Meet the RLG Board of Directors
The RLG board of directors is committed to providing a first-class mentorship program for BC athletes to help break down barriers to girls' participation in competitive mountain biking.
Ride Like a Girl's board members are all volunteers, avid mountain bikers, and passionate about encouraging the growth of the sport and the development of young athletes.
Amber Zirnhelt
Founder & Chair
Ride Like a Girl was developed by Amber Zirnhelt to support up and coming young female mountain bike athletes. Amber is a competitive cyclist, and motivational speaker with the National Esteem Team. She is a former pro-elite downhill mountain bike racer that raced nationally and at World Cup events, and a community planner passionate about environmental sustainability. When not on her bike, Amber can be found sailing, skiing, or exploring the outdoors with her family.
Connect with Amber at amber@ridelikeagirl.ca
Lisa Ludwig
Director of Ambassador Program
As a previous elite athlete in rowing and cycling, Lisa noticed a void in mentoring for developing athletes. Cue a dinner party, where she met Amber Zirnhelt and learned of the Ride Like A Girl program. She was inspired by this program because it created opportunities for young female mountain bikers to flourish, share ideas and glean support from an experienced rider who felt compelled to give back. Finding importance in the power of women inspiring women, Lisa felt that the Ride Like a Girl Board of Directors was a good fit for her personal values and she dove in. She looks forward to watching RLG athletes grow and succeed, in part by the support they gain from their mentors.
Connection and community are both important to her, made visible from her time previously volunteering with weekly women's rides in Victoria and Cumberland, and more recently with her time organizing cyclocross races. She used race profits to further mountain biking opportunities for youth in the Comox Valley, knowing that this generation of shredders is a worthwhile investment. To be sure, she sees that youth have the potential to be healthier, productive community members when involved in sport.
Lisa's home base is Cumberland, BC. In her day job, she practices as an occupational therapist and moonlights as a professionally-trained seamstress, making wedding dresses and kids' clothes. But more often than not, you'll find her out and about riding her bike, skiing, and surfing in Tofino with her family.
Connect with Lisa at lisa@ridelikeagirl.ca
Karin Grubb
Director of Athlete & Mentor Coordination, Sea To Sky
Karin grew up in Ontario and has called the west coast home for 15 years. Karin has always been involved in sport, but discovered mountain biking when she moved to the west coast and has been involved in the sport since. She has raced xc and enduro and is passionate about the value that mountain biking brings to her life through community, personal challenge and appreciation for the outdoors. Karin has been involved in ride leading and has been an ambassador for women in mountain biking and loves seeing others challenge themselves in mountain biking to find confidence, personal growth and break their own barriers both in and out of sport. Karin works as a lawyer for a municipality and calls North Vancouver, and its beautiful trails, home.
Connect with Karin at karin@ridelikeagirl.ca
Joele Guynup
Director of Athlete & Mentor Coordination, Island & Interior
Joele grew up skiing, wakeboarding, and playing basketball in Northern California, but found mountain biking after moving to BC to attend University of Victoria. She is a former Elite CX and XC racer who now races CX, XC, and Enduro on a casually competitive level. She has been active in voluteering for local CX races on the island and has experienced through her own life the power and importance of sport and community. She joined RLG in 2021 to support bringing sport and community together through the RLG mentorship program.
In her day job, Joele is a sales rep for Santa Cruz, Juliana, and Cervelo and spends her free time (if she isn’t on a bike) snowboarding, surfing, or planning her next adventure
Connect with Joele at joele@ridelikeagirl.ca
CJ Hendren
Director of Clinics & Events
CJ grew up on the North Shore of Vancouver and moved to Vancouver Island in 2016 where her and her husband started a professional mountain bike coaching company in the Comox Valley called Gravity MTB. Gravity MTB offers Gravity Kids Camps, Girls Camps, Ladies Clinics, Specialty Clinics, Private and Semi-Private coaching, and mountain bike school programs. Gravity MTB also specializes in training competitive athletes in Downhill and Enduro racing at a National and World Cup level. CJ is a professional mountain bike coach, a certified strength and conditioning coach and a bike mechanic. She is community driven, loves being in the forest and sharing her love of the sport. A huge advocate for girls and women in what she considers the greatest sport on the planet, mountain biking!
Connect with CJ at cj@ridelikeagirl.ca
Liz Brown
Director of Fundraising
Liz was born and raised on a horse farm in the Comox Valley into an active, outdoorsy family. For over 20 years, Liz has been an avid cyclist. Starting with mountain biking and expanding into road, cross and gravel, Liz cycles to explore both her limits and new areas of the world. Liz has raced recreationally in many local races and has always been inspired by the community created at these grassroots events. Early in her life as a mountain biker, she was lucky enough to join groups of women who were both peers and mentors. Many of these women remain close friends, connected by the power of many years spent together playing in the forest.
Liz has always enjoyed sharing her passion by introducing new riders to the sport, and Ride Like a Girl is a natural extension of that work. As a professional fundraiser by day, Liz is eager to use her skill set to support the next generation of women as they grow and explore their potential as young community leaders and racers.
Connect with Liz at liz@ridelikeagirl.ca
Tricia K. Spooner
Directory of Finance & Treasurer
Tricia is self-described as ‘from everywhere… and from nowhere”. Having grown up in a military family she has lived in all Provinces from BC to Quebec, in the US (twice) and in Germany. Germany is where her love of cycling first started – with school cycling trips into the Swiss Alps as a young teenager.
The foundational experience of self-challenge, adventure and exploring, comradery and competition with other likeminded people had Tricia hooked on the sport. Fast forward several years, Tricia was introduced to mountain biking by a friend and entered a local grassroots race, which led to a trip to Squamish (Test of Metal), then provincial and national events, and an invitation to join a women’s continental road team (with the caveat she could still race MTBs). Now ‘retired’ from racing, she is still never very far away from her many bikes. The cycling community is invaluable in so many ways. Integrating into a new situation or community, particularly as a young person, can be challenging. Cycling and sport provide a platform and life skills to overcome challenges. Tricia found her way back to the Comox Valley and joined the RLG Board as Treasurer, combining her passions of cycling and day-job in finance together—in support of young girls as they develop their passion of cycling.
Connect with Tricia at tricia@ridelikeagirl.ca
Heather Bailey
Secretary
Heather grew up in North Vancouver BC, but did not find her love of riding until moving to Victoria BC for university. It was the time of hard tails and ‘no-dabs’ learning the ropes on the technical terrain of Hartland Dump. She learned how to ride with the guys and was forever convincing her girlfriends to come out and give MTB a try. Heather dabbled in xc racing, road riding, triathlon and downhill.
After meeting her husband and entering into the military life she has lived in four provinces in the last 12 years, but has finally made her way home to BC now residing in the Village of Cumberland - chosen for it’s amazing trail network & access.
Heather is a Fitness & Recreation professional by trade and quickly became connected with Gravity MTB after settling in Cumberland. She proceeded to take her PMBIA certification and started coaching for Gravity. This position quickly developed and she moved into the role of Director of Programs for Gravity, having responsibility for all non-race MTB programs as well as High Performance Training Centre management.
Heather has volunteered with UROC for the last three years as volunteer host for the Women’s Group Rides. She takes part in Enduro events as a recreational athlete and passionately spreads the love of MTB with all girls & women she engages with.
Connect with Heather at heather@ridelikeagirl.ca
details to follow
Director at Large
to be confirmed