’re not way behind. One person might struggle a little more on a rooty section, while it’s someone else on the rocks and another on a steep section, but it all evens out. Obviously within a group there are always small differences, but we split from the big mass of girls into two small groups of 5-6 to minimise that.

The main thing I’ve noticed is that as a very overriding generalisation blokes will talk up their skill levels and girls talk it down. We need to get more confident and believe more in our abilities!

The other great thing is how supportive everyone is of each other. You see encouragement and clapping when someone’s nailed a drop/jump/wheelie that they thought was impossible.

Then the chat – it’s not all about tyres and forks, but how to find riding clothes that still look good, and how to heal bruises and scrapes. And there’s definitely a bigger appreciation of cake and hot chocolate!

You did the Megavalanche this year. Tell us about that…

It was my third year doing it. I love it. It’s a great event like no other out there. There’s a mass start on a glacier: you you start on snow and ice, go over rock and scree, before dirt, roots, bermed corners and jumps. Women get their own start, but there have never been over 100 of us on it. I want more.

Get out to Alpe dHuez and do it!

What advice would you give to any women thinking about taking part?

Don’t think about it, just register!

But seriously, again lots of women worry they won’t be good enough. And in all honesty most of us aren’t good enough to nail the course or win the race, but it really doesn’t matter. If you walk down a section you won’t be the only person doing it. Just go out with the attitude that it’s an achievement just to finish it, get down it and celebrate at the bottom.

I’ve done it three times now, always with a few falls and a few bits I just can’t do!

In terms of preparing, ride as much as you can. Fitness helps as there’s plenty of pedalling in it, but also skills on all kinds of terrain. The steep rocky sections at the top are the hardest. Get out early so you have time to practise those before the race.

And remember to take something warm to wear during the long wait on the glacier before the start.

What else is cool about living in Morzine? Is there much to do off the bike?
The people – there’s loads of great people here. In the winter there is some awesome skiing. The only downside of that is no riding for a few months, but we try to get in a few trips away.

There’s great hiking and road riding, plus other sports like swimming and tennis. There are some great lakes to hang out by and swim in on a chill out day, and also lots of good bars and restaurants. It’s a proper town with life in it, not a faceless resort like a lot of the french ski resorts.

Anyone you’d like to thank?
Minx for top girls riding clothing: http://www.minx-girl.com/
MuleBar for top riding food: http://www.mulebar.com/
Santa Cruz bikes for my lovely heckler: http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk/
Guy for always fixing it for me.
And Jess and Phil – the bestest ever people you could have working with you. flowmtb thanks you both again and again and again!

 

Older: Celine Gros and team in new video

Fresher: Jill Kintner joins new Transition Racing team for 2010

Published on 29/12/2009 by Martha Hucker.