Interview with Charlotte Batty of Minii Adventures

From passion to business, Charlotte Batty’s story of how she gave birth to Minii Adventures is one we can relate to here at The Bloom. Learn more about Charlotte and her business where she provides professional mountain bike lessons in Ontario below:

Let’s first start off with you! How were you introduced to Mountain Bikes?

Growing up as the youngest of four, my nickname was Mini Batty – hence Minii Adventures. We grew up on a cattle farm in the small town of Brooklin, ON, and did the usual kid stuff like playing outside, building forts, and riding bikes. One summer, my oldest brother Eric took up an interest in ‘mountain biking’ thanks to his friend/our neighbor, who had just discovered ‘mountain biking’ – a sport that was pretty new to Ontario back in the late ’90s. He quickly fell into its tracks, and it wasn’t long before he decided to start racing. There wasn’t much for recreational rides back in those days, so racing was just kind of how you got into it. 

Being the tight-knit family that we are, it became a family affair to watch Eric race, and it was only a matter of time before I was old enough to race and decided to follow in my sibling’s footsteps. [You have to be nine turning 10 to compete] After all, I had been either in the feed zone handing out bottles during the races or chasing along the sidelines cheering at the top of my lungs long enough that, of course, I wanted to participate when my turn came. And then it just snowballed from there. 

It was then that I realized that I was never destined to race but instead help others better their experience on the trails.

You had mentioned in your bio that you took a step back from competing and so I’d love to know about the highs and lows of the career you had and ultimately the question of why, when you decided to step back. 

Competing in any sport comes with its highs and lows, both of which I experienced. I raced for ten years, the final three of which I worked with a professional cycling coach. Until then, it was always about just riding my bike for fun, and with the level of passion and excitement, I had to be on my bike, competing just felt natural to me. I had a lot of great success, including many provincial and national championships titles, until I moved into the U18 category. 

It was the first time in my racing career that I suddenly took it very seriously as there was now an opportunity to represent Canada at the MTB World Championships. My older siblings had all been successful in their racing, and all represented Canada at the World championships. I wanted to do the same, but as soon as I made that decision, racing suddenly became a job and not an ‘activity’ anymore. My final two years of racing were my lowest. I was putting in the work and hours needed, but it just never felt like enough to keep up, or a mechanical issue would randomly put me out of a race. It always felt like everything was working against me, and as a result, never earned my opportunity to represent Canada at the World Championships. It was midway through the final racing season that I wanted to throw the towel in and be done with it. I’m thankful for the heartfelt conversation with my dad, who encouraged me to finish the season and give it my best, no matter what. The end of that summer also concluded my racing career. 

The following spring, my racing sponsor Trek Toronto (Barry Near was the owner), didn’t want to see me throw in the towel on riding altogether. So he offered me a mountain bike in return for running the Trek Women of Toronto & Barrie MTB Club (a local recreational ladies riding group). It was then that I realized that I was never destined to race but instead help others better their experience on the trails.

Please tell us about the birth of Minii Adventures! How it came to be, your mission, and the people on your team. 

As I mentioned before, Minii came from a nickname I had growing up, and the ‘adventures’ came from when I started my #VanLife adventures in 2017. I used the name to label a blog and Instagram account I created to log my travels and adventures as I traveled all over the South Western US (Arizona, Utah, California) and fell in love with the incredible recreational MTB scene. The Trek Women of Toronto & Barrie MTB Club had abruptly come to an end and when I got home from that first winter down south, I wondered how I could bring that relaxed and fun vibe around MTB back to my home roots in Ontario. A passion project was put into motion, which has become Minii Adventures MTB Experiences today. 

To be honest, I didn’t set off with crazy big goals or a mission to accomplish. I just wanted to make a community that I felt I could connect with outside of racing. In the beginning, a lot of people doubted that I could make this a career, let alone actually make living off of mountain bike coaching. 

Fast forward to the present, and my mission is to foster the mountain biking community’s growth and development through the various programs, schools, lessons, and events that we host. Over the past two years, I have been fortunate enough to find other riders and coaches that share the same passion and my team has now expanded to five in total. 

Our Roster of Coaches includes:

+ Vanessa Hair (Coaches Private Lessons, School of Dirt & Tech)
+ Arshad Khawaja (Coaches School of Dirt)
+ Jeff Gosselin (Coaches School of Dirt)
+ Tessa Brinklow (Coaches School of Dirt)

There’s no cookie-cutter or recipe to follow, and everything I know I’ve learned from trial and error and experience.

What was the hardest and most rewarding part of building this company?

Anyone that runs a business or is an entrepreneur can all agree that running a business is challenging. There’s no cookie-cutter or recipe to follow, and everything I know I’ve learned from trial and error and experience. Sometimes it can feel lonely being an entrepreneur, but I’m slowly feeling less of that as my team builds. When you’re down in the trenches dealing with admin work and the endless rebookings and postponing that we’ve experienced the past two springs, thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown here in Ontario – they were very challenging times. But the rewards of getting to see and work with so many new people on bikes and the trails were worth every minute of it. 

It has also been really cool to step back and zoom out the lens on my business. This year is the 5th anniversary of Minii Adventures, and it’s been really fulfilling seeing how many students we have helped progress their riding, build their confidence, and know that we had something to do with bettering their MTB experience. 

What would you say, sets you apart from other similar businesses? I want to say “tours” but I feel you’re much more than that. 

I try to help inspire riders to put in the work (#PracticeMakesProgress) and focus on the fun of the journey versus the destination, along with building and focusing on the values below. I see a lot of other companies and coaches that think it’s great to ‘get paid to ride their bike,’ but my focus has always been on my students, their success, and building/connecting the community. 

Of all the experiences, clinics, and adventures that you and your team have provided, what are some milestone stories that you could give? Something like, you had a girl who was brand new to the sport, who became a world competitor. 

We primarily work with riders from a recreational standpoint, so while we haven’t had any success stories like above, hearing the feedback of “I finally rode that trail clean” or “I finally hit that obstacle thanks to working with you” are the success stories that my team and I strive for. Helping riders build their confidence and progress their riding, at any level, or seeing those light-bulb-aha moments are what we consider success. 

Pitch me. Let’s say I’m brand new to MTB, but I want to give it a try. What do I need and which experience should I register for? Do I need to be at a certain level, do I need my own bike and if so, what kind do I get? 

First off, welcome to MTB – you’re going to love it 🙂 

We’d highly recommend starting with our School of Dirt – a beginner 6-week mountain biking school and community designed for beginner mountain bikers to build their confidence on the trails, ride safer, and meet other like-minded riders. Following the class, we can continue your progression with a Private Experience Package to consolidate your learnings.

You’ll need to be comfortable riding a bike, preferably off-road on at least on mellow double track. 

We have our students review our How to Prepare page for a list of required items to participate, along with our What to Expect Page. 

In terms of bikes, most beginner riders start on an entry-level hardtail mountain bikes such as a Trek Roscoe or Marlin. This is fine if you’re unsure whether the sport is for you or not. If you’re serious about getting into it, I suggest getting at least a mid-level full suspension bike that will grow with you. A Juliana Joplin / Santa Cruz Tallboy are excellent bikes. 

What are the trails that Minii Adventures hit? 

Our home base is in the Uxbridge area, which includes Durham Forest and Dagmar. We expanded last year to include the Don Valley and have plans to expand even further beyond the GTA. 

We also get to travel around the province with our Custom Experiences. This year we hosted events as far a Sudbury, North Bay, and Peterborough. 

This year, Blue Mountain didn’t have a bike season, the announcement of this plan was quite shocking considering the demand for bikes the year prior, but I’d love to know your thoughts and if it impacted you in any way. 

It was pretty devastating to hear of Blue’s bike park closing for good. Collingwood was home for me recently for six years, and for four of those years, I worked as an instructor in the bike school. The park will always hold a special place for me. 

It also really put a damper on the downhill scene in Ontario. It was the heart and soul of the Ontario DH scene. Thankfully Horseshoe Bike Park has since stepped up and done a great job keeping the gravity scene alive in the province. 

I also wanted to tap into the women’s MTB scene in the GTA. Where are we at, is there growth happening, is there more of an interest due to the past year? Can it be better? 

There is a lot of buzz in the local women’s MTB scene and lots of pockets of small groups and clubs. Jump on social media, and you’ll see the numerous Facebook Groups all over the place as evidence. Covid-19 put a real dampening on the sport’s group ride and social scene, but it seems like things are slowly picking back up and gaining momentum. For example, our Annual Ladies Skills Jam saw over 70 women from around the GTA come out over the weekend. 

While we often host women-only events as a safe space for women to find their feet without judgement, we encourage community connection, and as a result, all of our services are co-ed. 

What is the remainder of the season looking like with Minii Adventures, do you operate year-round? 

We are still going full steam ahead. Our season usually doesn’t start to wind down until we get into November. We typically coach until the snow flies in late November / early December. 

While we are primarily a seasonal business (April – November), we still operate throughout the winter, instead hosting our lessons and events at our local indoor bike park, Joyride 150. 

I usually head south to Arizona and Utah from January – April. It’s the time that I get to play bikes and ride for fun and reignite my passion for riding and coaching. Alongside that, it’s also when I’ll build and work on the season’s schedule and, of course, all of the administrative work that comes with running a business. 

What are your future plans with Minii Adventures?

We are constantly building and expanding on our programs. We will be adding an advanced school to our curriculum list (Shred School) in addition to potentially hosting our classes in some new areas beyond the GTA and Durgam Region. 

We also have a few other events we’re excited to launch next year with a significant focus on building the local community but stay tuned for more details on that. 

Lastly, any shoutouts to your sponsors or supporters?

Of course! We wouldn’t be where we are without our support from:

• Shimano MTB 
• Pearl Izumi
• Pro Bike Gear
• Lazer Helmets 
• Fretori
• Juliana Bicycles
• DHR Marketing
• Osprey 
• InSport 
• Handup Gloves 
• Professional Mountain Bike Instructors Association