Grant-A-Week WINNER
The Fly Gurlz Mountain Bike
Race Team of Canada

Building the team - A Short Fly Gurlz history. It is hard to believe that it has been four years since the Fly Gurlz mountain bike race team was launched in Ontario. Fly Gurlz has been sanctioned for the past three years as an Ontario Provincial team.

However, thanks to many key organizations like CAAWS, the Canadian Cycling association has recognized us as being the first all female mountain bike trade team in Canada!

Michelle Ward, founder, owner, and team manager, started Fly Gurlz because she wanted to unite, encourage, and support women of all ages and ability levels in the sport of mountain bike riding and racing.

Today, the team spans four generations consisting of twelve riders - our youngest rider is 18 and our most senior is 40. We race at the beginner, sport, expert, and elite levels all across Canada. The heart and soul of this team are the members. Many of the women racing at the Pro-Elite level started off in the beginner/sport class ranks of racing in 1997, and have moved up with the team supporting them all the way.

We feel blessed that our love for mountain biking has brought us together to create lifelong friendships and loyal affiliations.

Fly Gurlz Today
Our mandate is to support women of all ages and ability levels in the sport of mountain bike riding and racing. Our "Women's Only" learn to mountain bike clinics play a key role in the accomplishment of these goals. We welcome the opportunity of coaching women to new skill levels within this sport. We enforce a "Zero Intimidation Factor" at our clinics to ensure that the women feel safe and comfortable with their learning curve in this challenging sport.

It has certainly been a challenge to be an independent race team in Canada, however a strong belief in yourself and those around will take you places you never thought possible.

We think the world of those who support our team - like CAAWS and NIKE for granting us support in order to assist with insurance fees. Every donation, whether big or small is a part to the whole organization. Sponsorship is about friendship - something to be nurtured, valued, and above all appreciated! Without the generous contributions from organizations like CAAWS and NIKE, Fly Gurlz would have not been able to make history - we would have been history.

Fly Gurlz Tomorrow - a look at what lies ahead
The project is growing and who knows where we might be one year from now. Talk about team expansion and corporate sponsorship is definitely in view for 2002. Aside from our current focus on the cross-country aspect of racing, next year we also hope to expand the team to members of the Downhilling and Freeride scene. We are also looking forward to supporting and promoting other groovy women's organizations like CAAWS in future events because we know that the interest is definitely out there.

Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity contact us