She's Out There

Karen, how did you get into biking?

“I was into ski racing. In summer, we trained on road bikes. I loved the mountains and road biking was so boring to me. When I first heard about these bikes you could ride up mountains and have fun on the downhills I jumped on my first mountain bike. Since I loved racing, it was clear that I would start mountain bike racing as well. Transalp Challenge, TransRockies, and BC Bike Race were some of my successful races.”

Why did you start the Contessa Team?

“After coming on as an athlete in 2001, I told SCOTT about the idea to have a women’s only mountain bike team focusing on those who share the passion for the sport and love riding with others. This was driven by seeing so many women riding in the pacific northwest and I wanted to see that in Europe too.

The Contessa Team started in Germany in 2003 and has since spread to other countries having their own specific teams.”

What is the goal of the Contessa Team?

“The focus is not racing, even though some of the girls in the team are successful. It's without the pressure; the focus is fun. We try to get more girls on the bike, test the SCOTT collection and take women out riding.”

What is important about mountain biking for you?

“Physical feeling good, having lots of fun with my sport, feeling flow, get challenged, physically and mentally. Enjoy nature and being outdoors, and for me mountain biking is really biking in the mountains and enjoying the freedom you can find within them.“

"Come and join us, it's much more fun to ride with others, learn from one another, face new challenges and get tips. Mountain biking is perfect to get physically and mentally fit, enjoy nature, be outdoors and simply find joy.”