Ray's Indoor MTB Park devotes a weekend to women

A ladies' night isn't quite enough to accommodate a couple hundred women looking to build their mountain bike skills.

Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park has created a women's weekend.

There will be a "no boys allowed" rule in force on Friday, when the biking center at 8635 N. 76^th St. is offering free entry and professional coaching for the ladies only, starting at 9 a.m. (Boys will be allowed back in after 3).

Leigh Donovan, a nine-time national mountain bike champion, will be one of the pros on hand to help teach the sport to novices and potential experts.

Ray's will be open to both genders on Saturday and Sunday, but the ladies get more pro coaching and half-price entry, $13.

Trek Bicycles is one of the sponsors of the women's weekend, and will have its women's specific Lush available for demo rides.

The focus on women riders will help encourage more of them to join the male-prevalent sport, and add to the buzz about Ray's.

The indoor mountain bike park, owned by Trek, has 110,000 square feet of ramps, teeter-totters, boardwalks, berms, rock gardens and jumps to simulate riding on tough trails.

I enjoyed a preview ride at Ray's in January 2011, and reporters from the New York Times and Silent Sports Magazine followed my lead earlier this year.

Click here to check out a video from riding at Ray's.