The woman behind the team

Ruttan_portrait

 

Watt Riot Cycling was founded by Ontario native, Erin Ruttan. Don't let the picture fool you, this woman is fierce. The first bike she ever rode was stolen (calm down it was her older sister's). She saw it sitting there gathering dust and thought it looked sad and like it wanted to be ridden, so she took it for a ride. That was that, her love affair with cycling began. We can't tell you how old she was because Erin doesn't actually remember this story, it's her father who tells it. What Erin does remember fondly is playing bicycle catch with her dad around the buildings of a closed strip mall almost every Sunday. She also remembers entering family trail races (also with her father) for several summers, particularly the one where her kickstand broke off on a tree, and sliding a little too much around a muddy corner, into the river....she climbed out and back on her bike to finish the race covered in mud. This was the day Erin decided kick stands just weren't for her, she hasn't had a bike with one since. She was about 11.

It wasn't until Erin moved out to Calgary that she started actually racing bicycles, which came about more or less because of a bar bet. The bet happened to be around Triathlon racing. After learning to swim and run efficiently, racing Tri for three years, Erin decided, she really only liked the cycling part. So that was that, bye bye wet suits hello skinsuits. We think she made the right decision on that one, she really wasn't a particularly fast swimmer.

Off the bike, Erin holds a degree in Photography and a minor in Psychology.  She spent close to 10 years working with youth, primarily in education and recreation programs. Erin has held photography exhibitions in both Ontario and Alberta. However, she has never done more than short commission work and decided pretty quickly that advertising wasn't for her because she didn't want to have to curb her creativity to fit someone else's narrative. Which has more or less been her metaphor for life, live your own story.

Follow this link for more information on how you can support the Watt Riot Journey.

10 thoughts on “The woman behind the team”

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