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Why is it?

unskilled

Monkey
Jul 12, 2007
218
0
It seems to me that there aren't that many female freeride/dh/street/park riders compared to xc and more enduranced based things? any reasons why?

When I went to Diablo I got blown past by a couple female riders and it was refreshing. It was a mix up from the usual.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Well, IMHO XC riding is a bit less expensive to get into, more readily accessible (as in there are XC trails around where you live and not necessarily a park or DH mountain) and the risk of injury is lower.
 

Velocity Girl

whack-a-mole
Sep 12, 2001
1,279
0
Atlanta
It can be much more intimidating to get into more dh/freeridng, etc. because it's such a male dominated sport...finding other girls to ride with and teach you the ropes is tough. Also, I think it takes a certain mentality - male or female - to enjoy being bruised and battered on a daily basis.
 

luvz2ridez

Monkey
Jul 19, 2006
310
0
Shoreline, WA
I have to say, when I first went to Whistler in 2005, I saw almost NO women. Then last year I returned to my surprise that there were tons of women DHer's and FRer's now! I was so excited! I think it's definitely getting more and more popular for women nowadays. Although, it can be a bit intimidating at first. Now, I have tons of female friends to ride with who FR and DH and of course guys too.
 

T.Rex

Monkey
Sep 6, 2004
134
0
Pacific Northwest
Well, IMHO XC riding is a bit less expensive to get into, more readily accessible (as in there are XC trails around where you live and not necessarily a park or DH mountain) and the risk of injury is lower.
Don't mean to interrupt, I think I saw a picture of you riding an Orbea Lanza, if so, how are you liking your bike? I bought one and I'm pretty happy with the way it rides; have you done any more reviews since you got it?
thanks
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Don't mean to interrupt, I think I saw a picture of you riding an Orbea Lanza, if so, how are you liking your bike? I bought one and I'm pretty happy with the way it rides; have you done any more reviews since you got it?
thanks
It was me riding an Orbea (not a Lanza, but a D'ella). I am LOVING it!!! It's so light and fast and it climbs really well :D
 

redFoxx

Monkey
Apr 15, 2005
319
0
Seattle
Well you don't need other girls to teach you the ropes of DH/FR'ing, you just need friends! It's not a sport to be doing alone since you're always pushing the envelope and probably doing things in the air where you might fall. I agree it takes a certain mentality to like the potential violence of it and I LOVE it! But then again, I like rowdy sports that allow for adrenaline rushes. I think many girls are afraid of falling and getting hurt. As more girls get into serious sports, they probably find it's not so bad. In fact, it can be good for your bones to get impacts, makes them stronger, if they don't break. :)
 

Velocity Girl

whack-a-mole
Sep 12, 2001
1,279
0
Atlanta
I agree that you don't need to have other females to learn from or ride with but not always having that option can make it a bit more intimidating for some women. I started by riding with the boys and learned a HECK of a lot from them (Jason was one of my best mentors :) ) but there is something to be said for having another females perspective on things at times. And women do interact/ teach other women differently than men which can also be a bit of a hurdle for other women at times (I think other women are much more sympathetic to the 'fear factor' too ;) )
 

SDH Racing

Monkey
Apr 5, 2006
341
0
NE
Good points here. In 2002 when I was very big into trials I rode with some girls and we had a blast because it wasn't an ego measuring contest but rather more for fun. It was cool to teach the girls some more advanced moves and what not but we all had a mutual respect for each other. I think it's great to see more women in the sport and if you see my other thread (Calling out top Mud Hunnies) I opened another spot for a women rider on my team. And for the record have always had a "girls only" spot on the team for that very reason.
:D



 
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unskilled

Monkey
Jul 12, 2007
218
0
Well, I'm glad this post went somewhere. I thought it would die fast since it was coming from a guy. All in all I'd say I'd love to see gravity disciplines grow as much as possible and getting both genders on board is equally important.

Nice pics by the way. Girls with trials skillz = hold on I'm buying a ring and promising daily foot/back massages.
 

skibunny24

Enthusiastic Receiver of Reputation
Jun 16, 2010
3,281
585
Renton, WA
I love DH, but agree that it is more expensive. If I could, I would make the drive from Seattle and drive Whistler every weekend... It seems that DH trails are few and far between here, but there is a lot of xc, and at the right place you can get a little DH/FR... even if it's not much, it's better than nothing!

Plus, as a chick who hearts it all but has trouble finding people to ride with, I feel like I'm hitting on every chick I see on the trails! Lol!
 

Dorkasaurus

Chimp
Jun 18, 2010
5
0
Tacoma, WA
Plus, as a chick who hearts it all but has trouble finding people to ride with, I feel like I'm hitting on every chick I see on the trails! Lol!

Haha, just send you a message seeing if you want to hook up around here or on whistler this summer. I'll warn my hubby... Not that he'd be against it, 2 biker girlz...
 

Pebble

Monkey
Dec 6, 2006
137
0
Nannup
Perhaps a lot of Women are too busy with work and family life to devote enough time to other disciplines. Weather the fellow is into riding or not I imagine that for most women the kids / family would come before "me time".

I think XC is just less time consuming. For DH riding you pretty much have to dedicate a whole day, and I guess most ladies have other "more important" stuff that has to get done.

I personally tried DH but after about a year I gave up, basically because I wasn't much good at it but mainly because of the time required.
XC or general riding is easy, you can go for a couple of hours and be done with it, but to spend a decent time DH riding it involves almost a whole day, or at least half a day if the trail is close. If you don't have buddies to uplift you then you don't get much riding even in one whole day. Not to mention a lot of travel to go to DH trails further away (well in my part of Aus anyway we're not exactly blessed with lots of trails close by).
XC is something you can easily and comfortably do by yourself whenever it suits. DH and Dirt Jumping etc not so much, particularly for the safety aspect.

And I suppose not knowing other women who are into those disciplines could be a hurdle as well. Not that as a Woman I'd mind riding with guys at all, but I think DH and DJ are social sports for guys as much as Footy or whatever, and perhaps if there were more women to ride with then more would be inclined to do so, partly for the social aspect...a weekend with the girls kind of like what you guys do. But then it would come down to the time factor....can most women easily spend their weekends riding? Will the fellow stay home and do the washing , shopping and cleaning? Lol

Really there are probably lots of reasons why. But I know that more women are getting out there which can't be a bad thing!
 

mrsjones

Chimp
Jul 26, 2010
6
0
Baltimore
all of my friends that are girls think its bananas that i would even consider risking life and limb to do such nonsense as dh riding. I agree, that it takes a special kind of person to take up a sport that is so intimidating and dangerous for fun, man or woman.