Karen Jarchow loves bikes. Because whether she is snagging high-profile marathon mountain biking podiums as a member of Topeak-Ergon or helping kids in her community find joy on two wheels at Vail Valley Alternative Sports Academy, she has been immensely successful applying her unique blend of positive energy and determination through the bike.
Recorded in May, Karen speaks about her experiences engaging with the kids in VVASA in this new normal, recovering from a serious injury and focusing on fun, and not racing, can be the best way to remind yourself why you ride a bike in the first place.
Karen lives in Eagle, Colorado and has been a force of nature building up the youth community in her backyard. By focusing on bringing riders together at a young age and educating them on fundamentals and their impact on the trails they use, she is building a more invested and engaged generation of mountain bikers.
More information about Vail Valley Alternative Sports Academy
Here at VVASA, we believe the best way to inspire change is to start with the youth. Our goal is to ultimately help facilitate a new generation of backcountry users. A generation that is more aware of the footprint we are leaving on our trail system and have the knowledge to trat the trails in a more sustainable way.How do we do this? Through interweaving important information by our skilled staff while out riding and most importantly having FUN with the kids in our beautiful backcountry.
