Rider Stories: Ali (they/them)

We first met Ali at our inaugural Sisters in the Wild event back in summer of 2021. It was a magical weekend of sunshine and bike riding in the Lake District, perfectly timed for the very first weekend that COVID restrictions lifted in the UK. Ali met Roxy, our beautiful photographer for the weekend, at that event, and together the pair have gone on to create Play Outdoors Productions, a production house and community for underrepresented voices in music and the outdoors. Here, Ali tells us more about POP, how SITW played a small part in bringing the team together, and what’s in store for them over the coming months.

Tell us about your first SITW experience

My first SITW event was the first Summer Gathering in the Lake District, in the summer of 2021. It was this wild period where everything was just opening up and felt so magical to really be there with a group of other folks. I dragged a friend from Australia along with me, who hadn’t ridden a bike in several years and I’m not sure if she’d ever ridden offroad before!

I was really nervous (that’s why I brought my friend Georgie), and spent a lot of the weekend feeling very shy. I also knew that it was going to be absolutely magical and empowering as heck!

What are your memories or highlights from the experience?

There are a few. Swimming in my clothes in Windermere with Roxy who was there to photograph the event was really special. I felt like I could just do whatever I wanted and be myself in that moment!

Meeting my pal Katie on the final morning - they gave me a bunch of mint to put in my water, and I kept that mint for as long as I possibly could on my subsequent bikepacking trip. It really reminded me of being accepted and cared for by the SITW community.

And finally, Charlotte dropping a whole lot of Outdoor Provisions nut butters on my face in the name of a photo! I thought it would be funny and cool, but she was really worried about hurting me. I’m not sure why I even had the idea, but every time I see that photo out in the world I laugh.

Have your experience with Sisters in the Wild gone on to influence your life in ayway?

I really feel like my time at SITW has massively shaped my experience of cycling since. The community of SITW doesn’t end when the event finishes. I’ve remained in close contact with many people I met at that first Summer Gathering, even some folk who I only would have said hi to maybe once! 

Feeling held, accepted and supported by the SITW community has given me so much self-confidence. Even though I don’t know everything there is to know about bikes, there’s power in just liking pedalling outdoors and looking at things! There are other people out there like me, doing these things too. You don’t have to be racy or stats-focused. Community and presence is enough. I am enough.

Tell us more about Play Outdoors Productions!

Since SITW, I’ve founded a film collective with Roxy Barry who I met at that first Summer Gathering. We’ve become fast friends and in 2022 I asked if they wanted to work together! Happily, Roxy said yes.

Our film collective is Play Outdoors Productions. It’s a production house and community for underrepresented voices in music and the outdoors. Our mission is to amplify marginalised voices, explore new forms of storytelling, champion new compositions by emerging composers, and increase the accessibility of art music. 

My experiences at SITW helped this happen in a couple of ways. In 2022, I’d just had covid and so wasn’t yet able to cycle at the Summer Gathering. I came anyhow and while everyone else was out riding, I practised bassoon (since that’s my day job). It was really magical to see people’s reaction to my playing. They were in a familiar environment, where it was comfortable and casual… and that allowed them to be open to the experience in a way very different to a classic concert hall situation. I’d already been thinking about alternative ways to present music but that really encouraged me!

SITW also showed me how powerful minority folk are. Of course their events have an extraordinary atmosphere because of this coming together; but SITW also make sure there are people there in leadership roles showing that minority folk can do really cool things. The talks and workshops that are part of SITW events are invaluable, and have inspired me to work to amplify underrepresented voices. 

Our next project is titled Beyond Words. This film will follow queer multi-ethnic immigrant composer and cyclist Mari Funabashi (she/her) on a bikepacking journey through Cymru/Wales. She’ll write a piece for solo bassoon about the experience. The place, the way it made her feel, how being outdoors provides a space where she can truly be herself.

Where can we follow your journey?

More can be found out at https://igg.me/at/beyond-words-film