How do I get my lady into MTB?

saracenman09

supersonic wrote:

I clean my bike in the bath... women always complain for some reason... Can't win I tell thee.

Same here!

Jetlag

There's this amazing product called bath cleaner. It's magic.

You know that annoying sound that comes out of your girlfriend after you wash your bike in the bath?

Well, apply a little of this product to the bath, rub it in, rinse it off and, not only does the grease and mud disappear, but so does that annoying noise! It's truly a miracle of the modern age

miss notax

Jetlag wrote:

I think the girls here (and Kiwi) have summed it up beautifully.


My b/f really got me enthused about mtb though I had a bike and had tried it in the past. My prev b/f (when I bought the bike) wasn't interested so I had to go out by myself and never really got into it.

But Mr Jetlag is just awesome and patient. When we ride together, he accepts that it's going to be a little slower and there will be some sketchy bits I won't want to do and there will be copious swearing when we end up trying to cycle UP a muddy path or over tree routes or whatever. He pushes me just enough to improve, but so much that I end up hating it (even when we have to christen yet another climb "teardrop hill" ).

If he'd been an ass and impatient and tutted and got pissed off about having to wait for me or having to push my bike up one particulary steep and long hill at Bets-y-coed (teardrop 2), I wouldn't still be riding. I've since gone on to take up road riding AND triathlon, all through his support and patience.


It comes down to this:

Do you want to get her into mtb so you can spend time with her? If so, then go at HER pace, make it enjoyable for her, make it ABOUT her. She'll get fitter and braver and faster and soon you'll be trying to keep up with her! If that means tow paths to start with, then so be it. Start to introduce gradual climbs and gentle, even downhills. She'll love you for being so considerate.

If it's only so you don't have to feel guilty about going out or coming back muddy or spending heaps of cash, then do her a favour and either leave her out of it OR find her some people she can ride with (maybe other women) who will give her the patience and support she'll need to get fit enough to love the sport as much as you. I'm not saying that's what your motive is, but it plainly is in the cases of some other guys I've seen post


Good luck!

I couldn't agree more with BOTH of your posts

Well said!!

Mrs Toast

sarah75 wrote:

Jetlag wrote:

I think the girls here (and Kiwi) have summed it up beautifully.


My b/f really got me enthused about mtb though I had a bike and had tried it in the past. My prev b/f (when I bought the bike) wasn't interested so I had to go out by myself and never really got into it.

But Mr Jetlag is just awesome and patient. When we ride together, he accepts that it's going to be a little slower and there will be some sketchy bits I won't want to do and there will be copious swearing when we end up trying to cycle UP a muddy path or over tree roots or whatever. He pushes me just enough to improve, but so much that I end up hating it (even when we have to christen yet another climb "teardrop hill" ).

If he'd been an ass and impatient and tutted and got pissed off about having to wait for me or having to push my bike up one particulary steep and long hill at Bets-y-coed (teardrop 2), I wouldn't still be riding. I've since gone on to take up road riding AND triathlon, all through his support and patience.


It comes down to this:

Do you want to get her into mtb so you can spend time with her? If so, then go at HER pace, make it enjoyable for her, make it ABOUT her. She'll get fitter and braver and faster and soon you'll be trying to keep up with her! If that means tow paths to start with, then so be it. Start to introduce gradual climbs and gentle, even downhills. She'll love you for being so considerate.

If it's only so you don't have to feel guilty about going out or coming back muddy or spending heaps of cash, then do her a favour and either leave her out of it OR find her some people she can ride with (maybe other women) who will give her the patience and support she'll need to get fit enough to love the sport as much as you. I'm not saying that's what your motive is, but it plainly is in the cases of some other guys I've seen post


Good luck!

Indeed!



I couldn't agree more with BOTH of your posts

Well said!!

there will be copious swearing when we end up trying to cycle UP a muddy path or over tree roots or whatever.

Trying to go over big tree roots on climb makes me a sad panda. A sad panda, skidding backwards down a hill, with a bike on top....

FSR Si

I got my wife back into riding by accident really, In 1995 i got lured back to riding by the "voice of Klein" in my head so i went and bought one, The wife said she'd like to give it ago too so i bought a nice little specialized Hardrock for her and we went for a few rides, But me being a bit keen pushed her to hard and she got fed up with it and never rode again and her bike was sold on and that was that....

Fast forward to 2008 and i was having my third revival at mtb'ing so i was buying up the bits and bobs to restore my old FSR when i happened across a nice little stumpjumper hardtail that i thought would be perfect for a doss about bike. So i built it up as a single speed hack. Then my wife caught site of it in my cave one day and had a sit on it, She found it quite comfy and fitting and asked for a go on it. So we had a little chat about what she wanted and i went and made up a nice little 3 mile route for us no hills, no technical stuff, just a stroll. She loved it!!! and the next day wanted to do it again she had a little bit of burn in her legs so could feel the benefit health wise.

Moral of the story is dont make it to hard for her and theres a good chance she will enjoy it.

Ditch Witch

Yep, that's it exactly. Don't treat her like one of your fit male riding buddies and you'll be laughing.


Mrs Toast, I empathize completely

miss notax

Mrs Toast wrote:

Trying to go over big tree roots on climb makes me a sad panda. A sad panda, skidding backwards down a hill, with a bike on top....

I'm only laughing because I *tried* to do the uphill section at Cwmcarn the other weekend and the result was somewhat similar..... :?

lexiekay

Sarah - really?
I thought i was the only one that has managed to fall off 3 times on the climb at cwm - twice falling down the bank to the stream at the bottom with my bike on top of me!

Satu

lexiekay wrote:

I thought i was the only one that has managed to fall off 3 times on the climb at cwm

You're not the only one. :roll: Our trip to Cwmcairn was my second time with SPDs -- very bad choice! I think we were about halfway along the climb when I decided I'd had enough falling over and landing in thorny things or on pointy rocks, and trundled back down along the road. I'm not sure I'll be going back there any time soon.

(Is this my first post? Um... hello! I've been lurking for a while!)

miss notax

lexiekay wrote:

Sarah - really?
I thought i was the only one that has managed to fall off 3 times on the climb at cwm - twice falling down the bank to the stream at the bottom with my bike on top of me!

It was a nightmare! I can cope with the odd one or two roots, but some of those sections were just insane :shock:

I also managed to embaress myself on the downs - I had ridden really well (and fast 8) ) but then managed to get my bike stuck in those barrier things at the bottom right by the car park (I tried to ride through it and got my pedals stuck :oops: ).... Some chap rode up behind me, Chris buggered off laughing, leaving me to proclaim in a loud voice that I was 'bloody well stuck' and flail about a bit...

Mrs Toast

Satu wrote:

lexiekay wrote:

I thought i was the only one that has managed to fall off 3 times on the climb at cwm

You're not the only one. :roll: Our trip to Cwmcairn was my second time with SPDs -- very bad choice! I think we were about halfway along the climb when I decided I'd had enough falling over and landing in thorny things or on pointy rocks, and trundled back down along the road. I'm not sure I'll be going back there any time soon.

(Is this my first post? Um... hello! I've been lurking for a while!)

Welcome aboard! :P

I'm not even thinking about SPDs, ever. Quite apart the dodgy knee issue, most of the people I've seen that have fallen off on FtD (a pretty easy trail) have done with SPDs - falling off is bad enough, but the trying to get back up...

It's a terrible sight, reminds me of a upturned turtle!

miss notax

Satu wrote:

lexiekay wrote:

I thought i was the only one that has managed to fall off 3 times on the climb at cwm

You're not the only one. :roll: Our trip to Cwmcairn was my second time with SPDs -- very bad choice! I think we were about halfway along the climb when I decided I'd had enough falling over and landing in thorny things or on pointy rocks, and trundled back down along the road. I'm not sure I'll be going back there any time soon.

(Is this my first post? Um... hello! I've been lurking for a while!)

Hello

Satu

Mrs Toast wrote:

Welcome aboard! :P

Thank you!

I'm not even thinking about SPDs, ever. Quite apart the dodgy knee issue, most of the people I've seen that have fallen off on FtD (a pretty easy trail) have done with SPDs - falling off is bad enough, but the trying to get back up...

It's a terrible sight, reminds me of a upturned turtle!

Yeah, one of those might well have been me! I'm getting used to them now (and seeing some of the benefits -- the chainslapper is so much comfier now!), but it wasn't pretty the first few times...

--

On the topic of this thread, I agree with what others have said -- definitely go at her own pace (and listen when she says she's had enough!), and don't push too much.

lexiekay

Gosh theres no way i'd try that climb in spds!

Quick tip though, the day i realised you could get up to the airstream riding up the road and then do all the fun singletrack and descents was the best day ever!
ALthough its now a massive mental struggle not to do that every time I go

miss notax

lexiekay wrote:

Gosh theres no way i'd try that climb in spds!

Quick tip though, the day i realised you could get up to the airstream riding up the road and then do all the fun singletrack and descents was the best day ever!
ALthough its now a massive mental struggle not to do that every time I go

or the uplift.....

Ditch Witch

I've been riding with SPDs (on and off road) for a few months and find it really good almost all the time. Bobbly downhills are easier because your feet don't bounce about and climbs are easier, because you can pull as well as push, but I have to confess that really technical bits are scary as hell clipped in. I haven't yet mastered riding SPDs unclipped.

Satu

lexiekay wrote:

Quick tip though, the day i realised you could get up to the airstream riding up the road and then do all the fun singletrack and descents was the best day ever!

Ooh... that's very handy to know! And very tempting...

gb2gw

Some really good bits of advice in this thread. I concur with the lot of em!

I remember on a recent trip to Scotland to see some friends, we did a bit of riding and happened upon this poooor, poor woman on her own on the trail looking absolutely petrified of what was immediately ahead of her. She walked down most of it very tentatively and we caught up with her at the bottom and it turned out she was with a bloke, presumably her boyfriend, who was seemingly of the 'let her just get on with it' opinion. He was useless and me and my female friend who'd been riding at the back with me felt like punching him for making what looked to be her first time out so miserable and scared. My hubby actually took it upon himself to give her some gentle, encouraging bits of advice to help her down one bit and she managed it and was really pleased, but I think in the end she took a short cut back to the car park as her bf had buggered off down some other trail and left her for dust. Such a shame, she was a lovely lass.

I got into mtb'ing through OH's love of it. It's probably his greatest passion in life and has been doing it for over 20 years so I knew in the early days of our seeing each other, it would be a big deal as to whether I liked it or not.
I've fallen off a LOT and I bruise easily so I've spent a lot of months with colourful patches of skin (I actually won a set of full body armour in MBR's Old Blokes & Girls Who Should Know Better, for some impressive bruising obtained on a trip to Coed Y Brenin (where OH persuaded me to try SPD's for the first time!)). And I still have a dent in my thigh where I was coming down Mam Tor in the Peak District and managed to go arse over tit, still clipped in, and sort of somersaulted with my bike attached and land thigh-first on the handlebars. Ouch.

But I think if she's the sort who doesn't mind a bit of hard work, loves the outdoors and doesn't mind sweaty and muddy, then a definate softly softly catchee monkey approach is best. Hubby was very gentle and encouraging and patient with me, which is what I think persuaded me to work through the falls and the purple skin and the little tantrums when I just couldn't seem to stay on and always ended up walking my bike up or down things and arriving five minutes after everyone else (I still often do, but I don't let it get me down these days!).

Good luck though. Hope she comes to love it as much as I do!

Ditch Witch

You're definitely not alone there. Having a helpful and supportive riding buddy makes all the difference in the world.

You see so many threads on here from guys who want to know what's wrong with their g/fs that they can't keep up with them. It's really annoying :evil:

cgarossi

Some great stories here! Really enjoyed reading them

Unfortunately im single but would definitely like to take any g/f's for weekend mtb rides. My ex almost got into it, she was doing well but fell off and threw in the towel. I bought her a £400 GT to get her started too. I was really encouraging and kept at her pace. Oh well.

Thanks for the good read people!

jane c

I ride regularly but leisurely around Bristol and the occasional trip to Afan and Cwm Carn and would love to get my girlfriend into such a satisfying form of exercise.

Hi, we at Bristol mountain bike club have started a girls /ladies only rides on Saturday mornings, aimed at all abilities so this mite be a good place for your G/F to start with no blokes telling how to do this and that ! if you or anyone else is interested get in touch here
http://www.bristolmountainbikeclub.co.u ... ?f=2&t=691
cheers jane

Max A

Prior to my fella buying me a bike a few months ago the last time I had ridden one was when I was a kid!
He always seemed so hyped when he came back from a ride and slowly but surely his enthusiasm infected me lol I got curious and one day with me on a borrowed bike ( hellish and my backside was killing me!) we went for a little ride and i enjoyed it but was adament i wasn't doing it again until I had a decent comfortable bike!
Fast forward 6 months and he bought me one...it's lovely ( woman friendly) and more importantly comfortable! I was worried he'd push me to be able to keep up with him..make me do trails that were way above my ability etc , however, he really has been brilliant with being patient and slow etc.

I got annoyed once when he said I wasn't paying attention to where I was going..thus a row ensued! lol

Other than that I'm starting to really enjoy it, yes it's bleedin hard work at the minute and thus far i'm still way to scared to go down any big hills without holding my brakes! :oops:
I'm a total wuss and don't want to hurt myself, i've already fallen off when i wasn't even riding it! :roll: I need body armour

We have been sticking to mainly the cycle paths at the minute ( bless him) but we did go out the evening and i got covered in mud, big old puddles, chcucking down with rain and absolutely loved it! I think a few easy trails are calling.

He's been that supportive with me that I've agreed to go do the C2C in a couple of weeks :shock: baptisim of fire as they say

If I can get into after years of being no where near a bike i'm sure most woman can..key rules..buy a comfy bike for her , not a rubbish old bike from the depths of the garden shed, be patient! she's going to be slower to start with, easy, non hilly routes for a while and loads of encouragement. Oh but for goodness sake don't tell her what she's doing wrong for a few weeks or she'll just get annoyed lol

There you go...my very first post

miss notax

gb2gw wrote:

Some really good bits of advice in this thread. I concur with the lot of em!

I remember on a recent trip to Scotland to see some friends, we did a bit of riding and happened upon this poooor, poor woman on her own on the trail looking absolutely petrified of what was immediately ahead of her. She walked down most of it very tentatively and we caught up with her at the bottom and it turned out she was with a bloke, presumably her boyfriend, who was seemingly of the 'let her just get on with it' opinion. He was useless and me and my female friend who'd been riding at the back with me felt like punching him for making what looked to be her first time out so miserable and scared. My hubby actually took it upon himself to give her some gentle, encouraging bits of advice to help her down one bit and she managed it and was really pleased, but I think in the end she took a short cut back to the car park as her bf had buggered off down some other trail and left her for dust. Such a shame, she was a lovely lass.

I got into mtb'ing through OH's love of it. It's probably his greatest passion in life and has been doing it for over 20 years so I knew in the early days of our seeing each other, it would be a big deal as to whether I liked it or not.
I've fallen off a LOT and I bruise easily so I've spent a lot of months with colourful patches of skin (I actually won a set of full body armour in MBR's Old Blokes & Girls Who Should Know Better, for some impressive bruising obtained on a trip to Coed Y Brenin (where OH persuaded me to try SPD's for the first time!)). And I still have a dent in my thigh where I was coming down Mam Tor in the Peak District and managed to go ars* over tit, still clipped in, and sort of somersaulted with my bike attached and land thigh-first on the handlebars. Ouch.

But I think if she's the sort who doesn't mind a bit of hard work, loves the outdoors and doesn't mind sweaty and muddy, then a definate softly softly catchee monkey approach is best. Hubby was very gentle and encouraging and patient with me, which is what I think persuaded me to work through the falls and the purple skin and the little tantrums when I just couldn't seem to stay on and always ended up walking my bike up or down things and arriving five minutes after everyone else (I still often do, but I don't let it get me down these days!).

Good luck though. Hope she comes to love it as much as I do!

Are you me? :shock:

All of this sounds strangely familiar and - yes - I agree with it all!

alfablue

A year ago I heard the magic words from my g/f "I want to buy a bike".

I then spent a few weeks upping her budget from the £150 that she thought bikes cost to £550 and she got an entry level road bike (Trek 1.2 triple). She was well up for longer and longer road rides, and so we tried doing a camping tour in Wales - disaster - she couldn't do the hills and her back gave out. Holiday ended early. This was a low point. In hindsight I was too ambitious too soon - lesson learned.

I then changed her cassette from 11-26 to an 11-34 mtb one, with a s/h XT mtb mech, and upgraded the 8 speed Sora shifters to s/h 9 speed Ultegra (all in cost me only £70). She could then manage all the hills and started enjoying riding better. She now checks our times and tries to get a personal best on each subsequent ride (I think the bug has bitten). In April we had a very successful and beautiful tour in Tuscany (supported, so no heavy panniers). She happily climbed hills 7-10k long, and loved the experience. I have since upgraded her wheels and tyres saving about 800g on the wheel weight and she loves how the bike flies! All this progress in 1 year from being a complete newbie.

I had been floating the idea that mtb'ing is great fun and an entirely different experience, and opens up all sorts of extra possibilities for seeing the countryside. She was worried about falling off, and had become nervous because of how twitchy her road bike felt on occasional unsurfaced paths.

Nevertheless, 2 months ago we rode our road bikes around Ashton Court and she was immediately envious of the many mtb'ers we saw coming off the trails with big grins. Then she uttered the next magic words "I want an mtb". Fantastic, just gentle prodding and showing her mtb'ers and she went for it.

She now knew the benefits of starting off with a decent bike, so she happily bought a £900 Rock Lobster 853 with full SLX and Recon SL forks. Over the last few weeks we have been doing mtb on Saturdays (around Ashton Court in Bristol) and road rides on Sunday. She was nervous to start with and has had a steep learning curve (for instance, to keep pedalling over the bumpier bits, saddle height issues, pedal issues - she's used to spd's but doesn't yet want to clip in off road so uses flats, etc), but she is loving it. She has actually persuaded me to finish work early tonight so we can go for a ride. I can see that in a year she may well make the same sort of fantastic progress she has made on a road bike.

The secrets of her success are, I think, that firstly she will have a go at things even when nervous, she has a reasonable degree of trust in my advice on kit and technique, did not fall off on first ride (or ever, as yet), cycled Ashton Court which is pretty tame (when she is totally confident here we will look for better challenges, but I am not going to push it - better to get lots of experience and confidence under her belt), and she gets a buzz from achieving new things. In August we will be going to Dartmoor for some on and off road riding (we did some great road rides there last year, she coped brilliantly, even though I completely forgot to mention that our base was Princetown, the highest town in the UK - whoops.), so she should reap the benefits of her new bike and skills!

Lesson is "softly softly catchee monkey"

I am now working (gently suggesting) she upgrades her car to a slightly larger one that will take 4 bikes (mine's a 2 seater).

Thermo1

Some great stuff in this thread - especially from the women's point of view.

My wife and I are going up to Rotorua (the NZ mountain bike mecca) in Sept. but she's worried about her lack of fitness. We've done a few rides and have experienced the teardrop hills. But she absolutely loved the downhills - even some of the steeper ones. So I've organised some shuttle passes for our trip so we can do some downhill runs without the grunt work up. She also wants some pads so she feels a bit safer.

Ditch Witch

Alfablue, seems like you've done it all the right way. I don't know why we take a little more convincing about some things but we do and you've helped prove that a little care and consideration and bags of support will do wonders. Your patience will have paid off in the long run, too, as the family that plays together stays together


Thermo, do try to encourage her to do some of the hills for no other reason than it will really boost her confidence to see what she can do. Teardrop hills are suddenly awesome when you get to the top

shesspoken

I wrote about this very thing last year:

http://mtobikes.com/how-to-get-your-gir ... mping-you/

Tracey Mc

miss notax

Brilliant

I'm wondering if this can be packaged and given to every bloke on buying a new bike....?

Fortunately my other half did most of this anyway but I can COMPLETELY understand point 4 which he ignored as he took me to Cwmcarn on my second or third ride. It did not go well :?

Thewaylander

The answer to this life long question is give up, she probably prefer's handbags 90% of the time

miss notax

Thewaylander wrote:

The answer to this life long question is give up, she probably prefer's handbags 90% of the time

Ooooh, contraversial.....