Around the same time I joined the high school marching band. Even though I really wanted to be one of the cute flag girls in the short little skirts, I happened to play trombone. Although I made the flag squad, the band director prevailed upon my sense of loyalty for the better of the group. We needed more brass players he said...so I gave up my coveted short skirt and joined the rest of the guys in the brass section of the band. Out of our 50 some horns, I was one of a small handful of girls in the section. Again, no one thought this was weird.
In about 7th grade, I met the person who would be my absolute best friend all the way through junior high, high school & into college. GASP! It was a guy. There was never any romantic relationship between us (even though we tried a couple of times). We shared all manner of thoughts in our many long conversations and to this day he probably knows more about me & who I was/am than anyone else around.
Fast forward to late 2004. Even though I had been running off & on by myself for years, when I decided to sign up for the Twin Cities Marathon I realized that I might need some support, camaraderie, advice...anything. I signed up for the Lifetime Fitness Marathon Training Group which again - mostly guys. There were probably 15 of us total with about 3-4 women on any given training run. Again - we ran all over the place - roads, trails, forests, you name it, we ran it. It was a great group. Some people had already run a marathon & freely shared advice & stories with those of us who needed it. Also, on our long runs, the group tended to spread out & people would usually pair up with anyone who ran their pace. Given the ratios of the group - you can probably guess that women & men usually ended up running together (by themselves) but not once did anything other than running ever come of it.
Same thing here in Louisville. The running group I belong to is made up of both men & women. We all seem to run with whoever is around (both men and women). In addition, (those runners among you will understand) we talk about absolutely everything while running (and in mixed company also). Nothing is off limits - clothes, hair, sex, babies, bikini waxes, tv, relationships, bodily functions, you name it. We talk about pretty much everything - but somehow, everyone is able to control themselves in an adult manner & not fall to the ground in a mass orgy.
So, you're probably wondering, what if the point of all this?
Well, I've recently discovered that although runners tend to be openly helpful about the sport, welcoming all comers - fast, slow, fat, skinny, boy, girl, there are some of those in the biking community who are not the same.
Now, I'd like to preface this by saying that pretty much all multi-sport athletes I've met & most of the bikers are very helpful & welcoming - going out of their way to make newbies feel included. However, it seems that there's this sub-group of guys (pretty much bikers only) who seem to have some conflicted feelings about the increasing number of women flocking to the sport.
As a specific example, I'd like to mention a locale where lots of road bikers hang out. Usually when I walk in, it's pretty much all guys - but that's often the case at the running store too. However, this is the place I go to in order to buy stuff for the sport & get my bike fixed, upgraded, etc. (CHA-CHING!) Now, like visiting Fleet Feet for running, I look forward to my visits to this place. I don't know very many bikers and I'm still learning, so when I drop in I'm looking forward to talking with others about biking, discussing the merits of certain techniques, maybe deciding on a bike upgrade, possibly even just hanging out, absorbing what's going on - others do. People even drop in here to just share a cup of coffee or shoot the breeze. Pretty normal - if you're a guy.
Apparently in this little biker world, when a woman drops in to browse, hang out, shoot the breeze, she must have some other motive in mind because she couldn't possibly be serious about biking could she? The concept of friendship between the sexes also appears to be alien. Ride together? God forbid...something else must be going on because we all know how extremely attractive people are after riding, running swimming for hours on end with sweat dripping off their bodies, salt crusted on their face, bike grease on their hands and legs and helmet hair. I know I'm really attracted to that kind of look - hold me back. Maybe it's just the fact that since these guys ride around in skin-tight spandex with girly designs on them they have to act extra manly-like the rest of the time. I don't know, but whatever it is, they need to take a lesson from the runners, multi-sport athletes and other bikers out there. The rest of us have figured out that by being as welcoming, inclusive and helpful as possible we might be able to entice more people to our sport. The more people in the sport, the more events we get to have. The more events, the more fun for all of us. I'm pretty sure there's absolutely nothing to gain by making people feel stupid or uncomfortable.
Also, if people are making subtle (and not so subtle) jokes when women walk into the store, well women will quit walking in. I can buy pretty much everything I need on the internet (and sometimes for less) but I enjoy going into a "real" store to get my stuff. FYI - triathlon is currently one of the fastest growing sports in the United States with women leading the charge. Age Group triathletes boast the highest income average of any of the "average-people's" sports out there. By alienating a sizeable portion of those athletes you obviously reduce your future income potential. We work just as hard (if in a different way) than you way to full of yourselves bikers and just want to improve like you do. Grow up boys - we're not 14 anymore & your little jokes are just not that funny. It might be hard for you to believe but our goal in life is not to get into your pants!
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