pablosnazzy

Drit Rag, issue 163, page 74.

....and a tip for all you manly men who want to get your girlfriend into mountain biking....taking someone out for their first time and making them clip in isn't cool, and only makes them hate cycling.

kenhill3

Some idiot did that to his gal? That should at the very least clue her in as to what to expect from him in the future.

Fail.

pablosnazzy

more often than you would expect.

kenhill3

I think it may be somewhat of an inherent trait in men.

I took my gal out on what I thought she could manage, with flat pedals, hard dirt with the occasional stick or rock. Mistake.

Prolly should have been on a gravel road or even a MUP. He-who-shall-not-be-named used the term 'baby-jogger trails'.

Daspydyr 

Probably a good first ride with a lady friend would include stops at Stabucks and Nordstroms if possible. A Macy's or Dillards might be a good substitute. Once they master that hide a Tiffany's box on a trail and magically find it. Even if the box is empty she will want to ride that section.

And WOW, I'm glad I didn't start with clipless. Why would anyone start anybody you care about on a pair of wrist busters.

dminor 

When my wife and I were dating, I took her for a trail ride on the back of my dirt bike - - a high-strung little 125cc race bike - - first hill we got to I dumped her right off the back . . . oops . Somehow despite that, she married me anyway (don't think we ever went dirt bike riding again tho').

Zephyr11

If she's never mountain biked before, she probably hasn't been on a bike since she was 8. What you think is manageable and what she thinks is manageable are two different things. The first ride I went on, my friends thought was an "easy" trail. I got my butt kicked. In less than a month, I was able to recognize that it was, indeed, an easy trail, but you never would have been able to convince me of that the first ride out. If it's her first ride ever, take her on something so ridiculously easy that you're bored thinking about it, unless you think she's the kind of person who is okay with getting her butt kicked, in which case, take her on something ridiculously easy, but not so much that you're bored.

My friends had me on clipless by maybe my third ride out. Before that, I was using those cruddy rectangular pedals + running shoes, so it was a big improvement. I was riding for a while before I "discovered" platforms. Now, every time I ride with new people, I get asked when I'm going to "upgrade" to clipless. So if a girl is running crap pedals with crap shoes, then sure, encourage her to go clipless (though not the first ride)...or better yet, bring along an extra set of nice platforms and let her borrow them. If she's wearing Impacts and her pedals have replaceable pins, she probably is happy with platforms.

Zephyr11

And this is why Daspyder is married...he took his girl on Tiffany's scavenger hunts.

junkyard

Doesn't really matter, though, because I read on the internet that clipless are a thing of the past.

Daspydyr 

WERD! Like the 26ers and gripshifters.

falconpunch79

No kidding, a buddy of mine took me out to some trails that he called "easy". Having not been on a bike in two years it totally kicked my butt. I actually threw up. Never done that before in my life. I think its karma getting back at me for all the friends I used to torture back when I was in shape and riding hundreds of miles a week.

pablosnazzy

if her name is Ruth, then you can tell people you dumped her, and rode on, Ruthlessly....

dminor 

That reminds me of an old Firesign Theatre skit, where . . . well, maybe another time.

roccobike

A guy I used to work with took his wife on her first mountain bike ride. Instead of taking her to the local gravel MUP, he takes her to the advanced trails at Harris Lake. She fell, repeatedly, got sick then they left. It was the last time she rode with him. Even the bike shops recommend newbies ride the local gravel MUP a few times before taking on the beginner trails in this area.

dirtclod

What's a "MUP" I went from clips, to clipless, now at 53 I'm happy with flats.

Took the wife out on her new Nishiki years ago. She was having ton's of fun (Flats) she washed out real
bad and was shook up! Held onto the bike for about eight years, pumped up the tires and gave it away
with one ride on it.

roccobike

MUP, Multi-Use-Path. The gravel MUPs are used by horses, joggers, runner and bikes. No motorized vehicles. Some of these paths were created by the Rails-To-Trails movement.

dirtclod

Thanks. Well even a MUP might be too much for a first timer, man or woman. In my wifes defense, we were coming back from a local easy MUP and she washed out going up a driveway at the wrong angle. Poor little thing I felt bad. It all worked out though, after about an hour she started looking at me again.

samburger

Took a girl on a first date to go mountain biking & then grab some food when I had just started two years ago. I was on my fully rigid Fisher, & she was on my Mom's FS Myka. The problem wasn't the difficulty of the trail, but rather the physical condition she was in. I had planned to do an easy 5 mile loop, & less than a mile in she's red-faced & panting like crazy, when I hadn't even broken a sweat.

And that day, I learned an important lesson: not all pretty girls earn their rockin' bodies.

We did end up going back a few times, but physical activity just wasn't her thing (whereas it's the apple of my eye) so we didn't last long. Oh, that & she was just one crazy freakin' chick!