this is cool

[Irulan]

What is? We are!!!

I've really grown to appreciate this board. It seems to be growing too, I see new members every day. Traffic/posting seems to be growing steadily too. This is all good to me: I like boards that are active and alive, that make you want to come back to see what's new since the last visit. More mtb-grrls are here now, too, of course I like to see that.

As much as I love my MTB board that's 95% males, I've grown to really appreeciate the testosterone free environment here.

hugs to you all

Irulan

[spokes]

i was thinking the same thing yesterday. the boards are so busy!! many topics on the go, there's something for everyone, and it's really got me excited about spring-- the return of my outdoor biking season.

my 'other' board is a very testosterone-y environment too. it has its good points, but i do love this forum. the other cycling forum i was on (which shall remain nameless) is very big, anonymous, and not very interesting, in my opinion. i got really ticked one day because someone unleashed a big anti-gay tirade (only very loosely bike-related), and the moderator didn't do anything for almost a week. :mad: so i haven't checked it out in a while.

besides, this place is better.:cool: we rawk!!

[iFKA]

Hello, hello!!!
I'm one of the new girls you mentioned. I'm also new in this sport and just thinking of buying my first trakking bike. Can you recomend me something not too expensive, maybe 600$. :confused:
THANX!!!

Big hello from Europe!!!

P.S.sorry if my english is not so good :D

[Irulan]

you must mean trekking? That's not a us term for any type of riding I"m familiar with, do you mean trail bike for use on mountain bike trails, or do you mean a road bike, maybe for touring?

wer'e happy to help around here if we can find the right words

Where in Europe are you?

Irulan

[doctorfrau]

Yep, I think " trekking" = "touring", and I think some of the designs are different in Europe, to match the more bike-friendly environment that I hear they have.

[iFKA]

I live in Croatia, little country that shares the Adriatic sea with Italy (that you all heard about-I hope). Maybe some of you who also like other sports heard about our tennis player Ivanisevic, or skier Kostelic, or kickboxer Cro Cup...
In general Croatia has a beautiful sea, moutines and level track, and I intend to get to know it better by riding my bike.

Trekking bike is something between MTB and road bike. The main difference is that the tires are not as wide as on MTB, and the rim has bigger diameter. It's mainly for asphalt road, but can also be driven on some forrest paths or similar. I was hoping you could recomend me what shifters or brakes (and stuff like that) to buy because it doesn't matter is it for MTB or trekking.

...gotta go...


You can see the trekking here (http://www.scottusa.com/product.php?UID=4891)


QUOT LINGUAS CALLES, TOT HOMINES VALES!!!

[Trek420]

"i got really ticked one day because someone unleashed a big anti-gay tirade (only very loosely bike-related), and the moderator didn't do anything for almost a week. :mad: so i haven't checked it out in a while."

uh, hmmm. How is being gay be bike related?? ;-)

Did one of the biker boys get teased by some bubba with a beer belly and a big shiny truck because of our tribes tight, pretty spandex clothes and cute bike shoes and so feel compelled to unleash on gay people to proove he's straight? :)

I don't think that's how you proove you're straight. I thought guys'd proove that by treating women well, but what do i know? I'm gay ;-)

So I could be wrong about that ;-)

whatever started the tirade, I'm just guessing ;-)

At risk of being flamed there I probably would have told the board that real straight men would just feel confident in their sexuality even when wearing that cute pink Giro jersey they won't wear in public. ;-)

Gals, one thing I've found is that the more violently they protest about gay people...the more latent they are. "Real straight men" don't bash gays. Not scientificly prooven or anything, just something I've noticed :cool: :p :p ;)

[Surlygirl]

Hi Ifka,
You might like a cross bike. That is what I have and I can run road tires and bigger mud tires. I have the Surly Cross Check and it even comes in frame sizes for us Height challenged riders. I'm 5.0 feet and ride a 42 frame. Its a great bike! I ride it on paved and dirt trails. You can buy just the frame or it already built.
www.surlybikes.com

[spokes]

uh, hmmm. How is being gay be bike related?? ;-)

sorry, trek420, i wasn't very clear. he unleashed a gay-bashing tirade, only bike-related because it was sparked by something that happened while he was biking.


whatever started the tirade, I'm just guessing ;-)

he was biking, apparently, and a guy in an SUV hooted at him. yes, basically, the man can only be described as insecure in his sexuality-- he said q**** and f** a lot. it was a rant of the 'what right do they have' variety. which is silly... how many of us (women) have been whistled at simply because we dared to exist in a public place? what's good for the goose is good for the homophobe, i s'pose. although i think that whistling/hooting/yelling 'hey baby' is unnecessary regardless of who does it. ...also, the cyclist assumed that the man who hooted was gay, and 'coming on to him'. but really, like you thought, couldn't the driver have been a homophobe, making fun of a cyclist he thought was gay? whatever. his langauge was unnecessary. instead of launching a discssion ('why do people whistle?") he bashed.


At risk of being flamed there I probably would have told the board that real straight men would just feel confident in their sexuality even when wearing that cute pink Giro jersey they won't wear in public. ;-)

my opnion also. on the board i just stuck to the 'this language is not appropriate' argument: starting a holy war with him would have only made my blood pressure rise.

sorry for the misunderstanding. hopefully, i'm making more sense today. :p

[Trek420]

"sorry, trek420, i wasn't very clear. he unleashed a gay-bashing tirade, only bike-related because it was sparked by something that happened while he was biking."

You were fine, funny how I guessed right ;-) Must be psychic ;-)

"he was biking, apparently, and a guy in an SUV hooted at him."

I hate it when drivers hoot or honk. Even when it turns out to be a friend it's scarry. But he's flattering himself that a man would be interested ;-)

You're right, how many guys could stand even one day as a woman? The things we put up with every day would overewhelm them if a simple honk turns them into raving lunatics

"sorry for the misunderstanding. hopefully, i'm making more sense today. :p "

You were fine, no worries!! :D

[spokes]

this is a little off-topic...


You're right, how many guys could stand even one day as a woman? The things we put up with every day would overewhelm them if a simple honk turns them into raving lunatics

last summer, i was at a stoplight waiting for it to turn. all the pedestrians were passing in front of me, crossing at the light. one guy starts staring quite obviously at my chest. he doesn't glance and look away, like most of us do when we spot something 'eye-catching.' he started staring from about 10 feet away and kept staring as he walked. by the time he passed me he was practically staring out the side of his head. I was so mad, i was stunned into silence. and the crazy thing is, he did it again!! a couple days later, same time, same crosswalk. my lord, the nerve of some people!

i read 'black tights: women, sport and sexuality' last year. it's amazing book!! at one point she says how important it is for women to be active in the public sphere. unless we make our prescence in public commonplace, men will always feel that a woman jogging, or biking, or whatever, in public gives them the right to hoot and whistle at our bodies.

oops! bit of a rant there. i'm better now. :p


I hate it when drivers hoot or honk. Even when it turns out to be a friend it's scarry.

very true. i often see bicyclists on the road and want to yell out, 'rock on!' or something less cheesy and more supportive. :p but anything said out of a moving car sounds mean, sarcastic. who can tell friend from foe in a car passing at 30 miles?

[kelrunran]

I would like to chime in about the inital topic of this discussion by Irulan. I have been a lurker for some time - but have really enjoyed this forum. I have just recently started to post.

I am the runner - turned triathlete. I tell my running buddies all the time what a "feel good" group this is. I live through those of you who can bike all the time. I like to race - but am in it all for the fun of it. I take things pretty light-hearted but focused!

Keep up the fun - thanks for starting this string! Kelly :D

[Trek420]

" i often see bicyclists on the road and want to yell out, 'rock on!' or something less cheesy and more supportive. :p but anything said out of a moving car sounds mean, sarcastic. who can tell friend from foe in a car passing at 30 miles?"

True, truem all yelling sounds hostile from a moving vehicle.

Funny thing is that the one (so far) time I was actualy yelled at from a car the guy had a bike rack on the rear of his SUV, in Marin County no less, yelling at me that I was supposed to ride on the sidewalk. I was in the bike lane at the time

Also back to the orriginal subject, great thread, thanks for starting it, it's great that we all "get it" here.

[kpc]

This is funny, i was just thinking about telling a guy about this and then decided no, He'd probably be writing about how fast he rode. Or how many old ladies he passed. And we couldn't feel so free taking about tampons and such. so, i like a womens forum. Especially as I don't know any other women riders.
It's definitely annoying when people yell. We live in a small town, most people know each other or at least some member of their family. I tried to catch up to a car once, so I could pull off my helmet and show these teenage boys that they were catcalling at a woman nearly old enough to be their grandmother. Maybe it would embarass them. But i didn't make it to the light in time, just got a good sprint and looked like a stupid fool yelling back! Otherwise, if I'm in other areas I just ignore. But it sure can startle!

[Irulan]

there are plenty of other cycle forum out there that are mainly men, I think some our topics would send them screaming from the room anyway.

Irulan

[spokes]

I think some our topics would send them screaming from the room anyway.

good!! if they can't handle a little talk about menstruation, maternity jerseys and the unending search for a good bra, then who needs 'em? :D

the 'other' cycling board (mostly men) is full of threads like 'how fast have you gone?' --all that testosterone-laden bragging and 'who's the best' comparison. this board is much more 'typically female' in our approach. they've done studies about how boys play together and how girls play together: boys tend to play competitive games that focus more on individual success (like 'playing war'); girls tend to play cooperative games that are about how people relate to one another (like 'family' or barbie).

obviously these are generalities that include a fair amount of overlap-- but don't these traits fairly accurately portray the boards? here, i find, the threads are motivating and supportive; newbies are given loads of info and encouraged; when someone reaches a persoanl milestone we congratulate them; and we never ever mock someone who's new, made a mistake or is at a different level than us. in addition to the ability to ask 'embarassing' questions that the guys at the LBS probably couldn't help us with anyway. which is why we rock. :D

[Irulan]

Originally posted by spokes
good!! if they can't handle a little talk about menstruation, maternity jerseys and the unending search for a good bra, then who needs 'em? :D

I have online acquaintances on other boards, women, who just don't get the female bonding thing... I think they've been fed a little too much equality at all costs talk. If they see no need or have no desire for a women's forum, or women's camps or whatever, fine for them but I choose otherwise;) Both are good, mixed company and non mixed, but for different reasons.

I was recently invited to join an women's mtb forum that is a subsection of a regional bbs. First, there was no traffic or content, and more importanly, for every gal's post to the women's forum there were 10 from men. For me that wasn't very conducive to sticking around, I get enought man-talk elsewhere. And when I tried to gently explain that perhaps they should butt out of the women's forum, that maybe more of the women would participate, they just didn't get it. Hmm, maybe I should post a hard core/graphic chafing question to run them off.

From seeing that and two other women's mtb forums that have zero traffic ( one post a week if that) I can honesltly say you can build it, but you can't make them come. Just by it's existence doesn't make a forum worth going to, there has to be something going on, it has to be alive so to speak.

so, ride on gals

I.