Flying over a frozen desert into Cleveland, Ohio I realized why Ray Home built the indoor mountain bike park. Ohio has some inhospitable weather to contend with. Outside, the flight attendant informs me, the temp is 20 degrees. Boy! am I glad I brought my toasty winter jacket.

I wheeled my Dakine bike bag through the baggage claim and eagerly awaited my Holiday Inn shuttle where I would be for the staying for the Women’s weekend at Rays. I normally fly south of the hemisphere to Australia or South Africa to seek out the most optimal training conditions during the winter. But here, I found myself traveling to Ohio of all places to ride an indoor mtb park.

This was my first trip to Rays and I was as excited as a kid in a candy store the next day when I first laid eyes on the wooden park. Friday, I spent coaching fellow female shredders how to successfully drop the wooden ramps to tranny and learning the basics of a bunny hop. About 40 women of all ages showed up for the Women Only day at Rays. The rest of the weekend was spent implementing the skills that were taught on Friday. I spotted some of the women I was helping conquering their fears and it was so cool to see a huge smile from all the women pretty much all the time.

Rays has it all, there’s a XC course, foam pit, park set up with rails and half pipes, beginner jumps, expert jumps and north shore type obstacles to play on and if that isn’t enough you can session the huge Red Bull wall ride and see what tricks you could impress the “loungers” on the Oakley box.

I would recommend to anyone interested in bikes to head over to Rays indoor mtb park. There is something for everyone to ride on and improve their skills with. My last day at the park I learned how to flip into the foam pit, well… on my feet that is. I am now one step closer to doing a flip on a bike and I mastered the one handed maneuvers by Sunday.