Girls Ride ‘Too’sday empowers women and girls to race dirt bikes
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GYPSUM, Colo. — Jen Swisher was too nervous to ride her dirt bike at a public motocross park. She was intimidated by how few women were on the course and didn’t want the predominantly male riders to jump over her head as she was learning to ride.
When Swisher was shopping at a powersports store in 2017, she saw an advertisement for “Girls Ride Too,” a membership-based organization that provides a space for girls and women to practice dirt bike riding.
“For me, it was the opportunity that I needed to try riding [on a] dirt bike track,” said Swisher, who was only used to riding cross country trails with her husband before finding “Girls Ride Too.”
That was eight years ago. Now, Swisher commutes from Fairplay to host “Girls Ride ‘Too’sday” every other Tuesday at the Dry Lake Motocross track in Gypsum. The events also take place in Morrison and Leadville, Colorado and in Aztec, New Mexico.
In Colorado, the women’s division of dirt bike racing is growing. In 2011, only four female riders competed in the Colorado Off-Road Championship series in the C class, the short course division of the race. In 2025, that number was 31.
Video: Chelsea Casabona, Rocky Mountain PBS
A barrier for entrance to the sport was the lack of women mentors in motocross and dirtbike racing, said Reagan Potts, a member of Girls Ride Too. This created an intimidating environment where young girls didn’t see themselves reflected in the sport.
Potts said female mentors can teach the differences in men and women’s dirt bike racing. For example, girls and women are shorter racers and can have a hard time touching the ground when they mount the bike; female coaches have the experience to teach riders how to navigate these obstacles, Potts said.
“When you give women a place to kind of find other women that do the same thing and have a little bit of camaraderie and community, that's huge,” Potts said.
“That's life changing.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.