Hi all! I teach high school in Colorado, and I have a senior writing her senior thesis about gender in mountain biking communities. She has a very brief survey she is using to gather data, and I’m hoping some of you would be willing to take her survey. It is completely anonymous, and should take no more than 5 minutes. Thanks so much!
[Student Survey on Gender and Mountain Biking](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTHjnkK2PLUNq3-UA9ujkDIbENz9zKn0crOCNVVpZwsADODQ/viewform?usp=sf_link)
by insidia
2 Comments
As a Colorado mountain biker I can tell you it’s 99% dudes out here lol
As a mountain biker who rides with his wife as much as possible, there’s a pretty big gap. I’d say it’s usually 4 to 1 ratio at best. It’s frustrating for my wife because women have different challenges and advantages and it just sucks that there aren’t more women out there to share the experience.
Having said that, there’s not too much dude bro attitude out there. Most of the men we meet are cool, supportive and don’t act like my wife shouldn’t be there. But occasionally there’s some weirdness. I remember one time at the pump track when some teenaged boys rode in. None of them had helmets and they really didn’t know what they were doing. They had a lot of that insecure energy and were kind of ruining the vibe. They were really picking on their one friend and making him feel super self conscious. My wife jumped in and just totally straightened them out. It was kind of hilarious.
She let them each take turns on her BMX bike, but made them wear an extra helmet we had. She explained how angry their moms would be if they got hurt. It’s really hilarious watching young men trying to be cool, suddenly soften and change their demeanor in the face of mom energy. 😂 They stopped being dicks to their friend and they actually really enjoyed riding a BMX versus a road bike in the pump track.