Watch for telecasts on the Outdoor Life Network and CTV Sportscast!!

The Hardwood Hills Mountain Bike Center was the host of this year's Woodstock of mountain biking. The site is located one hour north of Toronto, Ontario and occupies 550 acres of rolling forested hills. In addition to 36km of double track cross-country ski trails, the staff maintain 45km of challenging single track trails. The result is an intricate trail network that provides endless adventure for riders ranging from beginner to elite.

Hardwood Hills is the Official Ontario Mountain Bike Development Center for the Ontario Cycling Association and hosts of some of the province's top races including the Kokanee 24 Hours of Adrenalin. The Center also offers lessons, rentals, a cafeteria, and an on-site repair shop. The natural features, facilities, and culture make Hardwood Hills a mountain biking site not to be missed.

Keeping with the Woodstock spirit, everyone involved in the event camped for the weekend, with many people arriving the day before the event (along with the torrential downpours!) to organize team campsites, pre-ride the trails, plan team strategies, and worry about the effects the unrelenting rain would have on trails.

Race day dawned as a beautiful, sunny day, just what we needed to dry out our tents and get us pumped up for the big race! As 12:00 noon approached, we felt energy coming from everywhere in the venue. Riders were getting ready for the exciting Le Mans start where, at the sound of the gun, about 500 riders dashed 700 meters in cycling shoes before mounting a bike and heading out on the first lap of the race.

The race course was extended to 22km to accommodate the increase in number of riders. According to veteran riders, the course was more challenging and exciting than ever with lots of single track and technical sections, but not too difficult. It was definitely a fun course!

Jennifer completed the first lap and reported many sections of bottlenecked people, trying to get onto the single track sections. After the first lap, people started to spread out. Everyone felt their first lap was exhilarating and perhaps a bit stressful duNike Canada, CAAWS, girls body image,where to play sports, girls self-esteem, girls soccer, girls cycling, girls and nutrition, nutrition for active girls, Canadian Association for women and sport, girls@play, snowboarding, skating, boarding, girl site, sports girl, extreme girl, mountain biking, skateboards, surfboards, X Games">

Our third laps put us into the wee hours of the morning and that was the most grueling part of the whole adventure! Night riding is adrenaline pumping and relaxing at the same time. It is not as scary as it sounds!

We completed 14 laps in total, almost reaching our goal of 15 1aps. Placing 7th overall, we felt proud of our team and decided we would do it all again next year!

This event was an expensive venture for the Divas since we had considerable equipment to purchase. Requirements: included cycling attire, lights for night riding, hydration packs, not to mention the team entrance fee of $500.

We also purchased tools as self-sufficiency on the trail is a must! Now that we have most of our equipment, next year won't be nearly as expensive....although two of the Divas may invest in shocks after attacking the course this year on rigid old bikes.

In the end it was all worth it! Thanks to the CAAWS/Nike Grant-A-Week Program for the support and for helping to ease the financial burden!