Women and Dirt
This weekend I participated in the Women's Suguoi Dirt Series Mountain Biking camp. Deanne had taken their course last year in Edmonton and had such good things to say about it, I wanted to give it a go this year. Deanne was in the camp as well but to give you an idea of the difference between our skills, I was in Level 2 and she was in Level 7, which is the highest you can go. So needless to say we saw each other at the lunch break but the rest of the time we were in different groups.
I'm typically not a big fan of "women's only" anything. I like hanging out with both sexes and the different energy of men and women. My biggest concern with a women's only learning environment is that it will be heavy on "support" and "cheerleading" and less on pushing me to improve. But this was certainly not the case here. All the coaches were or have been at one time nationally ranked riders. These women are hardcore competitors but are also very interested in helping other women either become riders or to improve their skills.
The majority of the women in the camp were more experienced riders than I was so I didn't have to worry about not being challenged. The biggest difference I could tell between myself and alot of the women was our fitness levels. At the end of the class many women were commenting on how exhausted they were, especially on day two. Where as for me it was a fun and challenging day from the perspective of learning but not physically. Once again Nathan gets a ton of credit for my strength and fitness.
My biggest nemesis in riding as been going downhill and not pitching myself over the handlebars. By day two, I certainly felt like I had more control with my brakes, body position and more importantly knew the mistakes I had been making before. I still have a fair amount of work around cornering, looking farther down the path and the ellusive body-bike separation that allows a rider to be more fluid. I didn't concern myself with jumps, manual wheel lifts and such. All things in good time!
I made an interesting realization while at the camp. I'm happiest when I'm outdoors with like minded people and women. I had dinner at Melrose Place on 17th Ave on Friday night and I found that it was depressing me on some level. There were so many women dressed to the nines and almost on display. I get frustrated out in the so-called "real world" where the pressure is there to look good, be pretty, have trendy cloths, yada yada. I can find myself slowly getting sucked into that world where I'm considered "sporty" because I refuse to cram my feet into pointy girly shoes and make sure I have lipstick on. At the bike camp it was refreshing to be around other women who many would call "tom-boys" and find that hey.. this is perfectly OK, to be dirty, messy and physical. Not to say that lots of us can't be girlie when we want to be, but that we can also be comfortable with who we are without makeup and lipgloss. Hallehlooya!
I'm typically not a big fan of "women's only" anything. I like hanging out with both sexes and the different energy of men and women. My biggest concern with a women's only learning environment is that it will be heavy on "support" and "cheerleading" and less on pushing me to improve. But this was certainly not the case here. All the coaches were or have been at one time nationally ranked riders. These women are hardcore competitors but are also very interested in helping other women either become riders or to improve their skills.
The majority of the women in the camp were more experienced riders than I was so I didn't have to worry about not being challenged. The biggest difference I could tell between myself and alot of the women was our fitness levels. At the end of the class many women were commenting on how exhausted they were, especially on day two. Where as for me it was a fun and challenging day from the perspective of learning but not physically. Once again Nathan gets a ton of credit for my strength and fitness.
My biggest nemesis in riding as been going downhill and not pitching myself over the handlebars. By day two, I certainly felt like I had more control with my brakes, body position and more importantly knew the mistakes I had been making before. I still have a fair amount of work around cornering, looking farther down the path and the ellusive body-bike separation that allows a rider to be more fluid. I didn't concern myself with jumps, manual wheel lifts and such. All things in good time!
I made an interesting realization while at the camp. I'm happiest when I'm outdoors with like minded people and women. I had dinner at Melrose Place on 17th Ave on Friday night and I found that it was depressing me on some level. There were so many women dressed to the nines and almost on display. I get frustrated out in the so-called "real world" where the pressure is there to look good, be pretty, have trendy cloths, yada yada. I can find myself slowly getting sucked into that world where I'm considered "sporty" because I refuse to cram my feet into pointy girly shoes and make sure I have lipstick on. At the bike camp it was refreshing to be around other women who many would call "tom-boys" and find that hey.. this is perfectly OK, to be dirty, messy and physical. Not to say that lots of us can't be girlie when we want to be, but that we can also be comfortable with who we are without makeup and lipgloss. Hallehlooya!
posted by Lise B at Tuesday, May 23, 2006
3 Comments:
Hey, glad you had a good time. I also want to say that not everyone at Melrose was probably "girly" just because they were dressed up. I love fashion trends, labels, etc. but I also beleive in being presentable and realistic....no shirt is worth $200!! I know I am a casual but trendy girl but one of my favourite ways to relax is to dress up and head to a nice place (like Melrose). I'm not bashing your or offended by your statement, I am just reminding you to take view it from another perspective and to not give up hope on "todays women!" (Although really, there are some trashy beings out there!! They give us "good" ones a bad name!)
Fair enough Sam. But there seems to be a big difference between girls looking good but having fun with each other laughing etc. And the table of well dressed women who seem to be more interested in who is checking them out. But you do raise a good point about not painting everyone with the same brush!
Super color scheme, I like it! Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing this wonderful site with us.
»
Post a Comment
<< Home