CCM and my own cycling sisters.
So yeah, my sisters, a friend of ours and myself were waking down the street last Friday when CM rolled by. I think we were on Fullerton and Southport around 8:30 or so. My sisters had somehow never seen CM, and were fascinated by the sights and the tunes that some of the riders with sound systems were playing.
They mentioned how "that looks like fun", but pointed out that they didn't see too many girls. I told them that there are plenty of girls that ride, but they said the girls they did see looked hard-core and intimidating. I asked why they would say that, and their response was amusing to me.
They said that "there aren't any girls riding bikes like ours, (beach cruisers that see the street once a year), and what kind of girls ride THOSE (road) types of bikes?"
My only response was "I seriously hope you are joking!"
I did go on to explain that there are plenty of girls and people in general that ride all kinds of bikes, tall, cruiser, chopper, etc. Long story somewhat shorter, I think seeing the ladies on last week's ride did a lot to encourage my sisters to ride and to convince them that you can be a girly girl and still ride like you mean it.
To the ladies that rode by and made my sisters a bit more open-minded, thanks!
They mentioned how "that looks like fun", but pointed out that they didn't see too many girls. I told them that there are plenty of girls that ride, but they said the girls they did see looked hard-core and intimidating. I asked why they would say that, and their response was amusing to me.
They said that "there aren't any girls riding bikes like ours, (beach cruisers that see the street once a year), and what kind of girls ride THOSE (road) types of bikes?"
My only response was "I seriously hope you are joking!"
I did go on to explain that there are plenty of girls and people in general that ride all kinds of bikes, tall, cruiser, chopper, etc. Long story somewhat shorter, I think seeing the ladies on last week's ride did a lot to encourage my sisters to ride and to convince them that you can be a girly girl and still ride like you mean it.
To the ladies that rode by and made my sisters a bit more open-minded, thanks!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on
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Vando,
4 words: Full Moon Ladies' Mass
I think Lauren Sailor is an organizer of it, and Lauren's a lot of fun to be around. I bet your sisters would enjoy it. It should be showing up on the calendar soon seeing as how it's an April-September (October?) event. -
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Permalink Reply by Dottie on
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Yes, one definitely can be a "girly girl" and ride, regardless of bike type. I think at least 40% of riders I see every day are women. Maybe I'll be seeing your sisters soon. :)
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Permalink Reply by Chuck a Muck on
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When the weather warms up you see alot more women and cruisers on the ride.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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OR...
be confident in knowing that decent people will respect you no matter who you are, and that no matter who you are, you're deserving of it.
jillnerkowski said:here in middletown ,there aren't many girly girls or maybe its just my perception, everyone wears the same sweatshirts and jeans and tshirts and various assortments of sneaker and boots. its been so long since woman wore skirts only, that many bikes now have hybrid girl- boy frames, and the boys here ride pink bikes and girls bikes and vice versa.
I look like everyone else and have alot of offers for dates, and it seems that girly girls to me, are old fashioned and out dated, instead of manly girls being brave and sparce.
I thought it was like that everywhere, but perhaps your sisters are not unique, but not to insult them but being liberal myself and a woman mechanic, I have a personal viewpoint myself, I can spot the rare extreme girly girl and give a good bet that she works as an insurance agent or is a receptist and I don't bother to strike up a conversation with them because I won't have much in common with them.
My advice to your sisters is to try wearing no makeup for a week, and compare the compliments they receive. I have often been told that I look pretty without makeup and should not wear it.
Next, they should try to master a steroetypical male skill, like camping, engineering math, bicycle mechanics, or boating.
Next, they should disguise themselves with neutral clothes, and plunge into a crowd of males who might be knowledgable about the topic they studied, and begin an intelligent conversation with them.
Once they recieve actual and sincere respect , on that occassion, they will never want to go back to being a girly girl again. -
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Permalink Reply by Vondo on
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Yeah, true that. Plus I think they were intrigued by it but at the same time they were looking to see if they might be "out of their depth" a little compared to the other female cyclists on the ride. They happen to be girly girls, and there's nothing wrong with that, just like there's nothing wrong with "manly girls" who are good at engineering math...
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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on
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Vando - your sister and her friends are welcome to join us June 7th for the next ladies mass!
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Permalink Reply by lauren sailor on
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i thought i was looking pretty feminine in my tour de fat tube top! (though i suppose i was riding a road bike. uhm, and the sweat stains on my cap...well, nevermind.)
[thanks to bob kastigar for the photo]
i'd agree with howard's observation that the ride was skewed male. i was pasing out fliers for the WNBR in daley plaza, focusing on the females (to help ameliorate the inevitable sausage fest). but many times, there were no ladies in sight!!
hopefully we can get some more ladies out to daley for the girlie mass ride on june 7! :) -
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Permalink Reply by Natalie on
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I wonder if there are fewer girls at CCM anymore because the ride seems to have taken on an uglier character. I'm not saying that's true (in another words, I'm not trolling for flames), but that has been my perception. Of course, my viewpoint is possibly skewed, as I haven't been on CCM since last fall. The last time I rode CCM, my husband and I took our big orange dog in the Dutch cargo bike, and it seemed like there were a lot of younger men, possibly drunk, who were aggressive, poor bike handlers, acting like jerks and getting in the dog's face and harassing him.
I have mixed feelings about Critical Mass, so that's not the only reason I've stopped going. But I wonder if sometimes it's less inviting to girlie types because it's a little aggressive. -
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I saw lots of Women on the May ride... And just like any event ya go to in this city there will be jerks.
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