On this Episode
Hannah Bergemann has been busy making a name for herself in the enduro and freeride scene over the past few years. We caught up the rising freeride star and talked to her about how she got started, her life in Bellingham, Washington, the women’s freeride scene, and how she shot her segment for the new Teton Gravity Research MTB movie, Accomplice.
To hear more from Hannah, check out this March 2019 interview on Singletracks.
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Automated transcript
Jeff Barber 0:00
Hey everybody, welcome to the Singletracks podcast. My name is Jeff, and today we’re going to be sharing an interview that Matt Miller did with professional free rider Hannah Bergman. Hannah lives in Bellingham, Washington, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She races enduro and free ride, and is starring in the new Teton gravity research film Accomplice. Matt talked with her about how she got started mountain biking, how she got into racing and free riding, women in mountain biking, and what it was like filming her segment for accomplice, which is debuting as a drive-in movie theater tour across the US in July. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Matt Miller 1:08
So you interviewed with Gerow, our other writer, last, I think it was last year, and you mentioned you were going to race in the trans BC with your dad. So wanted to see if you could give us a recap.
Hannah Bergemann 1:20
Yeah, totally. That was, I was almost an entire year ago. That was last July. We did the trans BC together, and that was definitely the biggest race that either of us had done. It’s like a six day intero stage race. And it was, it was amazing. We had so much fun. Got to see bunch of new towns and trails and locations that we wouldn’t otherwise have gotten to ride at, and the terrain and the like, the trails that Megan had selected for the race were incredible variety of stuff. Like one of the days we did a huge kind of free ride, like scree zone we’re out in, where was that one in Vermeer, at panorama. And then another day we’re, like, riding singletrack trail deep in the woods. So there was kind of a huge, like, a pretty good variety of stuff. And all was really cool and really big days on the bike. Where are all the stages at? They kind of varied. So like we were in, let’s see. We started panorama, and then we were had some some of the stages were in the bike park at the resort, and then some of them were out of the bike park in the town. And then we went to Kimberly, Fernie. And one day we were in Alberta, actually, which can’t remember what the name crow’s nest was, the name of the zone. This is, like, a lot of interior BC, yeah, yeah. And I think that race varies depending on the year, like, sometimes they do it more on the West Coast, just each year is different.
Matt Miller 2:55
Did you and your dad train together for that?
Hannah Bergemann 3:01
Oh, yeah. You could say that we kind of both did a few like local races in preparation, like the Cascadia dirt cup. And he lives down south of Hood River, and I’m up in Bellingham, so we don’t necessarily get to ride together a whole lot, but the racing is something that we can travel to together. And yes, that’s kind of why we wanted to do that trans VC, so we could get a whole week of riding in together.
Matt Miller 3:27
Yeah, totally. Does your dad race a lot?
Hannah Bergemann 3:32
He does a lot of the local stuff, I wouldn’t say a lot, but he maybe six races a year or something, kind of just depending on what what’s happening each year. It’s like, last year we did quite a bit, and this year we had plans to do some more racing, but I’m gonna have to put some of that on hold.
Matt Miller 3:51
Yeah. And so, like, how does it work? Like, are you both, like, riding the transfers together and just defending or kind of just depends on the race?
Hannah Bergemann 3:59
Like, sometimes we’ll get to ride transfers together and then transfers together, and other times we’ll kind of just end up doing our own thing. But we usually go, like, We’ll camp together at the venue, and then pre ride the course together, and then sometimes during race day, we’ll get to hang out quite a bit.
Matt Miller 4:14
Nice. Did you pre-ride the whole course?
Hannah Bergemann 4:19
Like, all six days the terrain we see is blind, actually. So that race was really cool, because it’s fully blind racing. You just can, it’s pretty loose format. Like you just get a timing chip each you chip in, chip out at each stage, and you can, you can ride with somebody the whole time if you want, which is what we mostly did, including in the stages. So like, you transfer together, and then he just kind of would chase me down the trail, like, I would tag in and then start pedaling, and he would just tag in right behind me and just kind of like, try and chase me as long as he could. So that was really cool. Not, yeah, not a whole lot of races get you can do that style of racing.
Matt Miller 4:54
So, like, they don’t release the stages until like, the day of?
Hannah Bergemann 4:59
Yeah exactly. Like, maybe the day before they’ll, like, tell you what you’ll be doing, so you kind of can prepare food and water wise, and like, have an idea for how many miles in elevation and all that. But you don’t, like, know what you’re racing until you’re in the in the run, pretty much, you just kind of figure it out as you go very Enduro. It’s cool. It’s super fun, because it kind of takes the stress out of pre writing and memorizing lines and stuff. You just, like, make tons of mistakes, and it’s more fun that way.
Matt Miller 5:28
Yeah, you just ride it, and you’re not, like, getting anxious in your head about what’s next. You just ride and find out.
Hannah Bergemann 5:34
Yeah, just figure it out as you go. It’s pretty cool.
Matt Miller 5:37
So are you and your family from Hood River, Oregon?
Hannah Bergemann 5:42
That’s where I grew up. Mostly my folks moved from the Midwest to Hood River, Hood River area, or I guess I moved to Portland, and then to Hood River, like 2007 or something, and then, so I was about nine years old, so I mostly grew up in Hood River.
Matt Miller 6:01
Okay, when did you start riding?
Hannah Bergemann 6:02
I was kind of always interested in bikes, and then we have a like, post Canyon was pretty close to my house growing up, but I was really into skiing all throughout middle school and high school, and then kind of at the end of high school, I’d say, like when I was a junior and senior, I started getting more interested in bikes, and my dad gave me his old bike, a hand me down bike, so that we could ride together. I think it was like summer after my junior year of high school, and then we did decide to do a race together that year.
Matt Miller 6:33
I think this is in Gerow’s interview with you, but so is it 2012 that you started mountain biking? On like an Ellsworth Moment, right?
Hannah Bergemann 6:41
Yeah, that’s the bike. Was a 2012 Ellsworth Moment. But I didn’t start riding, I would say, until like, 2014 Oh, really. Okay, 2015 Yeah, that was when I got the bike. Was like, I think that was the summer of 2014.
Matt Miller 6:53
And like, How’d you get caught up in mountain biking? And how did you progress so quickly?
Hannah Bergemann 6:59
My dad, I just got into it from my dad, like he was kind of getting into it. And he had recently purchased a new bike, which is why I got the hand me down bike. And then I kind of saw it as a way for us to hang it spend time together. And then when I spent about a year riding around Hood River, and then when i grad was looking into going to college, I saw that Bellingham was a cool location for mountain biking as well as skiing, which I was still really into at the time also. So that’s sweet. I would want to go somewhere I could do both. And kind of when I moved up to Bellingham in 2015 is when I made a few friends at the bike shop, and kind of started hanging out and riding with them, and just got really into it together.
Matt Miller 7:41
With the right friends, and then just riding with, like, the right type of people, you’re just, you’re pushing yourself and getting out there and just riding a lot and progressing?
Hannah Bergemann 7:53
Totally. The community up here is the biking community is pretty Special, like, there, it’s a lot of really talented and really passionate riders and trail builders and so kind of just immersing myself in that scene helped me progress really fast.
Matt Miller 8:10
It’s a huge scene in Bellingham now, right? I mean, there’s that big industry presence and everything.
Hannah Bergemann 8:14
Yeah, definitely. And we’re pretty close to Canada too, so like, getting to go up there really often was pretty special, too.
Matt Miller 8:25
Was it overwhelming, moving from Oregon to Bellingham, like, in terms of, like, the mountain bike scene, or does Hood River kind of match that this?
Hannah Bergemann 8:34
The scene is definitely bigger up here in Bellingham. But I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming. I think it’s just exciting, like just having access to way more trails. And yeah, I would, it was just, I was immediately pretty stoked and glad that I chose to move up here.
Matt Miller 8:50
Which bike shop were you working at?
Hannah Bergemann
Kona bike shop.
Matt Miller
Okay, is that like, attached to their their factory?
Hannah Bergemann 8:56
It’s like a separate location. It’s like in town, and they have, like a bike shop in a showroom.
Matt Miller 9:02
Okay, so you’re with Kona for a while, right? Like you worked for them, and then you were riding for them?
Hannah Bergemann 9:09
Yeah. So I started working for them while I was in school, and then they kind of started sponsoring me to go to some, like, local enduro races, and then over time, developed into, like a full sponsorship, like on the team situation, which was really cool. I got to go do a bunch of racing internationally last year with them.
Matt Miller 9:29
Those are mostly EWS events?
Hannah Bergemann 9:32
Yeah I did the whistler EWS. I did one in North Star, and then I got to go to Italy for the trophy nations at the end of the season last year, that’s it. Yeah, that looks like a really cool race, but that was a super fun race. Yeah, I would definitely do that one again.
Matt Miller 9:48
And so what else are you doing in Bellingham? Are you? Are you in school right now? Or what do you what are you doing?
Hannah Bergemann 9:54
I graduated last spring, so I did four years at Western Washington. I. And now I’m kind of just working full time doing the bike racing, bike industry stuff.
Matt Miller 10:04
Okay, what’d you study in?
Hannah Bergemann 10:08
In school, I did kinesiology and Spanish, and I have goals to eventually go back to school and get a doctorate so I can do physical therapy, but hopefully a little ways down the road.
Matt Miller 10:20
What got you interested in Kinesiology?
Hannah Bergemann 10:23
I’ve always kind of been interested in medicine, and just because the way relates to athletics, I’ve always thought it’s been kind of cool. I’ve always been into sports like skiing and biking, so being able to I always thought PT would be a cool career to have the opportunity to kind of put the two together. So that was kind of my plan going into school was to do the undergrad in kinesiology and then go to graduate school, and then after the biking became almost a career, accidentally had the opportunity to kind of put school on hold for a bit, which has been cool.
Matt Miller 11:06
Yeah, and you get, like, a deeper understanding of how your own body reacts to training and exercise.
Hannah Bergemann 11:13
Totally. It was actually really cool learning about all that stuff while being an athlete, like training for enduro races and just doing all that stuff simultaneously.
Matt Miller 11:24
Do you have a coach or like, do you use that to develop your own training plans?
Hannah Bergemann 11:29
I did use some of the stuff I learned in school to develop training plans and get ideas for training. And I also work with a local guy, Spencer Paxson, who also rides for Kona, and he gave me, he’s a personal trainer, and he gave me a bunch of training advice, and also just advice as far as being a bike athlete, and, you know, working in the bike industry, which is really cool.
Matt Miller 11:55
Yeah, it seems like a lot of athletes study kinesiology or Some sort of athletic field when they’re in college. How’d you get started at Kona bike shop? Like, did you have experience as a mechanic?
Hannah Bergemann 12:10
I know I had zero experience in working on bikes or anything. I just started hanging out with those with the guys that worked there, specifically one of my good friends, Amanda, was working in the shop at the time, and she was just like, offered to show me around town and ride like, show me the trails and have someone to ride with. And so we started riding together. And I eventually started hanging out the shop quite a bit. And over time, they just offered me a job to work on the sales for and then worked kind of sales for, like, maybe a year or two, and over time, just learned a ton about working on bikes, and then eventually started wrenching on bikes and became a mechanic.
Matt Miller 12:54
Yeah, did it take a while to catch on to learning how to wrench? Or like, what was the process like learning that?
Hannah Bergemann 13:02
I had, luckily had some good like co workers who were good mentors and shared a lot of not good knowledge, but I was definitely, definitely made a lot of mistakes in a quite a learning process, but definitely a fun one.
Matt Miller 13:15
What do you think the most difficult thing to work on, like mountain bike parts?
Hannah Bergemann 13:21
The most tricky stuff is suspension, because just a lot more complicated. Doing damper service and work with all the different varieties of suspension can get a little tricky, but I think it’s also one of the most fun, fun things to work with.
Matt Miller 13:35
I just started well, I just built up, like, my own bike. Like, for the first time, like, I’d done like, a bunch of random service bits, like servicing my suspension and this and that and like, Finally, put it all the tests, like, built my own bike a few months ago. And like, I don’t know, derailers and drivetrains have been the trickiest thing for me to figure out. But I’m like, I’m not doing like, full suspension services, just like basic get it up and running, fix it and yeah, drivetrains have been, have been the one for me to learn.
Hannah Bergemann 14:06
Feel like that’s pretty common for a lot of people that, or at least for drivetrain to be tricky, they’re just like so many different things that you can do or could be wrong, or that could be an issue.
Matt Miller 14:21
Totally Yeah. And so you’re at transition now, are you so you’re writing for them as an athlete. What are you doing? Are you doing anything else with them?
Hannah Bergemann 14:32
Yeah, I also am an employee for them, so I’m working kind of with the marketing team and helping them with media projects and just random marketing stuff, and then kind of just other random things that they need help with, like customer service and kind of just random things. But mostly it’s marketing and media.
Matt Miller 14:53
Okay, what’s that been like?
Hannah Bergemann 14:57
It’s been really it’s been awesome. I. Yeah, it’s a really cool situation for me, kind of transitioning into being a mountain bike athlete, because I get, you know, the benefits of being an employee, like, I have an office space, and I get to work with the company directly, and have all those resources and, like, kind of learn how the company works, while still having the benefits of being an athlete, like having all the time and freedom to train and ride my bike and and all the perks of, you know, being a professional athlete without the like stress of kind of doing it all my own. I still get to work directly with Lars, who manages that the athletes. And I’m also learning a ton about just how a bike company operates, and gaining a ton of knowledge and insight on the industry in general, which is, I think is really beneficial.
Matt Miller 15:53
Yeah, it sounds like a lot to a lot to take in and a lot to handle, for sure.
Hannah Bergemann 16:00
It’s been, it’s their great crew, though. So like, they’ve been super supportive and, like, welcoming and making the whole process as easy as possible.
Matt Miller 16:10
Yeah, and it sounds like a pretty good, like, support system, as far as you like, getting into this full time kind of bike industry position.
Hannah Bergemann 16:18
Yeah, there a lot of the crew there. I’m good friends with a lot of the current transition also, so that helps quite a bit. They’re all super supportive and helpful. Anything that I need, really.
Matt Miller 16:31
Yeah, so switching gears a little bit. I want to talk about Red Bull formation. Or is it? Is it just formation? Is it like a Red Bull backed?
Hannah Bergemann 16:39
It is a Red Bull that thing. They didn’t call it Red Bull formation last year. I think it will be Red Bull formation eventually, but last year it wasn’t.
Matt Miller 16:48
It was just formation. Okay, yeah. And so, like a lot of people, I think, called it like women’s rampage, like the women’s edition of rampage. Is that a fair description, or is there more to it?
Hannah Bergemann 17:01
No, I don’t think it’s quite the same. Like, if they were going to do women’s rampage, they would probably just call it rampage, like the formation was, was the whole idea there was to be more of a like progression style event. So they wanted to provide a space and the resources for women to kind of get into that scene, because Rampage is such a unique and just a super unique event. Like the guys that are doing that stuff spend, like so much time training and have their tires in the Utah dirt, and, like, are fully immersing themselves in that scene. And like, a lot of women haven’t really had that opportunity, even, like, there’s only a few, like, like, a lot of the gals that came hadn’t even really been to Virgin before and ridden that terrain and seen it in person. So like, the whole idea behind formation, I guess, was providing that space and an opportunity for women to go to Utah and spend time there and kind of see what it’s like and gain that experience. But then also with other women so they can, we can, kind of use each other to progress and do things you might not do without that group setting. That makes sense?
Matt Miller 18:28
Yeah, yeah. I mean, Virgin seems like kind of the pinnacle of free ride like that whole area. And like you mentioned, like a lot of people, just the guys that are in rampage, they spend a lot of time down their training. Like, how important is that to progress as a writer? Is the terrain? Like, I’m sure it’s got to be vastly different writing than, like, super soft loam in in Washington.
Hannah Bergemann 18:55
Yeah, it’s super different. It’s like, the style of writing is one thing. Like, it’s all about break control and gaging speed and kind of your precision hitting while hitting big features. And, like, being able to visualize yourself doing something and then making it happen. Because a lot of those features are, you know, your guinea pigging stuff, and a lot of it hasn’t really been written before, where, and then on top of that. So it’s, like, kind of its own unique style of writing. It’s also the super unique terrain. So, like, you’re super exposed the dirts, not the dirts, kind of weird, and like, grips in different ways than you’d expect. And so you kind of have to learn both sides of it.
Matt Miller 19:41
And this is at the, like, they call it the old rampage site?
Hannah Bergemann 19:46
Actually, yeah, there’s multiple old rampage sites. So we spent time at like, the original site, and then also, like the 2015 site.
Matt Miller 19:54
Yeah, okay, yeah, I’ve been up to, like, I guess it’s like the original one up by. Like, BMX tracks and yeah and all that. And, like, right? It’s only gotten bigger, but at the same time that original site is massive. Like, everything on there is, like, mind boggling.
Hannah Bergemann 20:12
So a lot of people go and kind of spend time at that original site to get familiar with it, and then once you feel more comfortable there, you can move on to the other sites, which are actually bigger. Like every year they just got bigger and bigger.
Matt Miller 20:25
Yeah, and so how did, how did formation come about?
Hannah Bergemann 20:29
Katie Holden, she’s also a Bellingham local kind of was her brainchild. She she was actually wanting to participate in rampage back when she was competing and racing full time, and just never felt like there wasn’t like enough opportunities for women to get into it, and she spent a lot of time digging. She actually, I think, was a digger for maybe two years at the actual rampage event, and I can’t remember what years she was there, but it was just her idea to try and get more women involved with the scene, and then she was able to get support from Red Bull and a few other professional athletes and make it all happen.
Matt Miller 21:19
Did it go together pretty smoothly? Like, it sounds like a lot to plan for being it being like the first time?
Hannah Bergemann 21:26
Yeah, totally. It all in the end, everything went about as well as it could have, I would say, kind of during, throughout the whole process. It was a little bit like uncertain for a variety of reasons. Like, it all came together pretty fast, relatively, like, she had the idea for a while, but like was kind of didn’t get the green light until a few months prior, and had to do a lot of work to make it all come together and get a lot of support from from different sources, which was really cool to have, like to see, to have that support, and see that a lot of people are stoked on, on that, on, I guess, the idea of getting more women involved. So that was really cool, yeah, I guess, like, there’s a lot of uncertainty, just like, within that the sport itself, like, you know, injury is always a thing that could happen, or, like, conditions, and we had to get, you know, a lot of people came over from like, around the world, like, so it was kind of a big operation with a lot of moving parts that it was pretty amazing that they were, she was able to pull it all off so smoothly.
Matt Miller 22:40
And part of the lead up to actual riding, it sounds like there’s, uh, workshops that you kind of went through before riding.
Hannah Bergemann 22:49
Yeah, we did. We had a lot of people who came to help and support and gave us, give us advice on a variety of different things, like Rebecca rush and Michelle Parker. A lot of big name athletes came and kind of helped with the event, and like Rebecca, gave us a lot of advice on from her experience being a professional athlete and dealing with fear, and she’s got tons of experience and tricks for tackling different obstacles that she encounters, which are, you know, a different style, but it’s relatable. And so that was really cool to hear her advice.
Matt Miller 23:31
Yeah. I mean, she’s, like, a veteran.
Hannah Bergemann 23:36
Yeah, she’s a badass.
Matt Miller 23:39
Yeah, totally. And what kind of workshops are you going through before actually writing out there?
Hannah Bergemann 23:46
I wouldn’t say workshops might not be the right word, but kind of just more like, we kind of just have these discussions and like, gathering and just bouncing ideas and in chatting about, you know, how we feel about different, different things that we’re doing, like just kind of having an open communication and platform for discussing everything was was nice to just, I guess, connect with each Other, and it kind of just added to the whole the whole event, as far as like the mental side of everything, like being able to kind of be on the same page with everyone and understand, or at least know what everyone else is thinking and processing, like It helps me, at least with, like, the mental side of the sport. I guess it’s like, a huge part of it.
Matt Miller 24:47
Yeah, so, I mean, kind of like, you said, like, you have the support system there. You’re going through this shared experience. And some of the writing is, I don’t know, scary, probably, like. So you like, can you like, feed off each other’s confidence?
Hannah Bergemann 25:03
Yeah, totally feeding off confidence. And, yeah, definitely, that’s a good way to put it. Yeah, like having other pro athletes who don’t like Michelle, for example, is like this, you know, kind of doing the ski, skiing, free ride stuff. So she’s can relate pretty heavily used in a slightly different manner. So like having her there for her advice and guidance was was really cool, and we’re able to, like discuss with her what her thought processes are and how she deals with the fear and stress and and helps, and also how she gathers confidence for things.
Matt Miller 25:41
What’s the process on that? Like, like when you’re going up and you’re scouting lines and you’re looking at what you can connect and possibly ride down, are you building up the confidence to actually ride the stuff?
Hannah Bergemann 25:54
For me, the biggest part of it is visualization. So like, when you’re hiking around and looking at features, or, like, trying to imagine features. It’s all kind of, it’s like a process of visualizing yourself doing doing the feature, or like, how you imagine it will work. And if you for me, if I can, like, visualize myself doing something, usually it means I can do it. So it’s just a process of getting myself to be able to visualize it and then, and that can usually make it happen. And it’s kind of, it’s sometimes it’s a longer process, like you have to sometimes you can’t visualize it until the features being built, or until it’s done. And then you can kind of see yourself doing it, but then you have to trust like when you’re building a feature that you want to ride, that you’ll be able to get there. So, if that makes sense.
Matt Miller 26:49
Yeah, cuz you’re not, like, you’re not going up to a jump that’s been there forever and being like, Oh, I could do this. It’s like you’re imagining a jump like that will be built on some drop. Yeah, totally. So what did you What did you get from formation after was all said and done? First, how’d the writing go? And then, what do you feel like you got from the event afterwards?
Hannah Bergemann 27:10
The riding was, was awesome. I was actually, it was a, definitely a highlight of the whole year, for sure. After we spent a couple days, like, a day scouting, and then a couple days building features that we wanted to ride, and then kind of putting a whole line together and and then, like, after putting that much work into the line and making it rideable, and like, doing the whole visualization process and trying, you know, getting your confidence up, after all that sort of mental and physical effort, it was super rewarding to get to ride all of it, and also getting to ride it, and then it worked so well. Like all the features we’d built were worked great and were scary, for sure, but we’re also very within, very much within my ability. So that was really cool to get to experience that whole process. And like was one of the best feelings, like getting to ride something that you built and you were scared of, but then to have it work, work really well.
Matt Miller 28:12
Did you re-ride some of your lines out there?
Hannah Bergemann 28:16
Yeah, after, after riding like I, the way I checked each one off was like, kind of each move at a time, and then once I had ridden each feature, I kind of went up to the top and rode the whole line, and then was able to ride some of the features in the whole line multiple times. Once I’ve ridden it once, I was pretty confident in being able to do it multiple times. And ended up being super fun.
Matt Miller 28:41
Yeah, and it sounds like it was worth it, yeah, for sure, absolutely. What do you think would be different about this year’s like, assuming it goes down with coronavirus and all that going on?
Hannah Bergemann 28:52
I think hopefully, if everything still goes to plan, we’d make the event a little bigger and have more resources and a more dialed plan to provide space for more women to be involved. And I, as far as like the format, I don’t think it would change much, because the way that we did it was really cool, and that there was no competition or anything. It was just kind of a jam style format, like how the Fest series stuff is where you’re pushing each other to ride stuff that you’re uncomfortable with or that you wouldn’t necessarily do in a different setting, but there’s no pressure to compete or like perform at one specific moment. You kind of just have a lot of time to go through the whole process and push your riding ability throughout the whole week, which I feel like is is more beneficial than like having a set competition, because you’re kind of collaborating and focusing on progression work versus just an event, single comp. I shouldn’t run.
Matt Miller 30:02
Yeah, and so now that everybody’s a little bit more familiar with it, like, do you think it’ll open up four more women? Was there a certain amount that they tried to keep the number under?
Hannah Bergemann 30:13
Like, this year, Katie chose six because she felt like that was a good number that she and she chose people that she could trust to make good riding decisions, like under pressure, and who would I guess, want to do that style of riding. And she also, I think, chose a lot of some gals that had racing backgrounds, because the racing sometimes can be a similar like mental process. As far as you know, visualizing your race run, it’s kind of similar in the sense that you have to visualize how you’re going to ride your free ride the line. Or, I think, after having the first event, hopefully she can have the experience to organize the event to accommodate, like, maybe a bigger group, like 10 gals, instead of just six.
Matt Miller 31:03
Yeah, just slowly getting a little bit more women involved when, yeah, when she can.
Hannah Bergemann 31:08
And I think also, like trying to get more women to come do the digging. Because, like, she let, she let us pick, pick our diggers. And a lot of us brought, you know, the guys that we dig with, normally, at home, or whatever. And so I think it would be cool to have she wants to be able to get more women digging as well. Because I think just spending time out there in Utah and like in that terrain is beneficial for being able to ride that style of stuff.
Matt Miller 31:35
Why do you think the freeride scene hasn’t had many women in it? Like, it’s a pretty it’s been a pretty dude heavy scene for like, a long time.
Hannah Bergemann 31:44
That’s a good question. I’m not really sure exactly why it’s been Yeah, so dude heavy. I guess that’s yeah my I guess my theory is, like, a lot of it helps, like, to be able to see someone that you can relate to, to get excited or get the confidence to do something like it’s hard as a for a lot of women to be excited or be motivated to do something they don’t see other women doing like. That could be part of it. Like, just because there previously hasn’t been a whole lot of women involved. It’s kind of just stayed that way. So I guess that’s one thing that formation was also trying to do, is like, you know, start providing, you know, the younger generation of girls with, you know, people they can look up to and and see, help them see themselves doing this, these things so that they’ll be more motivated and they’ll want to be more involved in free ride.
Matt Miller 32:46
Yeah, totally. Like, how would you describe free ride? Because you’ve raced enduro, have you raced downhill a little bit? How do you feel about free ride compared to riding or racing in duro or other gravity like race disciplines, like, what is it about free ride that’s attractive?
Hannah Bergemann 33:02
Freeride is more attractive because kind of just like, inherently requires more creativity, and you kind of just use the terrain to ride. You look at the terrain and you you ride. What looks the most fun like when you’re racing, you’re competing against other people, and you’re riding a trail, not necessarily how you want to, but how best, how to best make yourself go as fast as possible, or you’re trying to perfect this one route. Whereas with free ride, it’s it’s kind of up to interpretation, you can kind of just ride it in a way that suits you or that you think would be the most fun way down the mountain. Like, that’s what’s the most appealing for me about it. Like, coming from a ski background, that’s kind of what was appealing about skiing for me, as well as, like, I kind of did both the freestyle and racing when I was skiing, and definitely was way more drawn to the freestyle side of things for that same reason.
Matt Miller 34:11
Yeah. I mean, it sounds like a little less, less pressure, in a way, to kind of enjoy the ride a little bit more overall.
Hannah Bergemann 34:17
Yeah, you can say that for sure. It’s also super fun and rewarding to build the stuff that you’re going to ride. And like, whether you’re starting out with, like, little, you know, booters in your backyard and, you know, like, I used to build little jumps in my in my backyard as a kid, and then it’s kind of the same, same feeling, like getting to ride something that you built yourself is really cool.
Matt Miller 34:39
Let’s talk about accomplice for a little bit. So yeah, tell us a little bit about accomplice, new Teton gravity feature-length mountain bike film, and what did you do for it?
Hannah Bergemann 34:53
So Accomplice, yeah, you said is tgr, newest full length film that’s coming out, hopefully. Next month. It was supposed to come out in May, but with all the covid stuff, it’s been a little bit kind of just, I think, rolling with the punches, trying to figure out the best plan. But regardless, I’m very excited for it to come out. And I got involved because, kind of through formation, actually, I hung out with Casey Brown and at formation. And she was recovering from an injury that happened at proving grounds earlier in the year. And so she was supposed to go on this trip to India for this film, and she couldn’t go, kind of last minute. Her shoulder wasn’t healed enough to be riding aggressively, you know, across the world in first bike film. So she kind of threw my name out there and to offer to kind of give me her spot in the film. And after meeting me at formation, and so I was super excited and grateful for that opportunity. Yeah, I was in. So I got to go to India for the film with Veronique Sandler, who’s another gal that was at formation. She’s from. She lives in Wales. And we went to the we went to northern India, kind of at the base of the Himalayas, there’s a region called Ladakh, and specifically, the town is called lay we flew into and then we toured, kind of around the area and found free ride lines and stuff that we wanted to ride our bikes on. And we had about two weeks there total to make the film. And it was incredible. It was such a cool experience for tons of reasons. Like getting to go rider, ride our bikes and across the world, and like a totally foreign landscape that no one’s ever ridden bikes on, was incredible. And getting to kind of see all the culture and interact with the locals, there was a huge highlight. They were super stoked on, on us riding there. And like, seeing, the cool thing about riding there is, like, there’s a little bit of a riding scene, like, there’s a few people that ride bikes there. And one, specifically, one little crew of guys that have kind of built a little. They’ve built, like, a little, I guess you’d say, pumptrack, kind of in the hills, and they haven’t really ever seen like people riding the mountains and the screen lines out there, so like they were getting to interact with those guys was so cool. They hung out with us quite a bit while we were filming, and helped us dig a little bit too, which was awesome. And they were super stoked to not only see people riding that terrain, but then also seeing two females go and do that was kind of special and unique.
Matt Miller 37:46
Yeah, that’s sick, yeah. I mean, like, how does it feel like, as you’re going out to, like, as a woman, and you’re shredding these huge lines in front of, you know? I mean, granted, obviously the mountain bike scene is not nearly as developed in India as it is here. But it’s got to feel kind of cool, like writing those lines in front of guys.
Hannah Bergemann 38:06
It was super cool. It was kind of, it was, I was, it was a little scary, just because the terrain was so unfamiliar, like no one’s Utah’s one thing where, you know, people have been riding it for 20 plus years, and it gets a really established free ride zone, where, even though it’s like, huge features, and it’s scary, like, at least, you know, it’s been written, and people ride there, and it’s an established thing, like in India, where we were riding, like, no one’s ever ridden those lines before. Like, every single line we rode was the first ascent, like, and, you know, a lot of it, some of it were big, massive lines, and some of it was, like, smaller stuff, but all of it was, you know, all of it required, you know, fresh, like, fresh eyes and the whole visualization process, like, to to make it happen, like, because a lot of the stuff wasn’t just rideable, we had to, You know, clear, run, run outs and scratching little, you know, places to put your tires, to change direction, and like, you know, it was all kind of just figuring it out as we went, which was part of the which was also why it was so cool.
Matt Miller 39:16
So how did is Jeremy Grant, that’s the director, right? Did he find the location in India?
Hannah Bergemann 39:24
Yeah, he, I think he found it kind of just by using Google Earth to he just like found the zone that he thought, thought looked cool and could be rideable, and did some research and decided it would be worth checking it out. And luckily, it turned out to be pretty incredible.
Matt Miller 39:43
How many of the crew went over there for that that scene?
Hannah Bergemann 39:46
I think it was. It was five of us, mostly myself and vero plus Jeremy. Six of us, myself, Vero, Jeremy Anandi, who was a filmer, Katie Lowe, who works for tgr, and she. Is also at formation. She’s a photographer, and John, he was the also helping with filming in the drone pilot. He also worked for TGR.
Matt Miller 40:10
And so you get there in, like, are you just going straight out to this terrain and, like, digging for a few days to try and put it together? What was the process like putting it together?
Hannah Bergemann 40:23
We flew out there. It was pretty intense. Like, we flew out there, it’s, like, a full 13 hours time difference. So, like, it’s a full swap. So you’re it’s pretty weird, like being we, like, flew there at overnight, and we got there in the it was like eight in the morning or something. And it was kind of crazy to, like, get on a plane in in Vancouver, and then wake up in across the world, like in India, and then we, kind of from then on, it was like full gas we got to, we, like, flew to New Delhi and then got another flight up north, delay. Then, you know, got all of our tons of camera gear, like so many bags, got all of our stuff loaded that would like go to the to our like, little homestay that we stayed at. We stayed at, like, multiple different little homestays while we were up in northern India. And we’re constantly like, you know, building bikes and sorting gear and charging cameras and like, that whole process. And then once we got everything sorted, I think vero had some issues, even with, like, traveling her visa was, like, got delayed for like, a day, and then she had to, like, get a different flight. It was kind of a whole debacle. And then also, like, navigating the airports in India was, was super crazy. And then, like, the whole process of, like, once we were kind of established in there, we would drive out, we had a guide, Luke, who is actually a ski guide for the area in the winter, but offered to help us, like, with the biking stuff, you know, like, he never, really, no one’s ever really done that before, but he figured he could help us, like, find, at least, like, navigate the towns and find his own so he helped kind of drive us around to different zones. And we would drive out, like, Scout areas, like, while we’re driving along this highway, we kind of would drive along the Indus River and and look up as we’re driving and try and find things that looked rideable. And then we would, if we saw something that we thought looked cool, we would drive in close to it, and then, you know, hike into the zone and, like, check it out. So you’re kind of like scouting, driving, scouting. And then, if you like, if we liked it, we would be building the features and making the stuff rideable, and then writing it and filming it, like, all in the same day. And then you’d get back to the homestay and then, like, pass out and repeat that process for like, two weeks.
Matt Miller 42:55
I mean, it’s like, you’re kind of looking at Google Earth from America, and, like, assuming, okay, like, this looks like a good spot to ride, but you don’t actually know until you get there?
Hannah Bergemann 43:06
Totally, and the the dirt and the scree, the like stuff you’re riding on us, it changes the way that, like, you make, changes the way that terrain is rideable. So, like, you just don’t know until you’re there and you’re actually like, riding it and feeling it so but luckily, a lot of the zones that we went to worked out. And, like, some of it worked out exactly as we expected, and others were like, didn’t work at all. Like, one of the lines we tried to ride was this big, massive line, and we’re like, oh, it’s gonna be so cynically cleared out a runway spent, like, a whole day make building this line. And it didn’t work at all. Like it was way too steep. And like, we couldn’t, I could not get any control in the in the run, it like the screen was too hard pack, you ended up just, like, gaining way too much speed and then kind of wipe out. So it’s too sketchy. And then, like, other zones were, like, didn’t have any expectations. They ended up being really cool. So it was kind of all over the place.
Matt Miller 43:58
Geez, yeah, that sounds like an adventure.
Hannah Bergemann 44:01
Oh, for sure. Yeah, it was. It was definitely an adventure. So
Matt Miller 44:04
I went through the cast in, like a lot of well known like feature length mountain bike movies over time. And it’s honestly hard to find full length mountain bike films that have women in the cast at all. Does it seem like it’s changing?
Hannah Bergemann 44:22
I hope so. Yeah. I think hopefully, with more women getting into free ride, like, we’ll be able to see more women and having feature or segments in videos, full length videos.
Matt Miller 44:36
Yeah, again, it’s like, kind of going back to where you’re talking about women in free ride is, like, summed up that there’s that quotes like, you can’t be, you can’t be what you can’t see. Yeah, totally. So, I mean, it just seems like it totally applies to having more women in mountain bike films also.
Hannah Bergemann 44:54
Yeah, absolutely. Like having more women visibly, like having, you know. A huge, a bigger presence and in movies. And I think, yeah, it’ll be hopefully a huge, or hopefully benefit, or give more young gals something to see and visualize and imagine themselves doing the same thing, kind of relating it to that whole process, like doing free ride. A lot of it’s that visualization. So I think being able to see other women doing it will will be helpful, or at least get more young gals stoked on it.
Matt Miller 45:36
Cool. And when did you wrap up? Uh, shooting for that?
Hannah Bergemann 45:40
Oh, I think that was in November, end of November. Oh, wow. Okay, so, like, Yeah, I think I got back from formation, was home for a little bit, and then, like, I think a week before November, Jeremy called me and asked if I wanted to go. So, like, it was, it was pretty crazy. I only found out about leaving for the trip, like, a little over a week before we left.
Matt Miller 46:03
Oh, geez, you had your like, passport and everything ready, though, yeah,
Hannah Bergemann 46:07
Luckily, passwport was good to go. And then getting a visa only took like, two days, so it was Yeah, then like, the next day they had a plane for a plane ticket for me, and everything is pretty crazy.
Matt Miller 46:20
Dang. And like, your work is cool with just bouncing out,
Hannah Bergemann 46:25
Yeah, yeah. I was working in the bike shop at that time, and they were, yeah, they were super they were cool with me just kind of taking off last minute. And they were super stoked to to see me have the opportunity, I guess, and like, take advantage of it.
Matt Miller 46:42
Yeah, gonna go be in a movie real quick. I’ll be right back. Yeah, totally. How’s coronavirus changed your plans for the year? And I kind of talked about it a little bit in the beginning, but do you have anything else lined up for the summer? It’s June right now. And like, yeah, how are things looking for you?
Hannah Bergemann 46:58
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the woods, digging. I built build a trail, and I’ve been helping a lot of friends with their trail projects. And just like, also refurbishing a lot of old trails around town, just been pretty cool. I think, I think trail building helps with riding a lot. Like, if it helps with that whole process of like, if you can build something and then, like, going, if you go through that whole process of, like, seeing the terrain and then imagining a feature being there, and then making the feature, building the feature, making it rideable, like, and then riding it like, that whole process is, like, a huge part of free ride. So I think it’s actually been pretty helpful for me. So that’s kind of what I’ve been been doing the coronavirus stuff like, obviously we can’t really go to events, or we had, we had plans to get do some some AWS racing and spend some time in Europe and go to some of the fess series stuff, which I’m sure we’ll hopefully get to do later, but so it’s definitely changed those plans. But it had like being here in Bellingham has been it’s not, not a bad place to be hanging out. And it’s still, I feel like I’ve still been able to ride a ton and train. I guess you could say,
Matt Miller 48:18
Yeah, it’s interesting. You’re saying that digging. You know, where sometimes it just feels like the only way to progress is like to be on the bike. But then you kind of hear yourself say, like, digging is actually a good way to progress and to get a feel for how the trail works and how your bike connects with the trail.
Hannah Bergemann 48:38
Yeah, totally, that’s a good way to learn every corner of a trail too. Is to build it yourself. Remember you know exactly where, where everything is and how everything works. It’s pretty cool. Super rewarding.
Matt Miller 48:52
Yeah, have you ridden the Fest series?
Hannah Bergemann 48:55
No, I have not. I was hoping to, so now that I’m teammates with Nico, either go to one of his events, or also Carson has one in Bend, which isn’t too far from me, so we were hoping to go down there. So definitely something I want to do.
Matt Miller 49:11
Is that that’s black sage. Is that one in the fall?
Hannah Bergemann 49:17
Yeah, I think, Oh, I think it was supposed to be in the spring. Okay, here, and I think they’re gonna move it to the fall. So it sounds like much. Not positive.
Matt Miller 49:24
Do you think you might be able to ride in that one? That’s the hope. Yeah, I think so sweet. Yeah, the films and everything from fester is always like, They’re magical to watch.
Hannah Bergemann 49:35
Yeah, they’re insane. It’s one of my favorite things to watch, for sure. It’s like, I also love the format of it, the way that those guys are just like, pushing each other to do the most insane stuff.
Matt Miller 49:47
Yeah? The whole concept, like, how you were talking about is right, where you’re just, it’s, it’s a session, it’s not a competition, yeah? It seems like a much more comfortable way to progress.
Hannah Bergemann 49:59
Yeah, rampage stuff. Super cool. Like, obviously, they’re doing insane stuff. But, like, it seems, it seems very, seems really stressful, having so much pressure to do your to do run that insane. Like, you only get to two chances. And, like, the fast stuff seems really cool because you’re, you’re doing a lot of crazy stuff, but it’s get to do it over and over and try different things and kind of working collaborate, like collaborating with the homies versus, like, competing against them.
Matt Miller 50:30
Yeah, the pressure of rampage. I mean, it’s so on NBC, there’s so many eyeballs. It’s crazy. Yeah, totally, from what I read checking on the accomplice website, was that it will start in July. But it’s right, because usually, like, you can go, they play them at, like, movie theaters and stuff. But obviously, like, having a ton of people inside one big room is not a good idea. So the cool thing is, like, now they’re doing it, it’s like a drive in thing, right to where, like, you just drive in with your car to drive in theater and you can watch it.
Hannah Bergemann 51:05
Yeah, totally. I think they’re trying to any place that has a drive in theater that try and get get it playing there, which is pretty cool solution. Unfortunately, it’d be, it’s kind of bummer to not have like a big premiere. I think we’re that we’re gonna have like a bend premiere, and then the same time as that the black stage event. But this is a cool solution, I think, with the drive in theater stuff.
Matt Miller 51:31
Yeah, thanks for chatting. Hannah. Was super cool to hear from you and hear about the Accomplice and all the stuff you’re doing free ride right now.
Hannah Bergemann 51:39
Thank you. I appreciate it.
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