Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1345276
8 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com J Day Offroad Racing Women's Spotlight J Day Offroad Racing Women's Spotlight By Hillary Snyder By Hillary Snyder Photos By Art Pepin Photos By Art Pepin Off-road racing, motocross, dirt bikes — many peo- ple quickly think of an outdoorsy type man, gearing up to get his peace of mind or "rocks off" on the track, maybe even a gnarly woods ride. As for the future of off-road motorcycling in general, this is not the case. Times have changed in this glorious sport, and we can all say this change has been turn- ing heads for the be er. Woman riders are coming from all over New England to compete in the J Day Off-Road Women's class, which ranges in age from PeeWee 5-12, Girls 12-16 and Women's 16+. With hopes of a Women's pro class in the near future, this group of woman riders has grown tremendous- ly over the past few years. I have watched many of the top riders in the J Day women's class skip effortlessly from girl's class to women's class without missing a beat. Let's meet a few of our up-and-coming champs from the J Day series "the future of off-road racing." Miran- da Mullen is 21 and resides in Rhode Island. She finished fi h overall out of 24 riders in the 2020 J Day Off-road Women's class. Miranda's interest in riding dirt bikes piqued at the age of 13 when she watched her cousin race at Central Village MX in Connec cut. "I decided that day I wanted a bike of my own," she said. Just a year later Mullen did her first moto at Central Village MX and has been racing motocross ever since. A er six years of racing GNCC, 2020 was Miranda's first year riding in the woods, including the J Day Off-Road series. Although Miranda has excelled in the off-road rac- ing world, she has also enjoyed racing in the Lore a Lynn's series, bringing her "out West to places I've never been, like Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, etc." Her fa- vorite place to train is in the woods. "Even if you're not a woods rider, riding in the woods equips you with skills you need like bike control and just feeling comfortable on a bike in general." Miranda is currently running a YZ250F in the J Day Off-Road series, and she is hoping to get on a 125 for the 2021 season. Staying mo vated on and off the track is a great feat in itself. For Miranda her mo va on comes from failing and learning. "Every weekend if I don't see the result I want, it pushes me to try even hard- er for the next weekend." She also stays mo vated by riding as much as possible during the week with her boyfriend and AA rider Ma Conley.