Ut. EVERYONE in my riding group has had their share of injuries...clavicle fractures, AC separations, concussions, broken ankle, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, dislocated fingers in the past 7-8 years.
This is no longer necessary and can change but athletes have to be willing to change the way they enter the sport. The learn-by-trial-and-error paradigm
was the only way to get into mtb, just as entering the sport through male influence has been the predominant way to enter the sport.
Independent of gender issues the sport is evolving. Experience is evolving into understanding principles. The tight and exclusive cabal of riding buds is reforming into community. The accumulated knowledge is being passed down to the next generation of riders: kids and adults who defy the old stereotypes who once defined the sport.
The breadth of understanding appreciates a gradual nature of acquiring ability as opposed to riding until you crash or trying so hard to keep up with the group or SO. It unearths a truth that injury is not a necessary element of learning but that preparation and structured growth is essential. The broken collarbone, once a marque of honor, can now be seen as something quite different; no longer a random "that happens" or "that is a part of learning the sport." It can be seen as something which reveals a lack of understanding what an individual is capable of in a particular setting, poor stamina, poor nutrition/hydration, poorly maintained bikes, inattentive coaching, unrealistic expectations, desperation, and such.
Look; we are all a bunch of pretty bright people and it doesn't take a genius to see that all this mtb stuff can be pulled together in a pile, organized, understood and transmitted for a much better experience. Where we really stumble is through some individualistic resistance to being trained unless we hit a wall or are just so confounded that we finally decide that we need
something. All of this really begs a a respect for the sport which is often lacking.
On one hand training programs which build from the ground up are almost unheard of. These are the most successful at training riders for power, speed, and safety. What they demand, however, is dedication and discipline over time and appreciating one's limits. What you get are very well-rounded athletes who make a group ride a joy both as comrades
and assets.
On the other hand you have "skills programs" created by very skilled and hard working people which do their best to embrace riders to rehearse them through certain iconic challenges. These challenges are often defined by the applicants themselves who perceive that they have a problem with this feature or that feature. This is similar to someone with a medical problem going to a doctor with a diagnosis based upon who knows what. As such the problem is most likely something quite different and more fundamental.
These programs never can really mitigate gaps in fundamental ability, skills, or athletic development. As an aside I just got off the phone with a friend who took up mtb 5 years ago. He just learned, last Saturday, about cross-chaining.
As such, it is not the programs which are at fault but a simple circumstance of having to try and manage the enormous range of chaotically built riders with ego complexities. (Keep in mind that the best professional athletic programs, when they run into problems, go back to the basics. Great athletes understand this.) That said, even those programs are relatively rare. Hats off to all who do this work.
So:
What Will Encourage More Women To Bike?
Why would anyone want to get into a sport where "clavicle fractures, AC separations, concussions, broken ankle, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, dislocated fingers" is in many ways simply seen as part of the learning curve?
The answer is understanding our roles in learning and teaching.