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Mara Roldan, 17, of the Roldan mountain biking family of Whitehorse, is competing in her first mountain biking world championships tomorrow at the Val di Sole bike park near Commezzadura, Italy. She will be racing in the Junior Women鈥檚 XCO (Cross-Country Olympic) competition. XCO was the only discipline in mountain biking at the Olympics.

I reached Roldan yesterday morning in Italy. She is enjoying her experience in Bel Paese (the beautiful country) so far.

鈥淭oday (Tuesday) was our first day on course. We got here late last night. Italy鈥檚 really pretty. It鈥檚 really fun to be here.鈥�

According to Roldan, her races range between one hour and one hour and 20 minutes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty full-out, and technical courses on steep climbs, steep descents. It鈥檚 very fun. I enjoy it a lot.

鈥淎 lot of climbing and a lot of descending. What goes up must come down!

鈥淲e have a lot of rock gardens and roots, steep corners, that are very dry. There鈥檚 a lot of technical skills that are required, but also a lot of physical capacity and power and endurance as well. So it鈥檚 a good mix of both.鈥�

To qualify, Roldan competed in the Junior World Series races in Saint-F茅licien and Sherbrooke, Quebec, which also counted as Canada Cup events.

鈥淓very country has races to qualify. So in Canada we had two races in Quebec last month. I went to both of them. To qualify I had to make the top four, and so, I did. And so now here I am with the national team for my first international project with them. So it鈥檚 very exciting, for sure.鈥�

According to Roldan, Junior World Series races are scattered around the world, including the United States and Europe. When racers finish first, second and third, they receive a different amount of UCI points, which determines their overall worldwide ranking against other juniors in their category. That determines start positions. Roldan qualified 55th, so it鈥檚 harder for her to get to the front.

鈥淲hen we start farther back, it鈥檚 much harder to get to the front, so sometimes we get caught up in the crashes, and walking and everything 鈥� the whole purpose is to get as many points as possible, so that when we do get to the start line, we鈥檙e farther up every time, and so it gets easier. It鈥檚 always a fun challenge anyways.鈥�

As for how Roldan is feeling going into the event, 鈥渢here鈥檚 always nerves, which are totally normal,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his year I鈥檝e had a lot of ups and downs, many crashes, injuries, concussions, and so 鈥� on a roller coaster 鈥� I鈥檓 still pretty sensitive, still somewhat injured, so coming into this for me 鈥� I鈥檓 not at top of my form, but this is still an experience that will allow me to take an experience out of it and will definitely help me with future races for sure. Any experience that I get to race in Europe, something good comes out of it, even if it鈥檚 not always a good race., just because the field here is so much stronger than in Canada.鈥�

Regarding how she finishes, Roldan has 鈥渘o real expectations.I just want a clean, smooth, race, no crashing, and then hopefully I can make my way up, to get a good number of points and come out of this race with a smile on my face, and not a hospital bill.

鈥淛ust to be here, and getting to meet pros and the elite, and have them help us out with choosing lines 鈥� it鈥檚 really incredible, because I鈥檓 in the younger juniors here, I鈥檓 only 17, so I鈥檓 racing against 18 and soon to be 19-year-olds, so it鈥檚 kind of like my first experience, and definitely will help me leading into next year if I qualify again, 鈥榗ause I鈥檒l already kind of know what it鈥檚 like to be here and race. Nothing bad can come out of this trip, even if I don鈥檛 necessarily reach my goal or don鈥檛 end up in the position I鈥檓 aiming for.鈥�

Roldan is shooting for a top-30 finish.

I asked Roldan if she considers mountain biking a dangerous sport.

鈥淣o, not necessarily, but there鈥檚 always risks, and we just got to be careful, but mountain biking is a pretty risky sport, and crashes are totally normal, and are a big part of the sport, and I just got to deal with them. I鈥檓 very excited and definitely looking forward to it.鈥�

When it comes to the success she鈥檚 experiencing in her young career, like many others before her, it takes a village.

Her coach in Quebec, Daniel Cyr, who鈥檚 been coaching her since 2018, is in charge of her training plan. According to Roldan, Cyr is the greatest overall coach she鈥檚 had.

And then there are the coaches in B.C.

鈥淚 train in B.C. mostly in Squamish, and I have my team based out there with some other coaches as well 鈥� Tobin (McCallum) and Mike (Charuk), who鈥檝e been really really helpful in the past year to prepare me for competition like this, for sure. My teammates over there have improved my technical skills a lot, riding B.C. trails. I鈥檓 probably the most prepared that I could have managed to be, considering COVID and everything, and not being able to travel at all, and not going to the United States and doing races that I would have potentially done without that.

鈥淭he coaches here, that are here with us, and mechanic, and physio, and all the people supporting us here.鈥�

Cycling is a family affair for the Roldans.

鈥淥bviously my family, who are probably the biggest people who play a role in this, and always been my biggest supporters for sure. They鈥檙e definitely the reason I鈥檓 here right now. I love them very much.

鈥淢y dad and my mom have definitely always been outdoorsy, and they definitely got us into biking in the first place 鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 be doing this if it weren鈥檛 for them. They鈥檙e always supporting me to ride with them. Biking is a sport that all my family likes to do, so it makes for fun family outings for sure.

Roldan鈥檚 twin sister Aisha and younger sister Mathilde just competed in the ShredHers event on Grey Mountain in Whitehorse. Mathilde finished first and Aisha second in that event.

鈥淚 was pretty happy for them. They represented pretty well I think,鈥� says Roldan proudly.

鈥淚t鈥檚 never only one person who allows an opportunity like this to come up. It鈥檚 always a bunch of different people and I鈥檓 thankful for all of them for sure.鈥�

As for how it feels to be the first female junior rider from the Yukon to race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Roldan says, 鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly proud to be doing this. Sadly, I could not do much in the Yukon in the past year because of COVID-19, I was stuck down in B.C. Just the Yukon, incredible mountains and incredible trails and training their is good preparation for pretty much anywhere else.

鈥淩epresenting not only my country but being the first female in the Yukon to get to a level of competition that鈥檚 world- wide is pretty incredible, and I hope I will represent it well. Hopefully it will be a good race.鈥�