Gary Fisher professional athlete Hannah Steffens is one of a kind. She is the only girl currently in the professional freeride ranks who can do a backflip on her bike, and that is one of many tricks in her bag. She is amazing to watch, when she hops on a bike she has a relaxed intensity that inspires her to do things on two wheels that most of us only dream about.

Hannah travels the world promoting freeride, women’s athletics, and Gary Fisher. She does shows, photo and video shoots and competitions, often competing among the men because there isn’t a women’s category. Everywhere she goes she is a magnet for attention. Her easy demeanor makes her a crowd favorite.

Hannah grew up the youngest of four children on a ranch in the southwestern Colorado town of Monte Vista. “It was very much the old style of ranching, complete with sheep and cattle and everything you would expect to find. I spent my summers in the mountains pushing herd.” Growing up Hannah was really into horses, which was as much of a practical lifestyle choice as it was for passion. “I wanted to be a horse trainer when I was growing up. I wanted to train stunt horses for being in the movies. I competed by showing horses which involves demonstrating how much you are in control of the horse. It was really great competing with the horses, you get in a zone where you can show the grace of the horse and the rider working together.”

“I’ve heard people say that riding horses is a good transition to riding bikes which I agree with to a certain extent. But I think it is a lot the same with skiing or riding dirt bikes. The one thing that horses taught me was how to fall really well.”

After graduating high school Hannah moved north to Bozeman Montana with her sister. In Montana she got into mountain bikes and got a job at a bike shop to help pay the bills. “I got my first really nice bike when I was eighteen. I raced four downhill races a season for two years. I would do the races and travel, but when I realized that I wanted to pursue riding as a career. I knew that I wanted to get into freeride, my heart wasn’t into the racing it was more into the jumps and stuff.”

Hannah moved back to Colorado and starting riding with a friend who opened her eyes to street riding and freeriding, “once I saw that style of riding I wanted to be like that. The first trick that I learned was a no footer. I love doing tricks. Now I’m in a place where I can train a lot and I love training for the huge tricks.”

Hannah’s ambition and skill started getting her noticed in 2004. That year she first met up with Gary Fisher and started talking about riding with his bike company. “I was pretty confused in my career when I first met up with Fisher. I was trying to pay for everything out of my own pocket and didn’t know what I was going to do next. I had people discouraging me saying I wasn’t going to go where I wanted to with my riding. But I had faith and stuck with it. I didn’t know who I was going to be riding with.”

Fisher ended up signing Hannah and working with her to help her take her career to the next level. “Working with Fisher is awesome. I love it now because it is everything that I have ever wanted and I hoped for. I needed a company that would encourage me to follow my heart and go where I wanted to go and help me become the rider that I wanted to be.”

“I love what I do. It takes a lot of work and dedication if you want to become the best, but I can’t complain. There is so much that I want to do. I want to be the best, I want to perfect all of my tricks. I want to get to a place where I’m so comfortable and confident with my tricks that I can throw them whenever I want to.”

“It is cool being one of the only women in the sport. Mentally I have no separation between me and the guys. If they are doing a trick then I’m going to train to do it also. If I’m not pulling the things that guys are pulling then I’m hard on myself. It is cool being the only girl but I hope to open people’s eyes and attract more girls to the sport.”