henryuk! please dont give up...it does work out you just need to find 'the one'. I have ridden bikes far longer than Simon and we were lucky enough to just 'find' one another. We are the best riding buddies as well as being married, or you will find a lady like GasUp's got! they are out there!

Adastra- this must be hard, I have never experienced this, however, I am sure that Tiff has. how about sending her a PM and having a chat? Im sure she wouldnt mind.

one of the most important things to remember is that your partner is just worried for you and showing concern, however, they also need to respect your wishes and if they find this impossible, you need to consider if they are the right partner for you in life in general.........
only my opinion! dont mean to cause any friction anywhere!!!

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Lisa
www.2ridetheworld.com

Hi Lois,

Just a suggestion.

As much as I hate to use a Dirty word, But MCN are currently running a campagin about getting women into biking, and more having female "biker" Role models it might be worth seeing if your project can be applied here as well.

Thanks

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http://mudandknobblies.co.uk
http://www.justgiving.com/FMFox

Not giving up quite yet but 'the one' is hard to find when I'm spending most of my time elbow deep in an engine, at work or on the road..... Maybe it's time for a Horizons Unlimited 'singles' meet! Although that would probably be interpreted as 'one cylinder only' (or have 300 blokes fighting over 10 women)!

It's always struck me as a bit curious that the noticeable female prescence at bike events are normally wearing their undies and don't look like they'd risk breaking a nail for a clogged fuel line, let alone anything more taxing - see the 'fuel girls' at the upcoming Revolution show?!? I reckon biking as a sub-culture would need to address it's objectification of the female form before it can address the balance!

Not that those girls aren't easy on the eye, I just don't have pannier space for make-up and heels!

Ladies, please bear in mind that it's not always easy being a man either.

Especially when some brazen trollop with a broken down motorbike flutters her eyelashes at a chap.
She knows she can fix it, you know she can fix it, she knows you know she can fix it. But you fix it anyway..............well, you never know your luck


One of my favourite photo's from around 1974. My beloved wife.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Hey all,

Best story about benefits of being a girl? Crossing into Ukraine, right in front of me at the border (as in, wandering back over the line to chat to me while their paperwork was being sorted out) was a group of Austrian riders, all male bar one lady pillion. They warned me the border guard had "suggested" they each put 5 euros in their passport if they wanted to get through "quickly".

Off they go and I move forward. Same booth, same border guards. Not a single mention of money changing hands, and one of them even went to ask a colleague how to say "have a good journey" in English.

My work is male-dominated (I'm often the only girl on a site of 50-100 people), so I sometimes feel I lose track of a specifically "female" perspective (I tried clothes shopping the other day. It didn't work.) But I think that unless someone is actually trying to insult you personally, just take them as they come and work with it. Some will patronise you, but most are just trying to do what they think is most polite, or most helpful to you.

And Phoenix, if you want to try off-road riding, I see you're Yorkshire-based, come on a Northern mini-meet. There's a few girls usually, and the men have got very good at helping me pick my bike up (cos no matter what sex you are there's no point in doing that on your own if there's someone to help)

Laura

Well off topic, sorry, but are there any Northern meets pending? I really need to learn how to pick up my F650 Funduro :confused1:

None pending right now, but we're probably due one soon, keep an eye out on the HU Meetings Uk thread.

Laura

Hi Dee, my mate Ged video'd Tiffany's talk at last years Ripley meetings, here are the links...

YouTube - RIPLEY 2010 - Film 9

YouTube - RIPLEY 2010 - Film 10

Then you just need to lay your bike over on some grass and practice.

Have fun!

That's the scary bit - I wouldn't want to hurt her I will probably puts some soft panniers over the tank and rear end and fill them with pillows off the bed

Thank you for the videos

Obviously the thing you have to be careful of is your back, you'll have heard all the "use your legs not your back", but the other useful tip, as given to me by my osteopath, is to use your stomach muscles too - they act as a sort of corset, keeping your posture right and protecting your back.

Hope that helps!

Laura

Dee, the bike in the video is my mate Reggie's brand spanking new Serow. Not a mark was put on it after several gentle lay downs and lifts. Be brave, it won't damage your bike. My Tiger has "fallen over" several times on gravel and in carparks on tarmac without any damage other than scratching the bar ends. However, I did have my Givi paniers on and that saved the rear of the bike. But grass is a very forgiving surface, unless it's frozen solid.

One thing you don't have when practicing is any adrenaline, When you drop one in anger you will find that it weighs nothing when you pick it up as long as you do it straight away. Good stuff that adrenaline!

When I walk into a mechanics, and there are calendars of girls draped over bikes, i'm not sure where to look. Does make my blood boil, especially at the bike shows. I did ask one specialist woman's bike kit supplier to have hunks in not a lot of clothes walking round for the ladies next time. They thought I was mad. Hey ho.

Henry- know what you mean about the dating thing, my problem is that quite a lot of men I have come across find a woman biker quite intimidating!

Being a third generation biker, and one of three girls, my parents are so proud of me taking on the 'tom boy' role, at all the bike meets, my dad takes pride in introducing me, and tells people of my latest exploits, although he is far too quick to jump in when he sees me struggling with mechanical issues, I find myself just standing back and watching.

I don't know if many of you are mothers, but I personally know some women who have stopped riding because they don't want to risk being squished and leaving kids.... but there are lots of other pressures involved, time, money, and how the parenting is shared between partners etc. It does mean however, that there is usually a fair bit of women's kit on ebay that has only been worn a few times and then its sold on.

I do find that if I am stuck at the traffic lights, and its clear i'm a woman (so hair hanging out, or pink jacket), men especially on bigger bikes will try and outrun me.

Another gender based biking discussion in my household recently sprung up, I was explaining my next trip, and saying I wanted to do more wild camping. My mother was worried by this, I did ask if I was a son, would she be as worried? She quickly tried to shift the subject, and said, i'm sure you'll be fine, so long as you have your she-wee with you. Charming.

Funny, I also find that if I'm at lights and another bike pulls up they try and outrun me, I'd never even considered the possibility that they had mistaken me for a woman (until now)! I am quite short I suppose, and the pink jacket doesn't help........

But the best reason for trying not to look like a woman when travelling on a bike is the look of surprise when you take your helmet off - especially after being pulled over by the police for "speeding".

I haven't passed my test yet, but I've been researching bikes and biking for some time (expensive migration to Aus has put back plans)

I agree with a lot of people here, given the number of women biking (and I mean biking not getting off by sitting on pillion draped and slobbering over some grease monkey's shoulders) you'd think there was plenty of material out there for articles.

Personally I'd like to see a women's biker mag. How many magazines do we all have to buy or web sites to trawl through to get up a tiny collection of female gear, helmet and bike reviews??

And please explain to me why women's safety gear is often lower cut and thinner? My bloody bones hurt just as much as any fellahs in an accident. I don't give a sh!t if they don't make pink Kevlar yet sunshine, just put the black stuff in my bloody jacket!

I'm glad Lois has done the trips she has, (and if you'll forgive me Lois) given her height, frame and smaller powered bikes she's done them on, if I ever I get to the 'oh this is too hard' train of thought, I think about Lois' trips and think 'f!ck that, yes you CAN!!'

We want gear, bike, trail, hotel/hostel reviews, we want reports on female bikers, be it bike messengers or rtw for past 5 years. In Aus, we have awards and window stickers for female friendly businesses. One day they won't be necessary, but in the meantime, how about we hand out something similar to the fellahs in the garages/hotesl/borders around the world and thank them for their efforts?

There's enough of (us) out there with enough tales to tell, what are we all waiting for? We're women aren't we? Let's get on getting on.

(deflates soap box and returns researching)