Beyond the Ride: Sara Jarrell

Editor’s Note:

Beyond the Ride is our love letter to the people who make mountain biking better. This isn’t a series reserved for sponsored athletes or the folks in power at bike brands (although we’re excited to cover those too). Instead, it’s an open invitation: Do you know someone who’s working to make mountain biking better? Nominate them here . We want to highlight the local ripper, the policy wonk who works with land agencies, the mechanic who saved your race, and the organizer who put it on. This is for the advocates, the storytellers, the builders, and the coaches.

Sara Jarrell is a career bike mechanic, who had a particularly notable impact while wrenching for SRAM - the number of folks who credit Sara with helping get them to where they are today, whether through mentorship or programming she designed to help bring femme folks into the industry, is exactly the reason she deserves to be featured in Beyond the Ride.

Name, age, current place of residence?

Sara Jarrell, 42, Sylva, North Carolina.

What do you do? (Specifically related to mountain biking)

I started as a mechanic in a shop out west, but eventually returned to my roots in west North Carolina to manage the service department at Motion Makers Bicycles in Sylva, NC, and helped open the Motion Makers store in Asheville. This led to the beginning of my career as a race mechanic, wich culminated in being a mechanic for the US Paracycling team in 2012 through the Paralympics in London! I also worked for SRAM for ten years, and have now returned again to the mountains of west North Carolina to make a home with my family.

I currently volunteer for a program called 7 Moons MTB, a group of seven women coming together to help anyone interested learn to mountain bike. Our founder and leader Laura Blythe is a force to be reckoned with. When she sets her mind to something, she makes it happen. We are all lucky that she chose mountain biking as her passion, because, combine that with her relentless will to give back, and you get 7 Moons MTB: an organization that is inclusive of everyone. The clinics they facilitate are free, there is equipment for people to use that don't have their own, education is front and center, and each one of the 7 Moons brings something different to the table that makes the wheel keep rolling, so to speak.

What’s been the bike-related highlight of your year?

Getting chosen to be one of the seven Moons for 7 Moons MTB. Laura, the founder, put out a call on her social media platforms looking for local mountain bikers that had an interest in participating in a new project. I responded to Laura's call to action and here we are. As one of the 7 Moons, I participate in rides, help mechanically where needed, support other events and races we are involved in, spread the word about 7 Moons and share the joy of mountain biking.

If you could leave any impact on mountain biking, what would you like to be remembered for?

That I helped support people and organizations that were making change in the industry, that created space for people traditionally overlooked by the industry to feel welcome and supported on their cycling journey.

What, outside of mountain biking, makes you excited?

Being outside and moving my body makes me happy. I spend a lot of time riding with my toddler and that has unlocked a whole new level of joy in cycling for me. Lately I have been excited to teach myself how to skateboard, never too old to learn something new.

What are your goals for the next year? (They can be anything from race results, to injury recovery, to just trying to ride your bike more)

My goals are to continue to be one of the 7 Moons and help get more people on bikes. I would also like to get involved with the town government where I live to help get a skate/bike park built. This is the town I grew up in, and I would have loved to have a skate/bike park growing up. Instead, I used the college campus that was close by and that was upsetting to the campus cops, for sure. So, I am going to try and help create a space for our community to skate and ride park where it works for everyone. I want to be a member of the community that supports the project: who goes to the meetings, helps find the funds, and fills in where they can, because every community project needs boots on the ground, and I have been lucky to benefit from so many of those projects (all the trails I ride and more) that I want to give back.

What’s the most exciting trend in mountain biking you’re seeing right now (and how can we help it)?

Local programs, like 7 Moons MTB, finding ways to create community for new cyclists locally. Find ways to amplify these voices and give them platforms to spread the word and help them get opportunities to gain support in the industry.

What’s the worst trend you’re seeing right now (and how would you fix it)?

The industry hasn't found a way to create sustainable support for programs that are creating positive change by introducing the sport to new riders that have traditionally been marginalized. I'm not sure exactly what the fix is, and I am not a fan of bringing issues to the table without solutions or ideas to help find solutions, but I am doing it anyway to highlight that the industry and the cycling community at large still have lots of work to do to create safe and welcoming spaces for all people who want to ride bikes.

What’s your trail of choice right now (and why?)

Fire Mountain trails in Cherokee, NC. They are twenty five minutes from home and offer an awesome variety of trails and the community there is awesome.