It’s 2019. Female stereotypes have as much place in our world as floppy disks and Blockbuster video stores. The concept of women now being in places they haven’t previously been is becoming commonplace. Women are running Fortune 500 companies and piloting shuttles into space. They’ve pushed their way into boardrooms, created space for themselves at the table, and are greasing their chains and showing up on mountain bike trails more than ever before. The rocks, roots, ruts and mud don’t deter them. They are taking on the rugged terrain in packs and bringing their friends with them.
The notion of an all-women’s mountain bike group seemed ripe for the taking. And that’s just what a group of Bentonville women set out to do. The Women of Oz (WOZ) is the brainchild of Ashley Patterson, Aimee Ross, Allyson de la Houssaye, Elizabeth Dougherty, Betsy Soos and Kourtney Barrett. The six founding board members created the group at the beginning of 2019 with the intention of bringing women of all ages and abilities together in the name of mountain biking.
