Photo by Lookie Here Photos
Women from all across the Southeast (and beyond!) took over Oak Mountain State Park on September 18-20 for the first annual Limitless MTB Festival!
Created by the Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) and supported by SORBA and chapters throughout the region, Limitless was about empowering women mountain bikers of all skill levels by fostering confidence, community, and connection through affordable, accessible training and shared trail experiences.
The sold-out, inaugural event brought women riders from 10 different states together for three packed days of riding, education, and community building!
Riding, Learning, & Community
The festival kicked off Friday afternoon with guided group rides exploring Oak Mountain’s trails, followed by a social at TacoMac and a hands-on maintenance clinic at Cahaba Cycles Pelham.
Saturday was packed with festivities and excitement! Riders worked on their technique in skills clinics focused on fundamentals, slow-speed control, cornering, and getting wheels off the ground. Shuttles ran riders up to session Blood Rock and Lightning, and guided group rides continued throughout the day.
Off the bike, the Vendor Village hosted friends from Muc-Off, MTB Skills Factory, Cognative MTB, and more. Participants got to tie dye event shirts and gathered for trailside talks covering saddle fit, suspension setup, nutrition, B.I.K.E. essentials, and bikepacking. To wrap up Saturday night, everyone hung out around the pump track for dinner, live music, and a thrifted costume contest.
Sunday rounded out the weekend with morning pilates, a final round of trail rides, and discussions on recovering from injuries and how participants can start women’s riding groups back in their own communities.
Thank You Limitless, BUMP, & Volunteers
Putting on a regional event of this scale takes a ton of work behind the scenes, and Limitless and BUMP did an incredible job pulling it all together!
A huge thank you goes to Limitless Coordinator and BUMP Leader Amber Draper, for her vision and leadership, the entire Limitless and BUMP crews, Oak Mountain State Park for hosting us, all of the volunteers who helped make the weekend run smoothly, the clinic instructors and trailside talk presenters who shared their knowledge, and the SORBA chapters who helped promote and support the event.
Most of all, thank you to every rider who showed up for the weekend to try something new, made new friendships, and built up the women’s mountain biking community.
Photo by Lookie Here Photos
Keep The Momentum Going
The weekend might be over, but there are plenty of ways to stay involved:
- Re-Ride the Routes: Festival participants received 3 free months of Trailforks Pro. Check out the official ride routes on the Limitless MTB Festival Trailforks page to explore next time you’re at Oak Mountain.
- Save the Date: Mark your calendar for next year’s festival on September 17-19, 2027! Stay tuned for more information at limitlessmtb.com.
- Find Local Rides & Events: Visit our Women’s Riding page to find more women’s group rides and events across the SORBA region.
- Support Your Local Trails: Events like Limitless are possible because local chapters build and maintain the trails we ride and provide exceptional programming. Consider supporting BUMP or your home chapter by becoming a member.