Originally posted by Biking Kitsune
then is it a matter of pulling up *real* hard on the handle bars or something? I can't get the bugger more than about half an inch off the ground...
I've been to a bunch of women's clinics in the last few weeks. One thing Tonya Laffey said is that, while most men can get away with just yanking on the bars, women often don't have the strength and need to finesse it. Let me try to paraphrase what she described:

First, let your elbows bend so that you have somewhere to go. Then, pull up the bike. Your elbows will still be bent at the start of this move. It's really hard to pull dead weight with straight arms. (I'm really sure I'm missing something here, but making sure to compress your arms first is definitely the first step.)

Another thing the Lunachix suggested was to think of your arms as describing a backwards C. You can imagine your elbows bent at the start of the move, then straightening out to compress the fork and build up some spring-type tension, then elbows bending again as you pull the bike up.

I hope one of these two descriptions helps you a little bit and that neither of them are too confusing. It's hard to describe without physically demonstrating it.