Howdy folks! My name is Annijke Wade! I am a T5 with abs. I acquired my spinal cord injury in July of 2021 in a downhill mountain biking accident. Just a few days after my accident, I made the decision to return to mountain biking and set my sights on an adaptive mountain bike – the Bowhead Reach. I began to use all my free time researching adaptive mountain biking, trails and advocacy. Setting my sights on aMTB and off road cycling helped me accept my Disability and start to plan my new life. All of my recovery goals were centered around getting back outside on a mountain bike.
When I got my bike 3 months after my accident, I had to learn to ride. My first 10 rides or so were really hard. I kept tipping over and I had a hard time balancing on my bike. I only had one lesson so I was really learning how to ride on my own. I was able to use my experience as a certified mountain bike coach to embrace the basic bike handling skills. Mentally, it was also hard – I used to be so much better – I could ride Black Diamond trails and jumps – here I was starting over again. It took a lot of patience learning a new sport. Some rides, I had to take a break to cool off because I was so frustrated. I always have to remember to safely progress my skills and most importantly HAVE FUN! It also just takes time learning a sport. The only way to get better at something is to keep doing it.
I am now 2 years and 3 months from my SCI, and I’ve kept up with aMTB. It’s been such a journey. I am finally feeling more and more confident on the trails. Just last week, I went on my first Black Diamond Technical Trails! I’ve now ridden 2 Black Diamonds. This is a huge accomplishment to me. The best part is the trails I rode, are the types of trails I loved before my accident, rocky technical chunky trails! I feel like I’m finding my riding style and having even more fun on the trails.
This year I also started to ride gravel too! I’ve done two gravel races and am gearing up for my third too. I just love to be outside in nature and moving my body. Riding off road is so freeing. My bike takes me places my wheelchair can’t.
One of the things that’s helped me feel more comfortable is connecting with the aMTB community online and in person. It’s always been great to ride with other adaptive mountain bikers and share tips and tricks. I’m really excited for KBF Active Project because I want to connect with other folks to ride and progress our skills. It’s my goal this next year to find more people to ride with and make more friends in the adaptive mountain biking space. Send me a message if you want to connect off line and go for a ride!!
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