Rider2Leader

A British Cycling tutor across all levels of leadership qualifications, Emma is a mountain bike coach and guide. She works for sportscotland at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland’s National Outdoor Training Centre in Aviemore, the Cairngorms National Park. Emma regularly delivers a full range of mountain bike courses for a whole variety of people and groups.

Emma says "I have ridden a bike throughout the world, racing enduro a while ago, but still enjoy a good holiday riding ‘enduro’ style trails, but also love good adventure rides, examples being bike packing the length of Cuba, or racing the Colorado (bike packing) Trail Race. Or going on a Scottish island-hopping gravel bike adventure to also dance away at a Scottish music gig! In the winter I spend a lot of my time in the mountains in the winter conditions teaching safe practice and introducing people the skills required to move on foot or on skis in the mountains on the snow."

"I love to inspire others to use bikes or skis to go on mini or mega adventures from your backdoor or further afield, to feel the adrenalin that the descents can bring and the satisfaction that pedaling up big hills or technical ascents can provide".

Photo Credit: Ed Smith

A former Captain in the Royal Engineers, Emily has over 25 years experience of leading in the outdoors. She has trekked, climbed and cycled mountains all over the world including the Simien and Bale Mountains in Ethiopia, Upper Mustang in Nepal, the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, the Alps and Pyrenees.

This wealth of experience makes her a genuinely interesting guide and great companion. Emily has now turned her considerable energies to being a guide and coach at Comrie Croft and tutor for Cycle Wild Scotland.

The first ever person to qualify as a mountain bike trail therapy practitioner, Emily is well-regarded for her ability to create positive spaces for people to get into mountain biking and learn new skills.

She is part of the Dirt Divas team and works with other coaches across Scotland in an effort to make mountain biking and off-road riding more accessible to women.

Any meeting with Emily comes with a tidal wave of positivity that you will find yourself being happily swept away by.

Christine is MTB Health Programmes Manager and Leadership Development for Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland. She is convinced she has the best job in the world and is passionate about getting as many folk as possible outdoors, on bikes of all kinds, and into nature.

Christine’s role is to develop, coordinate and source funding for the many projects that sit within the DMBinS Health pillar as well as support the further development and evolution of the Mountain Bike Leadership Awards with British Cycling.

Christine has a Ph.D. in environmental sciences, has worked in education for many a decade and would like to run something over 50k in her 50th year (otherwise it just goes up year after year).

She is operational within her local Mountain Rescue team, loves a good run in the hills and a bit of a rock climb when time allows, but most of all is just inspired by our wild and woolly places, how amazing they can make you feel (even in the worst of weather) and how cake (any cake) after a long day in the hills is the best cake ever!

Photo Credit: Finlay Anderson

Neil comes from a background of sports coaching and education, with a particular focus on ‘the inclusion of physically disabled people in the outdoors’. For over 15 years Neil has worked with people of all ages, levels of experience and backgrounds to grow their skills and confidence in sport.

Having started as a swimming teacher, Neil has spent the last 5 years teaching, supporting and leading people in off-road adaptive cycling and building the Adaptive Riders Collective, a charity which supports people with physical disabilities to get out into nature through the use of off-road adaptive cycling equipment.

As one of the first adaptive cyclists to become a fully qualified MBL with British Cycling, Neil has a real passion for helping others have the opportunity to become mountain bike leaders and support riders to become confident, capable and enthusiastic leaders and advocates for the physical, social and mental health benefits that cycling and getting outdoors has to offer everyone.

Neil's passion for adventure and pushing the perceived boundaries of what is possible is infectious and his energy and enthusiasm leave all who ride and learn with him inspired and motivated to push their own limits and get out of their comfort zones.

Aneela McKenna is a British Cycling MTB tutor and sports educator with a strong focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within the mountain biking community. Since becoming a mountain bike guide in 2015, she has led women's guided trips across Scotland, making her one of the first women in the country to offer women-only MTB tours.

Recognising the lack of diversity in leadership roles, Aneela pursued her position as an MTB tutor in 2022, delivering the Fundamentals Mountain Bike Leadership course.

Her work centres on empowering individuals from underrepresented groups, including women, disabled people, racially minoritised communities, and LGBTQ+ individuals, to take on leadership roles in cycling.

Aneela is deeply involved at the grassroots level, co-founding the FNY Collective, MissAdventures, and the Colour Collective, all aimed at increasing participation in mountain biking. She played a key role in establishing the Tweed Valley Trails Association, the first trail association in Scotland. Currently, she chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group for British Cycling.

Her contributions to EDI in cycling have earned her recognition, including the title of 'Most Outstanding Human' at the Singletrack Magazine Reader Awards in 2021 and 'Local Hero of the Year' at the Scottish Mountain Biking Awards 2019. Aneela continues to work towards creating more inclusive and accessible cycling opportunities for all.

Photo credit: Andy McAndlish