When Jennie Hubbard heard Lance Armstrong say that the worse thing that happens to you could be the best, she had to agree. Lance, a national and world champion cyclist and two time Olympian, survived cancer and made a comeback to win the 1999 Tour de France. Jennie, riding on tires much fatter than Lance’s, has made a comeback of her own. It all started with what she calls her “trail of tears.”
After two miscarriages and the loss of two stillborn children, Becky and Willy, Jennie found it difficult to leave her house. She knew she needed to do something to get her body back in shape and stumbled across her eight-year-old touring bike, albeit a dust collector, in the garage. Early one morning, before anyone was out and about to distract her with a friendly chat, she drove from her home on Chapel Hill Road along Beaver Meadow to Dan and Whit’s, got on her bike, and rode.
Jennie followed this same routine every day from the spring through late summer. Her route varied. Some days she rode from Union Village to Thetford and back along the Connecticut River. Other days she tackled the hills of Norwich. It didn’t matter. Every morning she pedaled, and cried, and pedaled, and cried. At times her eyes would be so full of tears that she would have to stop along the road.
Over time, these daily rides healed her body. If I can heal my body, she said to herself on one ride, I can heal my heart and soul. Jennie turned on her “trail of tears” and headed in a new positive direction. She started to take charge of what she needed. She led friends and co-workers, and herself, through the healing process with a list of dos and don’ts.
She traded in her old touring bike for a mountain bike, set training goals, received her wilderness EMT credentials, and returned to teaching. For a winter activity, she took up skiing and later became a ski patrol at Suicide Six. Jennie took this on while caring for her son Carson born in 1990.
Looking for a purpose for riding other than transportation, she decided to train for the Mount Washington Hill Climb. Her goal was to finish the climb in under the four-hour limit, before the support team made their sweep through the course. With the help of friends at Omer & Bob’s bike shop, she designed a training schedule that included towing Carson in a burly behind her from home to Dan & Whit’s on daily excursions and up Mount Ascutney for practice climbs.
When she arrived with 400 riders at the base of Mount Washington, watching the athletes warm up on trainers, she reminded herself over and over that she was there to “complete, not to compete.”
Starting way back in the pack, she and another first-timer chitchatted through most of the ride. When all was said and done, Jennie completed the climb in less than two hours, surprising herself but not her “trainers” at Omer and Bob’s. After the race, they joked with her that she would have made it in less time if she hadn’t talked the whole way.
She continued to ride, sometimes alone, often with her husband David. Together, they rode a 50-mile Eastern Fat Tire Association race. Jennie described the course as more difficult than the Mount Washington Hill Climb. Their goal was to ride the course as a couple and cross the finish line together. They did just that and to Jennie’s surprise, the ride ranked her 8th in New England.
“Riding for me is much more than being a fast, technical rider. It’s about balancing. It’s about knowing your body, your heart, lungs, and soul. It’s about knowing what you need to do to reach your own personal goal. Then you can take the sport to whatever level you want.”
When Jennie learned that Dartmouth needed a medical support person to ride with Michael Silverman’s mountain biking classes, she stepped up to the challenge. With her wilderness EMT credentials, she rode with the classes as a student and as a teacher. Her skills improved, and she learned about bike maintenance and how to be prepared on the trail. More importantly, Jennie gained confidence.
She took this new confidence and rekindled love of teaching to the Norwich Recreation Department. She wanted to start a mountain biking group for women. In the first session, five women signed up to ride. They gained much more than trail skills. Ms. J., as Jennie is known to many riders, brings her special lessons with her on every ride she leads and shares this with every class she teaches. Through her example, and some quiet time on the trail, Jennie encourages riders to work through one issue and come to one resolution on each ride.
“From experience I know that biking can be very empowering. You will be challenged and you will be frustrated. Yet, there is a confidence you develop on the trail as you meet these challenges. This confidence can carry over to other parts of your life,” said Jennie. “If you say I can’t, you won’t. If you say, I’m going to try, you might be surprised.”
She tells riders that “it may take work to get up the next hill. With time, you can.” She added with a smile, there is more than one way to climb a hill, take it step by step or tree by tree, and remember, walking is fine.

Jennie Hubbard, known as Ms. J., leads a class of 3rd and 4th graders including her son, Carson.

Jennie uses the same no nonsense approach with the Norwich Recreation biking programs for children. Her goal is to give children a non-competitive fitness activity that can be enjoyed for the rest of their lives. Her classes have steadily grown in number and size. She had 6 bikers in her first class for 5th and 6th graders. Today, she has full enrollment in classes for 5th and 6th graders and, new this year, 3rd and 4th graders. When her “graduating” 6th graders wanted to continue to ride, she added a class for 7th and 8th graders.
Beyond learning to ride in a pack and over hill and dale, Jennie teaches the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) rules and the three R’s of mountain biking: respect, responsibility and ride. She also teaches her students how to read a map, plot a route, plan a ride, maintain the bike, and most importantly, be responsible on the trail.
Jennie finds it most rewarding to meet her students on the trail or in the Audrey Prouty Memorial Ride or pulling together their own rides. Which leads to her next big push. “I can’t lead all the rides. I don’t want to be the ringleader. My students can be leaders and plan rides,” said Jennie of her idea for an informal network of people who trade off planning and leading rides. She has coined the acronyms WOW (Women on Wheels) and NOW (Norwich on Wheels) and hopes individuals will step forward and make a difference in mountain biking by promoting safe, healthy, environmentally-conscious rides.
Though she doesn’t want to be known as the “biking lady in town,” Jennie is a mountain bike advocate. She is involved at the local level as Vice President of the Upper Valley Mountain Bike Association, at the state level as a board member of Vermont Mountain Bike Association, and a member of International Mountain Bike Association. She also works on the Norwich Trails Crew and advises on how trails can be best used by everyone including mountain bikes.
Yes, she still finds time to ride, even solo, on a regular basis.
“Sometimes I still cry,” she said. “But these are tears to rejoice, not tears of sadness.”