We were lucky to catch up with Catherine Neff recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The mission of Ride Inspired Coaching is to use mountain biking as a tool to build confidence, self-esteem, and to get more people out riding bikes and loving to ride trails by providing customized lessons and clinics for all level riders from all backgrounds!

The story behind the mission comes from me seeing how my confidence grew after taking clinics and lessons and how my story of determination and resilience encouraged others. After spending a great deal of time racing and always feeling intimidated by features on trail, I took a skills lesson and from that moment on, everything changed. I discovered that there were learned skills, safe and fun progressions and with a good coach you could have way more fun on bike. I was able to navigate more challenging terrain, carry more momentum on the trails, ride features that I used to walk, and so much more. This totally helped me build confidence both on bike and off. Plus riding helped me to stay in the moment and focus on what was right in front of me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Catherine and am the owner and head coach of Ride Inspired Coaching, a mountain bike skills coaching business. I also work full time for a title insurance company, and teach private piano lessons. I got into mountain biking through a personal trainer back in 2013. I rode before that, but not really anything serious. I started racing before I knew much about riding skills. I just got on and pedaled, but was hooked on the adventure! From there, I spent a few years actively racing and then took a skills clinic on a whim in 2016 and that changed everything. I learned how to be the driver of my bike instead of just riding it. I spent some time honing my own skills then got certified to be able to teach others the amazing skills I was taught. Since then I’ve earned 5 different certifications and am now an Instructor Trainer for BICP (Bike Instructor Certification Program). Locally, I lead quite a few private lessons and group skills clinics at many of our local trails and at Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio. I also coach at a few other out of state events as well. I’m also in the process of starting a girls mountain bike club for riders 5-18 who self-identify as womxn, girls, non-binary, or gender nonconforming.
What sets us apart from others is how responsive we are and how we meet every rider where they are judgment free and work with them to achieve their goals using a fun, but systematic approach.
What I’m most proud of is how I built the business, website, and brand pretty much on my own, had a few setbacks, but came out much stronger. I’m also really proud of the community around Ride Inspired. A lot of my features my dad helped me create and he comes to a lot of my events to support however he can. I also have 3 amazing coaches that I work with Diana and Keith Miller and Brooke Trine. They are all great coaches, riders, and just overall good people!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source has hands down been word of mouth and internet searches! Word of mouth though I’d have to say is the primary!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I first started coaching back in 2016 I was working with a former friend/partner, we discussed starting a coaching business and nothing really ever came of it until 2018 when I created Ride Inspired Coaching. I spent hours creating a website, social media pages, logos, and building a reputation. There were quite a few bumps in the road with control over social media posts, website, prices, events, and a lot more. I had really debated just shutting things down and letting it fizzle out because it was exhausting to constantly be at odds, but in 2020 I officially moved forward on my own with the encouragement from a few good friends and the business has grown in ways I didn’t think it could!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rideinspiredmtb.com
• Facebook: Ride Inspired Mountain Bike Coaching
• Other: Instagram: Ride Inspired MTB Coaching

Image Credits
Timothy Neff M. Harrison Photography