Betty Birrell, 76, poses for a photograph with her mountain bike, in North Vancouver, B.C., on Monday, December 9, 2024. Birrell has been mountain biking since about 1993, when she says it was an anomaly to see another woman riding through the lush, loamy forests. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Betty Birrell expertly guides her mountain bike over an elevated wooden ramp, catching some air, then lands smoothly on a trail she’s ridden countless times before.
At 76, the local legend has spent three decades tackling the rugged slopes of Vancouver’s North Shore mountains, beginning in about 1993, when she says it was an anomaly to see another woman racing through the lush forests.
Birrell sums up those early days as “lots of gnar, lots of jank, not much suspension” — for non-riders, that roughly translates as steep, tight, rocky and generally sketchy terrain on bikes that were a far cry from today’s high-tech machines.
She’s still tackling some of the most challenging trails the North Shore has to offer, but after many years of mostly riding alone, Birrell has found community in the Shore Sirens, a group for women and nonbinary riders formed in 2023.
Shore Sirens president and co-founder Jessie Curell describes Birrell as an elite athlete who shows up “to shred almost every time,” not just enjoy the fresh air.
“Betty is the queen of the shore. She is the matriarch,” Curell says.
If Birrell is the queen of the shore, then Todd Fiander is the king.Widely known by his mountain moniker “Digger,” […]
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