Should my girlfriend ride?

Originally posted by bbbom
But it was HIS stupid idea to go up the darn hill!

Click to expand...

I have experienced this phenomenon. I seem to remember Karl’s fondness for steep, loose, rutted, crappy, no-line-anywhere types of hills. I seem to remember picking my bike up off the ground not once, not twice but four times after attempting a “Karl hill.” I also seem to remember sharing my opinion of this with him in a raised voice although my exact words have slipped my mind. No doubt I displayed my usual journalistic eloquence.

Originally posted by bbbom
As for being a sissy girl - so was GSR I have heard!!! :p

Click to expand...

Was?? What do you mean WAS? ;)

Originally posted by Truespode
don't try and figure them out.

Click to expand...

Best advise I've heard so far. :p

First thing ya gotta do is give that girl some food!! 5'9", 110lbs!! I'm 5'10 and I got nothing but flack from everyone when I got down to 120lbs a few months ago. My boss was about ready to hook me up to an IV! :scream:
Kinda girly?? You don't have to be butch to ride dirtbikes. She is aware that she will get dirty and her hair WILL be messed up, right? ;)

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. If she says she's interested and wants to give it a go then I think you should be no less than 100% supportive of her. At 5'9, I think a TTR125 or a XR100 would be too small though. I've ridden a TTR125 and it is a fun bike but extremely cramped at my height.

a454elk, believe it or not I agree with you to some degree. Not all partners can ride together and I don't see why they have too. If your wife got into the sport it doesn't mean she HAS to ride with YOU. You can share the same interests as your significant other and participate in it seperately. Believe me, I had to with my last boyfriend. We could NOT ride together with out War breaking out. So we didn't. It was still nice to have the common interest though.

Originally posted by firecracker22

I seem to remember picking my bike up off the ground not once, not twice but four times after attempting a “Karl hill.” I also seem to remember sharing my opinion of this with him in a raised voice although my exact words have slipped my mind. No doubt I displayed my usual journalistic eloquence.

Click to expand...

Would this be in reference to the Reno ride, hmm?? I think we can probably refresh your memory on those exact words you used, FC! ;)

a454elk, I'm sorry that you have that kind of relationship with your wife. I'd expect that just about ANY activity that you participated in together would elicit those kinds of comments from her-- am I right? :eek: Dirt bikes have nothing to do with it. :think

My husband and I don't ride together as husband and wife, we ride together as riding buddies- there to help and encourage (or egg each other on!).

It can be difficult to ride with Steve and at the same time it's great. He's a AA woodsrider and I'm a spode so I always feel guilty that I'm holding him up. Now I KNOW that it doesn't bother him and he's patient and understanding . . . but I still feel that way. He is also the last person I want to see me down on the ground, cussing, or riding like a squid. Part of it is I don't want to disappoint him, part of it is I don't want him to be exasperated with me, and part of it is that Steve is the one person I want to impress. I want him to say "Wow, my girlfriend can really ride." Now I doubt this is going to happen before I'm 50 but I keep hoping. And the other big problem with riding with Steve is that I have a temper and while it's usually directed at myself, not him, he still gets caught in the crossfire sometimes. I get so frustrated when I do something I should know better and when he pipes up with some well-intentioned advice, I usuall am not real receptive. I think it's because I'm more comfortable around him than I am with a female riding friend or another guy.

But on the other hand, getting to share the views and scenery and time together with him is great. I think that you should ride with others as well as your honey. (not everyone feels this way--check out a similar thread in the ladies' forum :p )

Lori, yes, that was in Reno. Weren't you one of the smart ones who stayed at the bottom and watched me *try* to follow Karl? :confused:

KDX220 may be better than a 200 (more bottom end). My girlfriend rides a KX100 in a KX80 frame. She rode my 220, and thought it was easier to ride, and she felt more comfortable on it (even though she could hardly touch the ground).

Originally posted by firecracker22

Lori, yes, that was in Reno. Weren't you one of the smart ones who stayed at the bottom and watched me *try* to follow Karl? :confused:

Click to expand...

Me, stay at the bottom? Naw, I revved that little TTR and took it as far as it would go. Unfortunately, Randy had the good line blocked with his XT, so I lost my momentum. I turned around to get out of the way, and saw bbbom and Becky just sitting there and smiling, not about to become another statistic!

FC, on another note, don't be so worried about impressing Steve. Just relax and be yourself. Let things progress naturally, and you'll have a lot more fun.

That's right! I'd forgotten. At least Randy, while blocking, provided a good view. :p I remember being surprised at how far you coaxed that little TT-R up the hill!

Oh, it's not like I go out every time wanting to impress him, it's just kind of the thing where I hate him of all people seeing me sprawled out across the trail in a heap.

But for the lack of a closeup lens

That was a great hill in Reno for us spectators!! Karl made it look so easy as the carnage fell in place behind him. Fortunately Becky and I have both been victims to Karl's hills before so we figured we'd sit back and see what happened and once we saw it, we decided that pictures would be better than joining the fun.

Unfortunately, without a closeup lens, the pic isn't very clear and you can barely make out all the bikes and bodies strewn about the hill.

As far as making a spectacle of myself, I much prefer Karl to be the witness than people I don't know, I still manage to impress most all of our riding companions with my ability to be a spode though.

Riding together assures one thing, you never have to apologize for being late from riding! Even when you walk the last 4 miles to the truck! :cool:

My .02 $
I taught my girlfriend to ride on an old Kawi 175 2 stroke kick start. One of the orange ones with dual shocks, low seat hight, low gearing. She picked it up fine. I got her out on the trail and eventually bought her a 74 Suzuki TS 185. It was in great shape and street legal ! We put it on the rode and rode it on the street and the trails.
Now I am sure with time she would get better and faster. But she is just to, darn, slow!
I dont get to ride except once every 3 weeks if I am lucky. I have to drive an hour to get to good legal riding. I am there to rip! Thats it. I am there to rip and have some beers and rip some more. I gusse its nice to get some time away from her too once in a while. Its nice to miss her every now and agian. She HATES when I go so much that I have offered to buy her one of those bikes with 4 wheels, yhea I said it, to get her out there and maybe feel a little safer and make her faster. She says no, Ill just slow you down.
If she wants to do casual trial riding and your cool with that go for it. But I have found 99 times out of 100, when chicks are on motorcycles, its cause their man or dad put them there. It just dose not seem to be something that appeals to them like it dose to guys. It is an agressive dangerous and fast sport.
Now dont flame me down here gals, I ride with girls (on quads only)( my girl is the only one I have ever seen on a dirt bike), and have been impressed by some of them with ok skills, but few seem to have that agressive dirt bike attitude that says, yeah ok, lets try that hill! So what if we dont make it, we will try it again!
We do lots of stuff together and almost ALL of our interest are compatible, but this one thing, is something I NEED to do, its my release. It is the one thing I want to do without her.

Originally posted by JasonJ
I am there to rip and have some beers and rip some more.

Click to expand...

:think You wanna rip there stud (and I use that term loosely), fine, but I don't recommend getting ripped while riding!!

Originally posted by JasonJ
Now dont flame me down here gals,

Click to expand...

Pfft, good thing ya posted that! That outta prevent the onslaught of barbs from the women you may just have offended! (by the way, there’s an apostrophe in “don’t” there tiger)

My advise to your poor girlfriend is to get herself a new riding partner! Dirt bike or otherwise. I dumped my last boyfriend for many reasons. A few of which were the insensitivity and arrogance you seem to display. Now I don’t know you from Adam, but I’m calling it like I see it.

Ouch. :eek:

Originally posted by JasonJ
But I have found 99 times out of 100, when chicks are on motorcycles, its cause their man or dad put them there. It just dose not seem to be something that appeals to them like it dose to guys. It is an agressive dangerous and fast sport.

Click to expand...

Bahahahahahahaha! Yep, you know it all there Jason boy! I wonder if it could be that your girlfriend is slow because she has not been riding as long as you? Or could it be the ancient dinosauer of a bike she's trying to learn on? Maybe you should let her ride a real bike? :scream:

Always amazes me how a guy that has been riding for awhile on a fairly new bike can be soooo critical of a woman that is trying to learn how to ride. First of all, most women did NOT grow up riding bicycles and dirtbikes and skateboards etc. This is a new skill for the majority of the women I know. Myself, I lived on my bicycle growing up and had some experience around bikes, sleds, skis,....... but most women DID NOT. Then you guys (NOT ALL but the small minded attitude boys) go and put "their gal" on some old piece of crapola that would be difficult for some of the top riders to handle and expect her to be able to ride and enjoy it! Get a grip!

It is difficult enough to learn a new skill on substandard equipment but then she has to put up with YOUR ATTITUDE!

I started riding when I moved back up to my property in the NW. It was in part due to my boyfriend (now EX). He rode and my brother rode with him. But, when I decided that I wanted to ride, I went out and bought a nice bike. My bro rode an older KLX at the time which I was comfortable on so I found a used 98KLX300 with a bunch of nice Stroker mods. I was very slow, I hadn't ridden a dirtbike in 20 years and hadn't ridden a bicycle for probably 5 years but, after a season of riding I was able to go wherever they went. NO I still wasn't fast but I always rode the same trails and did it by myself! The ex was starting to show the attitude you do - "I don't want to wait on her". I never said he had to wait on me. The funny part was my bro had to tell him, that that was how he had felt when HE (the ex) was learning how to ride!

The main reason he had the attitude was because he was afraid I could possibly become a better rider than he was! When I did start to improve my riding (as he stayed at the same level he has been at for 15 years) the relationship ended - guess he couldn't handle the pressure! Maybe it was the fact that I went to a CR500 that made him feel scared - don't know, don't care!

The man I am with now and my riding PARTNER, is much more secure in his riding abilities. He is happy for me when I nail a difficult section. He is also able to "rip it up" whenever he wants to and quite often I go "rip it up" with him. We also take our kids and, although they slow us down considerably at times I can see them improving and I know that someday they will be some of the best riding partners we could hope for. After that they will probably be waiting on us.

That is how it works Jason. I'm pretty sure you didn't "rip it up" right from the start of your riding career, so maybe if you adjusted your attitude, your girlfriend may just pleasantly surprise you. Or you can keep your attitude and she may just learn how to ride inspite of it and find someone more deserving of her company - I know I did!

Jason, you really stuck your foot in your mouth. You said "don't flame me" but you make comments that aren't exactly objective, open minded or supportable. If I were your girlfriend I wouldn't ride with you at all. I would find other riding buddies and work my ass off to get to the point where I could kick your butt. Which is exactly what I did to my ex, who behaved exactly as you describe yourself here. I now ride a faster bike and can spank him on the track or on the trail. Which is pretty sad because I'm no "A" rider. :p

There is nothing that says women can't be aggressive and don't enjoy dangerous sports. Mountain biking, climbing, skydiving, jet ski racing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, horse racing--these are just a few sports considered "aggressive" and "dangerous" and they appeal to women too. We are not wired to be timid and passive. I will refrain from commenting on society here because that is a tangent that will go nowhere. But we are not less capable simply because we lack a certain chromosome. There are many, many women around here also who are amazing. One local woman went to Spain for the ISDE a couple years ago--that is an amazing accomplishment. 2 of our own DRN women are going this year.

Doing things together is an important part of being in a FUNCTIONING, HEALTHY relationship and if you're trying to escape her, that doesn't sound right to me. If I were her I'd be trying to escape you. Steve and I ride together, and we also go with other friends. I hold him back and he doesn't care. When he takes me riding he knows that he is there to spend time with me and he does not get impatient or tell me I'm too slow. All you are going to accomplish by doing that to your girlfriend is make her nervous.

So if I were you, I'd give your actions, ideas and relationship some good hard thought.

www.crane-rental.org

Jason, try these guys. They can help remove your foot from your mouth. They can also help remove other feet from other orifices. :p

I've been watching this thread with interest, and had intended to
post, but didn't.

Wanabe, you're concerned about your gf picking up the bike - valid
point. Before you buy any bike, lay it down and make sure she can
pick it up on her own. Show her how to (if you're not keen on doing
it in front of a seller/dealer, try it with your bike first). Get her
to put one hand on the seat and the other grabbing the bar (with her
backwards at the bike, not facing it), she should be crouching down
and then basically stands up lifting the bike with her. That will
show her she can pick the bike up, and so even if she is stuffed, she
will manage it somehow.

Get her a rehydrating system and tell her to use it before she picks
the bike up or starts kicking it over (believe me, it helps, I wish
I'd had one when I first started learning to ride).

I get my husband to help me pick the bike up (okay, I watch) if he's
in the area (I'm saving energy lol), but I know damn well I can pick
the beast up when I have to. Both times I've been trapped under my
bike, my husband has been nearby, so I've just laid there waiting for
him rather than managing to find a way out from under it.

I do not ride with my husband often because I don't like holding him
up, not because he doesn't enjoy riding with me. I enjoy riding with
friends, I'm there to have fun too. Yes, I got started because of my
husband, but I do NOT ride because of him - if that was the case I
would have given up long ago. I have days where I can't be bothered
riding, so I don't. He's just starting competing, which he enjoys - I
don't, so I'll either go along to help with the event or I'll be
going off somewhere else. I've trail ridden a harescramble (or part
of it), and thoroughly enjoyed some of it, but the
atmosphere/intimidation factor got to me and I won't be back. I
probably am like FC and take my riding too seriously, but I hate
getting in peoples' way and am trying to break this feeling.

As for being girly, whoopde****. I went to a training course a couple
of years back, and there was this woman, mid 40s I guess, bleached
blonde hair, made-up to the nines, perfectly manicured and all the
rest of the bull****, putting on her helmet. When we stopped for a
lesson or whatever, she'd bring out the lipstick and tart herself up
some more. She was riding an XR100, but she was having fun. Not the
person I would expect to see on a bike, but she was happy - the bike
was too small for her really. But because her son wanted to ride, she
wanted to be able to go with him.

Good luck to the both of you and let us know how she gets on.

Jason, you may well kick my butt while riding, but your attitude
sucks. We used to go riding with a couple & his attitude was the same
as yours. They're no longer a couple and so far as I know, she no
longer rides. When learning my husband would take me out for
one ride a day and the rest I was on my own unless I did have
someone else to ride with (mainly a decision by me).

Plenty of gals are keen to give it a go, but they get put down by the
guys or are too intimidated so won't - it's the sports' & guys' loss
too. Before I started riding my husband was allowed to ride once a
month if he was lucky, now we're out pretty much every weekend, more
often than not both days. Go and find your partner someone to ride
with (or if she's lucky she'll find someone), that way both of you
can have fun. Learn that life is not about you, especially if you're
in a relationship - give and take, don't just take.

For the women out there supporting their partners in their hobbies -
I respect you for being able to do it, but make sure you do what you
want too.

Originally posted by JasonJ
I am there to rip and have some beers and rip some more.

Click to expand...

It's obvious we won't be seeing you at any Mensa meetings. :scream:

Originally posted by Truespode
Also, you live close to NY. See if LoriKTM will give you a taste of the type of trails she rides. I think she will not only impress you but make you eat much of your words :p

Click to expand...

Jason's welcome to come out and "taste" some trails anytime, but I don't give anyone the time of day who says I am there to rip and have some beers and rip some more. See you in the hospital, doorknob. :silly:

Wanabe, I was trying to get my wife to ride for awhile. She was actually nervous about it so I did'nt push the issue at all. Well a few months back, we bought her a four wheeler. She loves it now. She is like a kid with a new toy. It is awsome to be able to ride with her. If she wants a bike that's fine or if she wants to stick with her four wheeler that is fine too. But man, it is just great to able to take her out riding. I say let the girl rip it up. If your girlfriend wants a bike, there shoud be ZERO hesitation. Maybe concerns or a few precautions, but ZERO hesitation. My only fear now, is my wife might start out-pacing me. :eek: