Last week I had the opportunity to interview Canadian cyclist Ryder Hesjedel. Hesjedal began his career on the trails and is a seven-time World Championship medal winner in mountain bike competition. The young rider has now spent three years as a pro on the road and has already ridden with some of the best teams in the world including U.S. Postal Service/Discovery Channel (2004, 2005) and Swiss-based Phonak Hearing Systems (2006).

This season, with the dismantling of the Phonak team, the 27 year-old from Victoria, British Columbia has returned to North America to race with California team Health Net presented by Maxxis.

I finished up the interview with a question for Pink MTB.

Sara: One last question - I also write for a new site on women in mountain biking. I think that my readers over there would like to hear what your take is on the increasing prevalence of women in the sport? Good thing?

Ryder: Sure, it’s great. It’s the sport I grew up with. I personally like being in the woods a lot and when you can do that on a bicycle, for me, it’s kind of the ultimate combination. So, I think the more people who find mountain biking, people who enjoy the outdoors, the better it is for the sport in general.

I think it’s great that more people are finding it and enjoying it.

SB: Thanks Ryder and good luck at the Tour of California this weekend!