About Us
OUR Mission
Vail Valley RIDE is a mountain bike program that expands beyond teaching the physical skills needed to hit the trails. We aim to help facilitate a new generation of trail users representing the program’s core values on and off the trails. A generation aware of their footprint and knows how to treat the trails more sustainably. Our mission aims to provide the space to experience how the bike can benefit one's physical, mental, and emotional health. We work towards building a healthy foundation for lifelong riders.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
(Our Core Values)
Respect - the trails, ourselves and all trail users.
Inspire - one another to discover what we are capable of.
Dare - to try something new.
Explore - our backyard and beyond by two wheels.
Our Story
The Passion that inspired Vail Valley RIDE
With over 12 years of experience as an elite cyclist, PR and marketing professional, Karen brings a deep knowledge of the cycling industry and its effects on one’s holistic health. Cycling is her world, and her experience as a rider informs her approach. Every day, Karen exercises her entrepreneurial instincts and has turned her dirtbag bike racer lifestyle into a stable and rewarding career. Karen guides individuals towards a more sustainable and holistic relationship with sport and how the industry portrays its products and brand stories in the media. Her passion is deeply tied to using the bike as a tool to nurture one’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
Her Path
A borrowed mountain bike set Karen on her path toward racing. Each morning before work, she met a friend for a ride and discovered clarity in the sunrise and the pure effort of pedaling. Beginning in 2011 Karen raced professionally, and she joined Team Topeak/Ergon in 2016. Her determination and affinity for long days in the mountains brought her onto the steps of numerous podiums. She went undefeated in 2016 as the ultra-endurance marathon national champion. The following year, she became the fat bike world champion after racing in minus 5-degree weather in Crested Butte.
Intending to pursue a wider variety of adventures, Karen turned privateer in 2021. Through two years of balancing training, working for a reputable PR and Media agency, and running her community kids’ MTB program, Karen quickly realized she no longer wanted to perpetuate the “I can do it all” facade. Her healing path led her to drop the identities and ambitions she was clasping onto to support a more sustainable and fulfilling direction in life.
Growing up in Luverne, a small town in Minnesota, gave Karen a strong belief in community. Putting her values into action, Karen directs Vail Valley RIDE, a youth mountain bike organization. Her goal is to help riders progress on the bike, and she emphasizes fun while developing their skills. Giving others a positive outlet to connect with nature, friends, and themselves. She has boundless enthusiasm for sharing the holistic gifts that the bike provides.
Karen lives in Eagle, Colorado with her four-legged sidekick Piney and a she-shed efficiently packed full of outdoor gear. When not at her computer, she is almost certainly outdoors. You can guarantee she’s taking a dip if it involves a high mountain lake. Karen goes to nature in search of clarity, self-discovery, and happiness; more often than not, that’s exactly what she finds.
