The Art of Mountain Biking
The way you ride is the way you live.
Welcome to The Art of Mountain Biking, a newsletter and podcast to help you apply the lessons you learn on the trail to the rest of your life. After all, the way you ride is the way you live.
It was at an hour-long Saturday morning pilates class that Jamie Bangerter—mountain biking coach and founder of Simply MTB—met Danielle LeCourt—performance coach and former journalist, researcher, and professional volleyball player.
That single hour of conversation was enough to convince them to spend hours together, DAYS, the following weekend to ride Gooseberry Mesa in Hurricane, UT–and luckily, they read each other right. Their conversation on the drive down, then throughout the weekend trip, then on the drive back, is a conversation that they haven’t stopped since.
Jamie has been teaching mountain biking for a long time. She’s seen people struggle with the same skills and noticed patterns in the types of people struggling with the same types of experiences. We’re all just out there with ourselves when we ride, utilizing the same personal strengths that serve us in life and butting up against the same weaknesses that nag us.
The way we show up on a mountain bike is much bigger than the sport itself—the way we ride is the way we live. Danielle and Jamie started exploring this idea early on in their friendship. They started talking not only about the skills and experiences of mountain biking, but what those skills and experiences teach us about ourselves.
So… they started a whole podcast about it. Introducing The Art of Mountain Biking!
The purpose of this podcast is to go deeper than skills. Its purpose is to discuss what our challenges and experiences on the bike say about us—and how to address them to not only ride well, but to live a full, meaningful life. Jamie brings her expertise as a mountain biking coach; and Danielle brings her skills as a performance coach, her experience as a former pro athlete, and her journalistic expertise on the research of well-being and human flourishing.
New episodes will rollout on Mondays, and you can find them here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and Amazon Music/Audible. Also, stay tuned for some exciting bonus content here on Substack (did we mention Danielle is a writer?)