Sarah Bulford
mountaindarlin
Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada
Hard Enduro Athlete and fun haver.
Sarah Bulford
mountaindarlin
Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada
Hard Enduro Athlete and fun haver.
What are your goals for this riding season? Tune a skill? Ride in a new location? 👀 Let me know!
When you get a call to test out a Stark VARG, you answer that call 🫡 My HONEST review👇 1. This bike is INSANE. In all the best ways. It's fun, nimble and really comfortable right off the bat. 2. It's ridiculously easy to use. It takes all the guess work out for new riders and you can literally hop on and go. 3. It handles so WELL and I loved having both brakes at my finger tips! Especially for downhill sections. 4. I did notice the weight, especially if I dropped it. It's not much more than my 300, BUT I definitely noticed it. I feel any change weight wise because I'm a smaller rider. 5. I did manage to control some wheel spin using a combination of throttle and brake. This was helpful for more technical terrain and obstacles. I personally, prefer a clutch. It's really fun to be able to control your bike and deliver/control power with one. For hard enduro, a clutch is part of the fun and challenge for me. 6. Do I mind the sound? I'm a sucker for a 2-stroke singing 🫣 but it wasn't very noticeable once riding. 7. Would I recommend this bike? Hell yeah. I'd roll one into my garage anytime ⚡ Have more questions? Let me know!
Your Two-Wheel Love Story.
I always love hearing how people got into dirt biking. Sometimes it begins in childhood, other times it's a midlife crisis, divorce or even a new partner who rides that leads you down this road. Almost always, though, it's a great story about falling in love with two wheels. For me it had been over 10 years since I twisted a throttle when I found my way back to the sport. Messing around on a bike was routine for me in my formative years. It was a loop of crashing and calling my mom to take me for stitches, understanding zero about the mechanics of a bike and riding with no protective equipment. All pretty typical stuff back then. I remember riding bikes with my childhood bestie to a water reservoir and going for a swim in the heat of the summer. And the time I was riding a friend's clapped out bike, crashed on pavement and stabbed a hole through my foot. Those early brap shenanigans turned out to be some of the core memories I cherish today. I didn't realize how much I needed motorcycles back in my life until the summer of 2020.
Going from a predominantly human powered adventurer to a hard enduro rider was definitely an interesting transition to say the least. It came with many questions like, "is everything okay?" from friends and family. I had been a climber, trail runner, hiker and backcountry skier religiously for most of my life. I also worked as a Park Ranger and did several years on my local Search and Rescue team where I witnessed every possible thing that can go wrong in the mountains. Responding to rescues changed my perception of my sports in a big way. It's created a heightened risk vs reward mentality. At that point in my life, I had lost several friends to the mountains and had been on calls that would stick with me for life. Of course this is just a part of mountain culture, but after nearly a decade of it, I needed a change. I realized that it was time to try something different, a sport that would fuel and heal my soul simultaneously. And so, I got back in the saddle.
The smell, power, and flow of a two-stroke engine. It's like a perfect powder run - it gives me the fuzzy arm bumps just thinking about it. When I finally got back to riding, I started with a 2009 KTM 105 xc (aka the lil ripper). It may have been small but it packed a huge punch. It was super lightweight, maneuverable and loved to pop surprise wheelies. Being able to pick my bike up and move it in those early stages of riding was a huge bonus. I tried my best to keep up with the bigger bikes and my confidence grew quickly on that machine. Getting back on the bike as an adult was an eye opening experience. Not only did the crashes hurt more, I was being challenged mentally and physically in a big way. I got the proper safety gear and did my research to find parts and apply tweaks to my machine to make it work for me.
Fast forward to today, I have my dream bike (KTM 300 xc-w) and I'm out riding multiple times a week. It has consumed my life in the best possible way. I've made incredible connections and tried to be a motivational voice for others getting into the sport. I've had some of the best days of my life on two wheels. Dirt biking didn’t replace the mountains for me, it gave me a new way to exist within them. And in doing so, it gave me back a piece of myself I didn’t realize I’d lost.
I’d love to hear what or who got you into the sport! Maybe you’ve been riding since you could walk, maybe you just started this year - either way, the best story is the one that led you to riding.
~ Sarah (@mountaindarlin).
Cover shot: Chrisma MacLennan
How To Train Your Brain: Staying Relaxed When The Trail Tries to Brea...
If you ride suffer enduro, you know the feeling well. That moment on the ride that may just break you in half, an ego death if you will. The moment you realize you may be in over your head. Maybe you're riding a fresh, loamy trail. Maybe you got invited for a ride and the group is really testing you. You're frustrated, sweaty and if you have to push your bike one more time you might just launch it off a cliff instead. Hard enduro is a physical and mental game. So how do you snap out of that headspace? How do you collect yourself in the moment and finish the ride off strong.
Here are 5 tips that have worked for me (most of the time):
Breathe! On purpose, not by accident. Sometimes during difficult maneuvers, we hold our breath. Force yourself to take some slow, calm deep breaths as you work your way through tricky terrain. I always notice an instant relief in my body when I take intentional breaths. Controlled breathing during extreme sports helps muscles by ensuring an adequate oxygen supply. When in doubt, breathe it out!
Take Bites! Think of the trail as a bunch of small sections. Each one you're working on a different skill. Instead of trying to survive your way through it, take the challenge of working out the sections and being intentional with your movements. I like to pick an object to work towards and go from there - maybe its a root, a rock or just the top of a hill. Micro goals! Once you get up the section, congratulate yourself!
Shake it off! If you can't seem to work through a section and you can feel the frustration rising in your body, stop. Take your helmet off and shake out your arms and legs. Drop your shoulders and just chill out for a minute. Nothing is urgent (assuming you aren't racing). And if you are riding with people who won't wait for you when you need a reset, I highly suggest finding new riding buddies. The trail will still be there if you rest and recalibrate yourself for a few minutes.
Visualize your success! I have this really bad habit of saying out loud, "I probably won't make it" before I even try the obstacle. Try and replace those negative thoughts with encouragement. "I got this", "I'm excited to try this", or "this could go really well". How we talk to ourselves plays a huge part in our own success. Positive self talk is so crucial in tough sports.
Know when to tap out! Sometimes we try and fail at things that are currently out of our skill range. Maybe it's a big step up and we haven't done one for awhile. Failing on an obstacle is just a reminder to go out and practice. Or when you're feeling fatigued, it's okay to tap out. Better to turn around, walk your bike or take the easy way out rather than get injured trying to finish it. This sport is very humbling, yet extremely rewarding and it's important to remind ourselves that we can always try again another day.
These things may seem simple but they will make a big difference in how your day plays out. Taking the time to check in with yourself and tend to the parts that need a little bit of extra attention will go a long way.
Bonus tip! EAT A SNACK. No need to get hangry out there. Sometimes an energy bar or a few Nerds Clusters will provide that boost you needed to finish the ride.
What are some strategies that work for you to keep your head in the game? I'd love to hear from you.
Grip it and rip it!
~ Sarah (@mountaindarlin).
