Woman competing in Tour de France

[beccaB]

I don't watch MTV, so maybe that would have been a reference to this being a joke, as far as following her "story"

[shootingstar]

This certainly changes my attitude on the Trek bicycle company, although my husband thinks I should sit on it and calm down before I cancel my order for the new bike.

Agree with him --just wait for Trek's response.

Don't take this too personally --a tendency of many women re: jokes/pranks. Alot of guys laugh off this stuff, when they do it among themselves. After all, I nearly fell for it myself, since I wondered who this 'woman' was.

I do think this was delibrately planted into our forum to see our response..a women's cycling forum.

[beccaB]

Yeah, that wasn't really funny at all. I would chalk it up to a brain fart but it does really illustrate the collective thoughts of the people working for Trek. Somewhere along the line they thought it would be funny to take a shot at women athletes, Heeelloooooooooow. To me that could only have been thought up and decided appropriate by a bunch of men. Not cool.

I think it's even worse that this was actually perpetuated by the woman herself. You'd expect this of men. Fow a Woman to do it in unacceptable.

[Tuckervill]

There must be something wrong with me because I've read it 3 times now and I don't see how it says anything about their attitude toward women.

I'm with you.

If a woman was invited to ride in the TdF I would be really really surprised. I wouldn't doubt her ability because if someone knows something about it, and who can compete in it, it's the teams who do. I really doubt it is going to happen any time soon, if ever, so if it is such an unprecedented thing, they're not really poking fun at inability of women to compete in it. It's just too far out of the realm of possibility and that's why it's humorous.

Karen

[ny biker]

I think it's even worse that this was actually perpetuated by the woman herself. You'd expect this of men. Fow a Woman to do it in unacceptable.

I think this is a gross generalization. I don't "expect this of men." I know men who are more sensitive to women's feelings than some women are.

[malkin]

Last year's one about some rider getting carbon bone replacements was way better.

[XMcShiftersonX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de...e_F%C3%A9minin

Just thought this was interesting...

[beccaB]

I think this is a gross generalization. I don't "expect this of men." I know men who are more sensitive to women's feelings than some women are.

Yes, you do have a point. Just venting angrily I suppose. I was and still sort of am still- excited about getting my new bike, and became upset that something was bursting my bubble. I didn't want my bubble burst. I don't think this whole thing would carry so much weight with me if I wasn't in the process of making a major purchase of a trek bike.

My daughter explained it to me fairly well. It's amazing that kids grow up and the parents can glean some wisdom from their nearly adult children. She is a musician and plays a very finely made musical instrument. She said that if the company did some stupid stunt she wouldn't stop playing that instrument or refuse to buy anything else from that company ever again.

[PinkBike]

i received this email also, as I am on their mailing list.

it got me for a second, then i read the "happy april fools day" and realized it was a joke.

i'm not the least bit bothered by it, and this coming from someone who is extremely sensitive to the us-vs-them mentality.

maybe if a guy were to see it he would think, yah right, a woman couldn't ride the tour. of course "he" couldn't ride the tour either. but maybe also if a guy reads this forum he thinks we're way over-reacting. i think we are too.

most of the guys i work with know they couldn't do what i do - ride centuries, ride every day, ride to work - and they tell me so.

my take on the email was that it referred to an ordinary corporate exec not specifically a woman. they even showed a picture of a radio shack rider facing behind him and her face was superimposed over it. i thought it was cute.

[OakLeaf]

my take on the email was that it referred to an ordinary corporate exec not specifically a woman.

Except that's not how it was phrased.

...the first female to compete along side the male competitors in this year's 2010 Tour de France. "This is groundbreaking," proclaimed Johan Bruyneel. ... open's the door for other women coming up the ranks.

[mariacycle]

I don't watch MTV, so maybe that would have been a reference to this being a joke, as far as following her "story"

if anything MTV's MADE is a show about unlikely candidates trying something that seems impossible (like an unathletic guy turning into a ladies man). it just adds to the ridiculousness of her making the tour.