Turning Life’s Challenges into Confidence through Mindful Mountain Biking with Coach Bekah Rottenberg
Sports mirror life. So how can we use sports to live our happiest, healthiest, bravest lives?
Bekah Rottenberg (she/her) is the founder of Brave Endeavors, a professional mountain bike instructor, a NASM certified personal trainer, a Patagonia mountain bike Ambassador, and a former professional enduro racer. She retired from pro racing to focus on coaching and strength training through Brave Endeavors.
Brave Endeavors believes mountain biking is an analogy for life: as we improve on the bike, we improve in our lives.
We talk about...
Discovering confidence in all aspects of life through mountain biking
Growing up as an athlete but only messing around on bikes, trying to get lost
Finding self-confidence through what her body could do, even when academics were challenging
The perks of participating in team sports as a child, since athletic single-mindedness often comes in adulthood when team sports aren’t always an option
Bekah’s first mountain biking race where she chose the beginner’s category and won by a half hour
A journey from being a school teacher to teaching on the trails
Following an interest in sustainable agriculture before deciding to become a middle school science teacher
Breaking into pro mountain biking while balancing that with being a teacher
Not wanting to go all-in on racing since it’d sacrifice other important parts of life
Deciding to leave her job as a school teacher due to bureaucratic struggles with standardized tests
When “quitting is not an option” goes too far
How Bekah still gets to be a teacher every day, just in a different environment
Building confidence in youth girls as media poses unrealistic expectations
Sports messaging for youth is often unattainable or unapproachable for girls
Working with youth ages 6-16 and finding that puberty hurts girls’ confidence more than boys
There’s a standard, then the female version: baby sharks wear pearl necklaces and girls and women are always a subset
Women (both trans and cis) in the mountain biking industry
Sexism and microaggressions in women’s sports, on a small scale and as an industry
Being queer lets Bekah show up as she is, and if all people could feel safe in their identity, people could just be people
Professional female mountain bikers are kicking butt even in the face of industry adversity
Changing her mind about transgender women in sports; it’s not just about testosterone
Every athlete has hidden advantages and disadvantages
Media and equal pay in women’s pro biking
Building a business around a passion for the bike
Not going all-in on any element of business, even against business advice
Building a multifaceted business around youth coaching, adult coaching, strength training, nutrition, and mindfulness
Showing up as an entrepreneur: To use “Bekah” or “I” online?
Deciding to hire help instead of doing everything in business herself; her business needs to be great without her
When you wear so many hats in business that you start talking to loved ones about them constantly
When your passion is work, there’s a risk of work taking away from your passion, so you need to find ways to keep the play and fun alive
Mindfulness, mind-body connection, and mountain biking
“The gap between expectations and reality is happiness”
How journaling and reflection mesh with mountain biking programs
Relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and how you don’t have forever to build strong bones
Building muscle is investing in your body’s retirement bank account
Our minds can limit or push us, like with breaking the four minute mile
There are many elements to identity, not just being a mountain biker
How to connect with Bekah:
How to connect with Jeni and Angie:
Please rate and review For The Love Of:
Music: The Kind of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins
Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.