This month I’m excited to be donating a bike in honor of one of the most bad ass women I know! Crystal is not only a legit mountain biker that can shred on the gnarliest of trails, she is also active in the community always advocating for local trails and trail preservation, she commutes to work on her bike, rides a motorcycle, can wrench on bikes with the best of them and she owns her own business! How cool is she?!
I met Crystal in 2014, during a Halloween Bike Crawl. One of the stops was next to her shop, Spur Cross Cycles, as our motley crew pulled up to the shop Crystal, dressed as a Chris King headset, greeted each of us with a big smile. Her costume should have been my clue that she knows her stuff! More recently I asked Crystal to give me a crash course in emergency bike maintenance. She graciously obliged and stayed late after work one day so she could teach me a few tricks. To Ryan’s credit he has tried to show me things over the years, but until I met with Crystal I didn’t even know what brake pads looked like (I admit it, I’ve never been mechanically inclined)! Crystal showed me how to adjust my brakes, cables, troubleshoot derailleur mishaps, fix broken chains, patch tires, etc.…She was patient, encouraging and even made it fun. I really admire her knowledge in this area and loved being able to learn these valuable skills from a woman. Did you know that something like 12% of bike mechanics are female? And only 31% of business owners in America are female? So yea, Crystal is pretty awesome!
Crystal also organizes a ladies’ mountain bike ride out of Cave Creek each week. While I haven’t been able to attend due to coaching and training commitments I love following along on Facebook and seeing all of the videos and pictures posted form each ride. From beginners to experts everyone is out there to have a good time and to continue honing their skills while enjoying each other’s company. I love her selfless consistency in this and love seeing the trickle-down effect of making newcomers feel comfortable and welcome riding with a group. I look forward to riding lots and lots of miles with Crystal in the future and can’t wait to see our friendship grow into something great.
I hope the girl that receives a bike in Crystal’s honor will chase her dreams with confidence and grace like Crystal has and I pray that she will have women in her life, like Crystal, that can teach her new things and encourage her as she grows into a beautiful young woman.
Goolds Gone Wild 