Founded in 2021, Blue Ridge Dirt Skrrts is a 501(c)(3) organization in Western North Carolina with a simple goal—to get more women on mountain bikes. We strive to create a welcoming and non-intimidating environment for all women regardless of background or skill level. Our mission is to break down barriers by getting more women on bikes and creating a place where women can enjoy companionship and camaraderie while empowering each other to ride bikes and be leaders in their community.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement
Blue Ridge Dirt Skrrts embodies and welcomes women of diverse backgrounds to mountain bike together, where individuals who identify as women feel valued, welcomed, seen, heard and celebrated in their entirety. We value community and are committed to cultivating an inclusive and equitable environment. We are breaking down barriers and improving equity in the lives of women by: providing bikes, mechanical classes, skills instruction, tools, resources, and other opportunities to level the playing field for all women to ride bikes and have fun. Intolerant of prejudice, we collaborate with other like-minded groups to provide a sense of true belonging for participants. As women, we are on this journey together; continuing to grow a culture of empowerment, self-discovery, respect, safety and wellbeing on and off the bike.
Board of Directors
Erin Barrett
Erin Barrett [she/her] is a mom, business owner and lover of all things outdoors. When she is not creating beautiful landscaped environments for people, you can find her riding her bike, gardening, camping, paddling, or just enjoying nature. As she created more time for herself, she found the joy of riding with other women through a weekly group ride she started attending and then leading. Through this fellowship she felt encouraged and empowered and wants to share that opportunity with other women in Western North Carolina and beyond. Erin is a Level 3 NICA coach, CPR/First-aid certified, Weekly group ride leader, Liv Brand USA Ambassador, and Kitsbow Ambassador. She hopes you will join our rides and feel the power of riding with other women. Her favorite local trail is any and all of them.
Abby Walker
Abby Walker [she/her] has lived in Asheville for over 18 years and finds it the perfect place to call home. Whether mountain, road, gravel or racing cyclo-cross, she gets as much time as possible on her bikes. She loves to travel with her family and ride bikes wherever they go. She is a wife, the mother of two teenagers, the Executive Assistant for Asheville on Bikes, a Level 2-NICA Coach for the Pisgah Rage team, Wilderness First Aid/CPR certified, a Kitsbow Ambassador, Motion Makers Women’s Beginner/Chill Ride Leader and helped to start the Blue Ridge Dirt Skrrts with a vision to help get more women on bikes
Camilla Christiansen Poole
Camilla Christiansen Poole (she/her) has lived in the WNC area for 27 years and grew up in various places in South America and the US. Camilla’s full-time job is helping brick-and-mortar bicycle shops maintain their e-commerce platforms. Riding bikes has been a lifelong love for her. She volunteers with G5 Trail Collective maintaining trails in the Grandfather Mountain district and as time allows, she joins Pisgah SORBA maintaining trails in the Pisgah Ranger district. Camilla began volunteering in female-led spaces supporting young girls learning how to rock climb in 2008 and continued her volunteer work in the WNC outdoor community supporting women and girls in outdoor recreation spaces. She is Wilderness First Responder certified and progressing through trail maintenance education through Pisgah SORBA and G5 Trail Collective. She is excited to help more women get out on bikes and learn the benefits of maintaining our beautiful trail systems in WNC. When she is not volunteering, she spends time riding any type of bike with her husband, baking, and trying desperately to not adopt every animal in need she comes across.
Sydney Epter
Sydney Epter [she/her] is a mechanical engineer who loves mountain biking. She moved to the Asheville area seven years ago immediately after college and has loved every second of it! In the last couple of years, she has completed two half Ironmans. You can often find Sydney checking out the latest mountain bike tech or news on the internet. Sydney is always eager to go mountain biking on the trails, but she also enjoys trail working and spending time with her pets, fiance, family, and friends.
Whitney Houck
Whitney Houck [she/her] is an outdoor adventurer, avid mountain biker, and PMBIA mountain bike skills instructor and coach. She started mountain biking in 2006, and since then, it has been one of the central themes that helped her find community and friendships wherever she lived. She moved to Brevard in 2021 for the outdoors and biking culture after retiring from the Coast Guard where she worked in the training field and served 8 years on ships throughout the Atlantic and Pacific. She and her husband Steve, an avid nature photographer, can be found out in the woods most days. She is a Cognative MTB Ambassador. Whitney’s mission is to help others build confidence in life, a reason to yell “Woohoo” and a love of nature through riding.
Suzy Smoyer
Suzy Smoyer [she/her] started mountain biking in 2006 while living and working as a County Planner in Summit County, Colorado. After moving back to North Carolina, she found it hard to find other women to ride with. She was so excited to join the Motion Makers Women’s Ride where she finally found riding partners, who were also some of the incredible women that joined together to start Blue Ridge Dirt Skrrts. She is passionate about helping women find fellowship among other female riders while also becoming more confident riding their bikes on our local trails. Suzy is a level 2 NICA coach for IC Imagine MTB team. She also loves riding bikes with her husband, 14-year old daughter, and 8-year-old son.
Dorene O’Malley
Dorene found mountain biking back when toe clips were still an option and Slick Rock in Moab was one of her first rides. She has learned quite a bit since then!
Her first bike industry job was at Diamondback Bicycles when Cadel Evans was still a mountain bike racer on that team, and she is currently the Director of Advocacy, Outreach and Events at Cane Creek Cycling Components. She is PMBIA L1 trained, a NICA coach and the Board Chair for the Outdoor Business Alliance, and a serving committee member with the People for Bikes Industry Trade Association.
She has been in Asheville just over seven years and sold her Human Movement Studio in California to make the move. Along with cycling for fun, Dorene holds a multitude of Movement Therapy Certifications and is transitioning all that knowledge into helping women understand more about their bodies on a bike.
When not taking classes, leading the Silver Shredders ride or getting a grip on gravel riding, she hangs out with her four Dachshunds and her husband.
Mahalia Kennedy
Mahalia Kennedy [she/her] originally hails from Florida and Montana but is fortunate enough to call Asheville home. Mahalia and her husband moved to the community of Bent Creek in 2008, specifically to have easy access to the forest for hiking and biking. With an educational and professional background in Outdoor Recreation, she is passionate about playing outside and as a real estate broker, helps clients realize that dream in our beautiful mountain home. She founded the Motion Makers Women’s Wednesday morning group ride with the intention of providing a safe space for women to seek fellowship in the forest and has found endless joy through the relationships developed in those 2 hours each week. As a mother to three bike loving little girls (7-year-old twins and a 9-year-old) creating a safe, supportive, uplifting community of women feels like the only path forward. If you build it, they will come!
Beth Salman
Beth Salman [she/her] chose to move to Asheville to ride and hike more. Originally from Chicago and a lifelong cyclist, she started mountain biking in college in Montana. She first experienced the power of cycling to build community and create positive change when she joined the Chicago Cycling Club, serving on its board and helping to launch, and grow, the organization’s neighborhood-spanning invitational ride. Beth is Wilderness First Aid/CPR certified, a ride leader for Motion Makers’ weekly women’s rides, and a PMBIA certified Ride Guide. Now the owner of a private Pilates studio, she schedules clients around rides. She and her husband spend their non-working time exploring WNC with their two dogs.