BOLIVIA – Mountain biker Miranda Miller took a trip to Bolivia’s La Paz to meet up with Yannick Wende. While there, Miller stopped by a bike race on trails built by a group of indigenous women called Cholitas. The trails bring new a character to the forest, bringing new recreation to the edge of the Amazon, while also aiming to provide permanent employment in small towns outside of the city.
“Miranda Miller heads to the southern hemisphere to explore the Bolivian backcountry and the crew of dedicated women working to breathe new life into the trails. The Cholitas are a group of indigenous women who are taking stewardship over lost and under-utilized trails, while guided by local rider Yannick Wende she discovers the balance of how Bolivia’s mountain bikers are honoring the past while looking to the future.“
Cholita, according to Visit South America, comes from the Spanish diminutive form of “cholo,” a term historically used to described people with mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage. The term has since grown to help these women in reclaiming their identity. For decades they faced heavy discrimination, including not being allowed to walk freely through the central square of Bolivia’s capital. Discrimination does still remain, but new policies and laws over the past several years have focused on both women and indigenous people, allowing expansive growth in the Cholita culture.