From Total Newbie to Crank Queens Founder: How It All Started

When Crank Queen’s Founder Erica Davis first started mountain biking, she was a total novice. She was also new to Boise and looking for two things: a way to get better at riding and a way to meet people. What she didn't realize at the time was that those two things would eventually lead her to create a community of women mountain bikers.

Like many women who are new to mountain biking, Erica had plenty of questions.

Where should she ride?

Who could she ride with?

What if everyone else was more experienced?

Would she be the slowest rider?

She wanted opportunities to learn without feeling like she had to already be an expert at the sport to belong.

So in 2019, Erica founded Crank Queens Boise with a simple goal: to create more opportunities for women to ride together.

What started as a small group of women riding together gradually grew into a community. As more women joined, Crank Queens became a place where women could learn new skills, find riding partners, build confidence, and simply have people to ride with.

And Erica was progressing right alongside them.

Her own riding journey went from those first rides of around six miles to longer and more challenging adventures, eventually leading her into endurance mountain bike racing. She went on to complete multiple endurance races include competing 2xs in an 80-plus-mile endurance race (with podiums both times!).

But the race isn't really the point of the story. That’s just icing on the cake.

The bigger transformation happened along the way. Erica had to learn new skills, spend time on trails that once felt intimidating, build her fitness, and keep showing up even when she wasn't sure what she was capable of. She had to keep saying yes to opportunities and getting out of her comfort zone.

That's the same progression she now sees in so many Crank Queens riders.

A woman might arrive convinced she's "not a mountain biker" because she's never ridden a trail before or doesn't feel experienced enough to join a group.

Then she starts learning. She gets more comfortable on the bike. She rides something that used to scare her. She finds people to ride with. Eventually, she stops thinking of herself as someone trying mountain biking and starts thinking of herself as a mountain biker.

That's what Erica wanted Crank Queens to create from the beginning: a place where women could start wherever they were and have opportunities to grow.

Today, Crank Queens has grown far beyond those first group rides. The community includes women from their twenties to their seventies, from complete beginners to experienced riders, with programs, skills clinics, retreats, social events, bike education, strength and wellness offerings, and opportunities to give back to the trails we ride.

But the original idea hasn't changed.

More women on bikes. More opportunities to ride together. More chances to discover what you're capable of.

Erica didn't know where mountain biking would take her when she started. She just knew she wanted to ride, learn, and find her people.

One ride eventually became a community.

And that community is still growing.

Interested in joining the community? See our events page for upcoming rides.