Hi Everyone,
This is actually a rant and a thank you at the same time. I went riding on a paved trail near the bosque by myself today. And discovered that the only people that didn't nod or say hi were women (unless they were with family). This then lead me to think how unfortunate it is and one of the reasons I usually ride by myself. I've tried some women mtb. rides and they are highly competitive and unenjoyable. I have a medical issue (epilepsy) that often causes me to be tired and therefore slower than most riders during heavy seizure times, but I'm not completely inept (just a little more sluggish than usual). Why don't the women say hi or nod and why are the group rides so competitive and nasty?

So after all that contemplating (such a beautiful day to contemplate), I smiled and said I am so lucky to have the few riding girlfriends I have (even if our schedules rarely work out) and I'm lucky to be a part of this forum and know that there are caring, understanding women that support bike riding no matter if you're slow, sick, etc. There are so many different people (personalities) and riding abilities on this board and it's great to embrace everyone! So thank you, when I'm on the trail tomorrow I'm going to try to break a 10% nod or hello from the women on the trail (it could be there wasn't a great statistical representation of women, so I admit I could have just run into a lot of sourpuses today).

Thanks for listening...I actually feel better and will now try to spread kindness to the non-nodders, non-hellos, overly competitive. And I know men are like this to, but I want to ride with women too!