There definitely is an advantage of being a female rider; everyone is SUPER nice! Smiles, waves, most people move to the side of a trail for me with a smile. Drivers seem very aware of me, and give me the right of way even when they have it and I am giving it to them (I know/ follow all the traffic laws, I don't just ride nilly-willy through the streets).
Seniors seem to get the biggest kick out of seeing me take off through the desert. A few times now, there has been an older lady at the foot of the trails, or huffing and puffing up the easy stuff, who stop me to basically tell me 'You are going up there with a BIKE?! Good for you!' It's cute
I figure it is just a generational thing where dirt bikes were always boys' things, and girls just rode their cruisers down main street.
My mom thinks I am nuts too, but is happy I found a sport I love
My dad just rolls his eyes cause it is yet another 'boy thing' I am into... and better than him at. When I was little, he has a few shining years as the 'expert' in bikes (a tire kicker kind, if you know what I mean
), and well, the 'expert' in everything. I am also am better with computers and technology than him. His pride stops him from ever asking me for help with them, and he always pays someone to fix something I could have walked him through, or tried to fix it himself and made things worse (oh, like the time he was looking for spyware remover, and managed to instead find some scareware that attached itself to both his harddrive and bank account, and refused to let go
). He looked very lost and confused when I told him about bikes, and couldn't understand why anyone would pay more than like $500 for a bike. He was totally hung up on how much I was spending on my new build, and thought THAT was more nuts than the fact I was mountain biking. I laughed and told him some people pay over $20,000 for bikes, so $1200 is just a drop in the bucket
Another generational thing, I think. He probably has only ever seen a rigid mountain bike and thinks suspension is a gimmick wally world invented for newbie bikers wanting to be comfortable, and it isn't a feature on a REAL bike.
Haha, sorry about the 'daddy' tangent. *stomps foot* I ain't a princess, so quit trying to pigeon-hole me into only girly interests! *pouts*
I have a feeling I am not the only female rider who sometimes gets the eye-rolls because they are doing something that is 'meant for the boys'.
Girls seem to stick up for each other much more consistently in that regard than some boys who are card holding members of the 'He-man wumunz hayterz club'. But, overall, even if the respect some people give is merely an eye roll and pat on the head, there does seem to be a lot more general friendly attitude towards female riders instead of 'get offa my lawn you damn hooligans!' kind of way of looking at us.