サウスウェールズの自然豊かな古い森や谷でブルーベルが青く一面咲き誇った2020年春。もう間もなく日が沈む頃、太陽がなだらかな緑の丘に影を落としていく中、マノンは気持ちをリフレッシュさせるべく、「隔離ライド」に出かけました。ロックダウン措置が取られていたため、当然、外出を許可された指定地域での単独ライドでした。

その丘の頂上で地平線へと沈む太陽を見ながら、マウンテンバイクのおかげで得られた経験を振り返っていたとき、彼女はあることを悟ります。地図上で合法のトレイルを見つけられなかった、あるいは違法のトレイルを走って罰金を科せられたために、自分が経験してきたような素晴らしいライドをできずにいる人がいるのではないか？　そう思うと、彼女は切ない気持ちになりました。そこで、自身の置かれた環境をより深く理解しようと決意します。彼女が住む地域、ひいてはイギリス全体で、トレイルが認可されにくく、マウンテンバイクが利用しづらい理由を探り始めたのです。

Fortunately, for the mountain biking community, Manon is used to finding her way through the tape, literally. She spent her youthful riding career chasing the rainbow stripes on the international downhill race circuit. In 2011, Manon became Junior UCI Downhill World Champion as well as Junior UCI Mountain Bike World Cup overall winner. In 2014, she became double world champion by winning the UCI World Cup Mountain Bike Downhill Series overall and the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship. That same year, Manon was named Elite Cyclist of the Year at the USN Welsh Cycling Awards.

However, it’s apparent that Manon’s love for riding penetrated the layers of all these accolades, “fleeting moments,” as she puts it. Her passion for two wheels was forged in the bedrock, the very core of pure, mindful mountain biking.

In 2017, Manon dropped the proverbial mic and retired from racing to pursue her other passion—geology. In her own words, “I’ve always been inspired by the natural world. I thought about marine biology and zoology but ended up with … rocks (chuckling).” She immersed herself in her studies, learning about how our planet has shaped and shifted throughout history. “It’s pretty cool what our earth can do and how long it’s been doing it,” claims Manon, but not oblivious to our impact.

The key, reckons Manon, is not attempting to eliminate our impact but rather to manage it. This is especially true if mountain biking is to have a seat at the environmental stewardship and activism table. The trails we create and maintain will help preserve our planet and celebrate the privilege of being outside in the woods.

Manon and a group of fine like-minded folks are actively engaging in and inspiring dialogue between riding communities, trail builders, environmentalists, scientists, and land managers. The ultimate result hopefully is a genuine connection, mutual understanding, and realization that we all have a role to play in using our tools, skills, and passion to protect our natural spaces. To move away from a sense of entitlement to a sense of belonging.

As mountain bikers, we can count our lucky stars to have people like Manon in our corner to show the world that mountain bikers are not just a bunch of dirty, adrenaline-seeking assholes who want to tear the place up but a rather delightful bunch indeed.