Meet Annie Ford. An inspiring Aussie who, at the heart of it, just really loves to ride her bike!
At some point, every mountain biker has dreamed of making the pilgrimage to Whistler. We’re going to assume, though, that only one of us has thought about pedalling there from Mexico! Yep…her name’s Annie Ford, and she’s about as fair dinkum as they come! As I write this very sentence, Ford is rolling into the mountain bike mecca, which waves the checkered flag on her 3,000+km feat. Aaaaannd, as if her story isn’t impressive enough already, let it be known, she did it all on a hefty 170mm enduro bike, with flat pedals, toothy mountain bike tyres and all her belongings in tow — sheesh man!
Yep, we’re all thinking the same thing… ‘What an absolute legend!’
And it gets better. This journey isn’t even some ego-driven flex. Ford has done this to raise climate awareness, focusing on the concerns about seismic blasting off Australia’s east coast — click here for more info on Ford’s motivation.
All of us at Flow have been eagerly following Ford’s journey. So naturally, when we saw she would be passing through Vancouver, the residence of our North American correspondent (Tom), we knew we had to catch up with her, to hear all about it.
Annie and Tom’s day on the trails of North Van:
I (Tom) was genuinely stoked to meet Ford, having followed her journeys over the last few years and was eager to pick her brain about these unique experiences. Ford’s outlook is infectious and approach to bike packing is unique.
We met at a coffee shop at the base of the trails in North Vancouver; perfectly intentional, as I was going to need a ton of caffeine to keep up. It’d be totally reasonable to assume that on Ford’s ‘rest’ days, she’d been keen to, well, rest! But, that’s certainly not the case! Ford was stinging to get out and sample North Van’s best. I was beginning to experience how much of a die-hard mountain biker she is, which led me to my first curiosity.
Bike choice. Why an enduro bike?
I was intrigued as to why she opted for a 170mm enduro bike to complete this mega trip. After all, Ford is supported by Santa Cruz, who make the Stigmata, a bike that would be the traditional choice for such a bike-packing journey. When I suggested she was doing it unconventionally, her response provided a refreshingly clear insight into her perspective on things.
“I honestly couldn’t think of a more convenient way to do it (riding the Nomad). I prioritise fun over efficiency. I’ve done the efficient way and I can guarantee the fun way is the better way to do it. I couldn’t live with myself if I rode past these incredible mountain bike locations or flew over the top of them.
Like, if you’ve got the time, if you’ve got the health, if you’ve got the luxury of having a great mountain bike at your disposal, ride the trails! Why not, right? What’s the rush! I think we live in a culture where there’s almost an efficiency fallacy and I’m doing my best to break that down in myself as well as others,” she says
Ford went on to explain that she’s inspired by people that do these journeys in the fastest time possible, but that’s not her jam. Her approach of taking the time to enjoy the locations, the community and of course, the awesome trails is something that resonates with many people. In most destinations along the way, Ford made time to get out and mountain bike.
What’s the catalyst behind these mega journeys?
After we got the bike chit-chat out of the way, we bombed down some classic North Shore jank-flow. I was stoked (and my host-anxiety was adequately eased) to see Ford hyped to be riding my local spots. On the next climb, we got stuck into some of the deeper questions as to why Ford was doing this epic journey.
“I previously worked in the oil and gas industry, and it exposed me to some horrific practices, and this bike ride enables me to raise awareness about that in a really fun, engaging and non-threatening way. At the same time, the reduction of my reliance on oil and gas is a really neat fit.
Not only am I filling my cup personally, I’m doing something that’s bigger than me and helping a cause that is really close to my heart and something that I understand well (effects of seismic blasting). It’s something that we will all be impacted by, but not many of us truly understand the devastating effects,” she says.
Ford’s call to climate action is one of many out there. In today’s society, we are saturated by opinions about the state of the world and the changing climate. We spoke about how it can be overwhelming and how ‘climate anxiety’ is becoming more and more common. I was naturally curious to hear what Ford had observed of other people’s responses to what she had been doing.
“I get it. I’ve gone from being disengaged, to caring and now to action. It starts with something small, these things won’t change themselves.
I understand the anxiety and overwhelm. It seems like a really big problem to fix. But it’s so empowering doing just small actions every day. And it’s incredible to think that one person can make a difference. And all you need to do is start. Whole movements are formed off that. And I’ve witnessed that in my lifetime,” she says.
How has the community responded to Ford’s experiences?
As we pulled up in the shade for a quick rest, we began chatting and reflecting on how cool the cycling community is, in particular, mountain bikers (no biases here at all!). Ford explained how she’s been completely blown away by the supportive and welcoming nature of all the bike riders she’s crossed paths with along the way. Not just the generous financial donations, but the above-and-beyond hospitality and human-to-human warmth and care strangers have shown during her journey.
The funds Ford has been able to raise are remarkable, and it’s clear she is grateful for the support in this cause.
“I’ve been so humbled by the generosity, the kindness and the support. It just keeps snowballing. I set a target to raise ten thousand dollars to help stop the largest seismic blasting project on the planet — which is just off the Australian coastline. We reached that in a matter of weeks on the road. It’s looking like we’ll raise over $30,000 AUD, it’s just mind blowing!” Ford says.
It’s one bloody big bike ride, tell us about it?
As we ripped down our last descent for the day, Ford was reflecting on the awesome trails she’d ridden in California, Oregon, Washington and now Vancouver. As we were talking, it came up that Ford has actually never been to Whistler before. Most people are, no doubt, excited to make it there, but I had a feeling this must have become an extra special destination for Ford. The finish line was well and truly in sight.
“It was always the intention to travel to Whistler and to be one week away from rolling into that town and being surrounded by Crankworx. I can’t articulate what that feels like. Everytime I think about it, I get overwhelmed with excitement and happiness and pride that I’ve almost made it. I’ve thought about it for many months out here, and it’s got me through some pretty hard days,” she says.
Ford’s mere mention of ‘hard days’ gave my own legs all a-tremor. For context, she’s been pumping out back-to-back 100km days, in the middle of a hot and dry North American summer.
“I know my legs are conditioned for it!” Ford reassures that her body is well and truly primed for big days on the bike now: with the right food and hydration a lazy 100km is totally manageable.
A simple equation, but nevertheless, impressive!
But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, and the conditions have had Ford on the brink.
“I got heat stroke the other day, even after drinking 6L of water. At first I thought it was food poisoning. I vomited throughout the night, it was a pretty rough night and then had to do 100kms off the back of that. Not to mention, I’d been camping for about a week. It was pretty gross, sweaty and greasy. Not a good day, but I’ve got to have one in there, I guess,” she laughs.
There may not be a better summation of Ford — forever the optimist. Her palpable presence and contagious energy was warmly evident throughout our short ride. It was a weekend, so the popular, always busy, North Vancouver trails were positively buzzing!
We can learn a lot in just one ride!
On multiple occasions, random members of the biking community stopped Ford, clearly stoked to see her in person and be able to chat about her journey. It here in these interactions the size and realness of what Ford is doing shone through.
It was different to fans meeting their favourite World Cup racer, which is, no doubt, based on admiration of athletic ability. With Ford, however, more than her athletic feats; people following her journey are genuinely invested as they’ve been taken along for the ride, albeit virtually. They’ve shared in the daily updates, tracked the kilometres and donated to the greater cause.
In essence, the humility and humanness in Ford’s story, has resonated with that part that exists in each of us. Perhaps, this is the quiet, inner place where all great movements are born. And I guess, poetically, this realisation takes us full circle in appreciating what this entire journey has been all about.
Sweaty and dusty from our day on the bike, Ford and I both discussed that this is a win for the cycling community and a reassurance that society isn’t all bad. In particular, we agreed that what we have in the cycling community is pretty special.
