[gonzostrike]

this is the post I was hoping would arrive, though I didn't know who would be the poster.

thank you sunny. very very well said. and a ton o' kudos to you for sticking with it out of the love of the game, despite common wisdom on "gender roles" telling you differently.

Yes! Good to hear someone else say this. As a girl, I don't often have another female to share common experiences with, and many of these thoughts get pushed back in the corners. As much as I like to think I understand the male-dominated conversation, it's so refreshing to hear another female say something I would say.

I'm a complete freak in the eyes of many of the people who know me... I take a chairlift to the top of a mountain that is too steep to safely walk down, strap on body armour, and ride a bike down it. My husband has said to me on more than one occasion, "Honey, would you mind hosing off before you come inside?" I have been nursing some kind of injury since I began riding, and have honestly lost track of them. Women don't DO this...

I think women have a harder time overcoming fear and fighting against the self-preservation gene. I think we have to be taught (or teach ourselves) to be aggressive. And I think the one advantage we do have is a higher pain threshold.

Any woman on the DH circuit is there contrary to nature. Much of what she does is by sheer force of will.

 

[VeG]

gonzostrike,

I'm sure the women of the world will be happy to hear that you prefer to believe they suffer from a mental defficenicy rather than a physical difference.

btw, where's your wife right now..... in the kitchen, sans shoes, and with child.

 

[altagirl]

gonzostrike,

I'm sure the women of the world will be happy to hear that you prefer to believe they suffer from a mental defficenicy rather than a physical difference.

btw, where's your wife right now..... in the kitchen, sans shoes, and with child.

Heh. I'm not sure that having more of an innate sense of self-preservation counts as "mental deficiency"...

Re: strength-- Some of the guys I can't keep up with riding DH are young, skinny guys - I'd say it's more lack of fear that makes them so damn fast, not strength. And I'd say what slows me down most is that I'm on the brakes too much (which is my head slowing me down). Mind you, I'm still DOING it and pushing myself - part of what I love about riding DH is that feeling of riding something I didn't think I could ever do (or do as fast as I did). I love the exhilaration of overcoming my fear. And maybe I should just go for it a little more (because I know that sometimes I wreck because I hesitated) - but then again maybe not (because sometimes I wreck even harder when I'm really going for it). I've already blown out knees, gotten plenty of stitches, cracked helmets...

Anyway, maybe part of it could also be reflexes, spatial coordination, whatever... but that could be as much from experience (or my lack thereof) as much as a gender difference. I'd think those people starting into sports like this at a young age would develop better reflexes, etc. than you can starting as an adult. But who knows...

 

[gonzostrike]

what did I say above? oh yeah,

VeG mis-speaks, and to deflect attention away from his own (or is it HER own?) error, points a few fingers at me.

hey VeG, go sit on that finger. and rotate. thrice.

res ipsa loquitur, maroon.

gonzostrike,

I'm sure the women of the world will be happy to hear that you prefer to believe they suffer from a mental defficenicy rather than a physical difference.

btw, where's your wife right now..... in the kitchen, sans shoes, and with child.

 

[gonzostrike]

yeah.

or try being 44 years old and having 20 years of serious athletic injuries playing in the background while you try to pin it.

when you're 22, you don't have enough bad experiences amassed and nagging at you to preserve yourself.

when you're 44, you want to be riding when you're 66, so you don't take risks and you stay safe -- relative to being 22, that is.

VeG is a regular Karl Rove, taking the concept of self preservation and turning it into a "mental deficiency" -- a master of taking a huge positive and turning it into a negative. what a tool. and a poorly designed malfunctioning tool at that. but maybe with some doctoring the tool again may work well. and have some utility. maybe.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

aggression is the state of mind that sets aside the fear/self preservation instinct. testosterone is the hormonal juice that feeds aggression. the more testosterone, the more aggressive the person.

the ability to go fast through rough terrain can be learned and you don't have to be a woman that used to be a man (Michelle Dumaresq, e.g.) in order to learn how to do it at very high levels, higher than 98% of the male population.

just ask marla streb.

in VeG's twisted view of the world, I am condescending to women by acknowledging the biochemical difference (testosterone levels) that enables aggression in the fight mode, and reduces self-preservation in the flight mode.

I find that his (or, again, is it HERS?) explanation of weaker by relative bodyfat versus muscle makeup is comic and more likely to come from junk scientists who are driving the Creationist bus.

Heh. I'm not sure that having more of an innate sense of self-preservation counts as "mental deficiency"...

Re: strength-- Some of the guys I can't keep up with riding DH are young, skinny guys - I'd say it's more lack of fear that makes them so damn fast, not strength. And I'd say what slows me down most is that I'm on the brakes too much (which is my head slowing me down). Mind you, I'm still DOING it and pushing myself - part of what I love about riding DH is that feeling of riding something I didn't think I could ever do (or do as fast as I did). I love the exhilaration of overcoming my fear. And maybe I should just go for it a little more (because I know that sometimes I wreck because I hesitated) - but then again maybe not (because sometimes I wreck even harder when I'm really going for it). I've already blown out knees, gotten plenty of stitches, cracked helmets...

Anyway, maybe part of it could also be reflexes, spatial coordination, whatever... but that could be as much from experience (or my lack thereof) as much as a gender difference. I'd think those people starting into sports like this at a young age would develop better reflexes, etc. than you can starting as an adult. But who knows...

 

[sunny]

Heh. I'm not sure that having more of an innate sense of self-preservation counts as "mental deficiency"...

Re: strength-- Some of the guys I can't keep up with riding DH are young, skinny guys - I'd say it's more lack of fear that makes them so damn fast, not strength. And I'd say what slows me down most is that I'm on the brakes too much (which is my head slowing me down). Mind you, I'm still DOING it and pushing myself - part of what I love about riding DH is that feeling of riding something I didn't think I could ever do (or do as fast as I did). I love the exhilaration of overcoming my fear. And maybe I should just go for it a little more (because I know that sometimes I wreck because I hesitated) - but then again maybe not (because sometimes I wreck even harder when I'm really going for it). I've already blown out knees, gotten plenty of stitches, cracked helmets...

Anyway, maybe part of it could also be reflexes, spatial coordination, whatever... but that could be as much from experience (or my lack thereof) as much as a gender difference. I'd think those people starting into sports like this at a young age would develop better reflexes, etc. than you can starting as an adult. But who knows...

I agree with everything you have said [words above in bold are my emphasis]. The fear and thrill go hand in hand, and the greater the challange, the greater the reward.

 

[dream4est]

in any sport that involves large muscle movement men seem to dominate due to genetics. but in sports that mostly rely on hand/eye coordination women do well and are getting much better as they get more involved at younger ages. the best example of that is auto racing. the most successful motorcycle drag racer ever is female and other women have done well at drag racing/indy cars/etc.
in golf women one day will hang on the pga tour (michelle wie is 15 and the next generation of women will be better than her).