Good vibrations

“The sport of mountain biking has given me more than I can ever repay,” she says. Photo: Deb DeKoff // Neighbors of Park City.

Talking to Joy is a little like talking to a ray of sunshine. The enthusiasm is palpable.

“I drive to the middle of nowhere and fix things,” says Joy Brinkerhoff Patten, technical services product support manager at Solar Turbines. By the middle of nowhere, she means dirt roads in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and the southwest. She moved to Park City from California 13 years ago for the gig. Back then, she was the first and only female regional field engineer. She’s been analyzing the vibrations in Solar’s gas turbines for more than two decades. Now, her current position takes her around the globe looking at Solar Turbines’ 11,000 engines—some low emission and eco-friendly.   

“I love vibrational analysis,” she says. “We look at 2-, 3-, or 4,000-pound engines rotating at huge speeds—15,000 RPMs. And to discover what’s happening in the engines, I study movement about the thickness of a human hair. So, it’s very precise. You have to be very open minded with vibrational analysis because you never know what it could be. It’s like looking at tea leaves. It’s an interesting job.”

Joy earned a BS degree from California Polytechnic Institute and certifications in both vibration diagnostics and rotordynamics. Very few women work on engines in the field, nearly 99% are men. But her work is so specialized, she’s earned a lot of respect from her male counterparts. 

“I fix a lot of problems thanks to my technical expertise. I was in the Czech Republic to watch an engine assembly,” she said. “When we have complicated issues, we get together to problem solve and troubleshoot. Solar is very conservative, we want to keep people and the environment safe, so we try to do the right thing. Sometimes, I have to have hard conversations with customers and tell them we’re not comfortable with changes. It’s hard, but never dull.”

Imagining anything dull in her life is a far stretch. When she’s not designing bearings or fixing giant engines, she’s racing down a mountain on her bike. Joy grew up in northern California and started racing cross-country in 1999 for the Cal Poly Wheelmen (while attending college) in San Luis Obispo, eventually earning a professional license for downhill mountain bike racing. “The very first hill I went down was so fun,” she says. “I’m 5’9 and a bigger human, so I can go down hills really fast. I accelerate quickly. I was bad at mountain biking for 10 years but I loved it and figured out how to get better.” She went pro in 2009 and raced cross country, downhill, dual slalom, 4X, and Enduro. Most recently, she was named Queen of the Showdown after a second-place finish in Sundance Mountain Race. 

“As I went on, I saw friends struggling,” she says. “I wanted to help them get faster, so I developed a bunch of physics-based drills. They were so effective that in 2007, I created Joyride MTB, now Joyride Mountain Bike LLC.” After earning her certification for mountain bike coaching, she coached for many different local organizations including AndShesDopeToo, Dirt Series, WomenMTB, Momentum, Woodward PC, and more.  

She also teaches technical riding skills to all levels of riders and hosts riders at AndShesDopetoo Retreats. The clinics cover a range of topics from braking, cornering, jumping, drops and switchbacks to steep descents. 

“The sport of mountain biking has given me more than I can ever repay,” she says. “I want to help other women find that. I want more people to find their path, find their voice, and get more confident. What you learn on the bike can be applied to life.”

Joy is mom to two kids, an 18-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. “We bike,” she laughs. “My son is really good. I’ll tell him to hit that drop and he does it. My daughter is great too.” So how does she balance it all? “My husband is super supportive and has always been. He’s an incredible artist and we have a lot of fun together. My mom helps too.”

Wondering if there’s anything she can’t do? “I’m afraid of heights, so I don’t climb,” she says. “My husband taught me how to snowmobile 10 years ago. I snowboard, backpack, and hike. I like to be outside but you won’t find me bungee jumping or jumping out of planes.”