The Boise Mountain Bike Festival brings the community together to help riders of all abilities improve their skills on the bike.
Professional mountain biker Braydon Bringhurst taught a clinic focusing on the fundamentals of riding and it was a course the bikers really enjoyed.
"The clinic was awesome, I’ve never gotten to learn from someone who knows what they are doing," said Leila Ayers. "It has always been a trial and error process so it was really cool to get some pointers."
The festival hosted a mental health panel for the first time ever as Erica Davis of the Crank Queens led a discussion on how important mental health is both on and off the bike.
"I train my body, but I’m also training my mind for when it gets to that part where I want to give up on that 12 hour race," said Davis.
Hundreds of bikers showed up at Bogus Basin to go on group rides with the Crank Queens and other organizations, or just ride for fun.
Demos were available, people learned about bikepacking, maintenance and this festival helps local businesses and bike companies get in front of a lot of people. It is also the largest fundraiser of the year for SWIMBA the Southwest Idaho Mountain Bike Association.
But more than anything it was about bringing the community together to ride on a beautiful day up at Bogus Basin.
"Mountain biking is my community, I moved here six years ago and I didn’t know anyone," said Davis. "It has really been the way that I’ve connected and made friends and I love the aspect of getting outdoors."
Leila Ayers told us she has a lot of things to practice on after her clinic with Braydon and she really enjoyed the festival herself.
"This festival is amazing, I think the crowd out here is awesome," said Ayers. "I like all the opportunities to get swag bags it is just awesome all around."
The festival was created by August Huckabee, Braydon Bringhurst and Kirk Cheney, but Braydon told us putting it all together is a community effort.
