Nov 25 2010

Viva la difference Posted 1 years 175 days ago ago by sooz     0 Comments

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Why is there such a difference between the sexes when it comes to biking? After all, notwithstanding some long hair and a few ample bosoms it can be hard to tell the between us when we're all kitted up. I've been involved in a many discussions about this topic since starting this web site and joining Feisty Racing, and I feel like trying to get to the bottom of it.

Please appreciate that this article is not intended to offend - it's a few thoughts from me and some discussions I've had.

The competitive edge

Do ladies have the desire to win that men have?

There are some of us who do certainly - I count myself amongst them, plus of course the female racers on this site. And of course there are many non-competitive men. But percentage-wise we may be looking at about 10% of bikers being female, and I expected that the majority would be competitive to have joined the biking scene in the first place. But it's not so. I have several female biking friends who are very happy to bimble along both on the road and on track. Having chatted to many more girls through this site and during magazine features, the percentage seems to be reducing.

I've come across it in other walks of life - I'm competitive with everything myself! Playing silly games at a party with boys vs girls I found that the boys cheated badly if there was a remote chance of them losing, and the other girls (all of them!) were happy to let them and were playing down their answers. When I got disgruntled and asked why, the whispered response was "they'll sulk all night otherwise - it's easier to let them win". That was a particularly testosterone filled bunch of boys, most of them budding lifetime chauvinists, but it was hard for me to stomach even just with a party game.

My conclusion is that although women can be just as competitive, it equates to a very small number of us in biking. I would take a guess at 1% or under.

The show off

Girls, do you pull wheelies, stoppies, or blip the kill switch for a nice gun firing sound when you pass good looking blokes on the roads? No? I don't either. And I'm a big show off.

So why do men do it? It's entertaining and adds to the fun of a ride, so why do women not do it?

I admit I want to pull wheelies (a burnt out clutch and a wheelie school booking are proofs of that), and I do pop the exhaust on the odd occasion. But I never think of doing it myself - only when some lads are playing and I feel like joining in. I don't really look at pedestrians and aim to impress them. Perhaps it's because most pedestrians might assume that I'm a bloke, so any effort would be wasted.

When I was a young road rider, getting my lid off at a resting point is a whole different matter though. Look boys - it was me overtaking you - yes, a girl!

The pride

Boys, does it bother you to be beaten? Does it bother you even more to be beaten by a girl? I can just about guarantee that the answer to the latter questions is "yes" - even if you won't actually admit it for political correctness (or your girlfriend is stood behind you frowning).

I know, I know, I can't tar you all with the same brush boys, there are plenty who are all for girl racers/bikers etc. But you're not in the majority. Even if men don't take action, there is a severe downfall in pride in being passed by a girl.

But - there's absolutely no reason for girls to be slower on a bike so why should it matter?

Girls, does it bother you to be beaten by a bloke?

Note: When I refer to "beaten" I mean outclassed on the road or passed cleanly on the track. I'm not advocating racing in either environment! However on a race track I mean beaten good and proper.

The tall tales

Men will oversell themselves and women will undersell themselves.

It's a very general statement and of course, as ever, there are exceptions, but it does seem to be a reasonable generalisation.

Ask a group of male bikers how they perform on track days and many will tell you they are fast to very fast. Girls are more likely to underplay their skills (erm, I'm an exception to this... my mates talk me up something rotten).

When 2 of us girls were pretty evenly matched at Cadwell up against 2 blokes, we were 10 seconds faster in the first session (we didn't time the second). Neither of us had pre-stated that we were track demons. The boys not only were convinced that they would be faster, but one even decided that if we had been racing we wouldn't have got away. It's a pretty odd statement from a grass tracking R1 owner 10 seconds slower than two 600cc touting girls.

Again this point can be seen outside biking most obviously where job applications are concerned. Coming from the IT world myself and being no stranger to the recruitment side, I'm convinced that 50% of men's CVs are hyped up or even lies. Women do underplay themselves on a CV, thus the balance of recruitment to jobs requiring good skills is always going to lean away from us.

The adrenalin

I feel the need.... the need for speed.

There are many women competing and partaking in dangerous sports, so this may not be as much of a difference, however, are women as likely to take extra risks to get those extra points? Certainly the Feisty Racing girls get into crashes and get back out there clashing fairings - so they obviously thrive on adrenalin.

The posture

I've written a whole feature about this, and I have to admit to being a little worried about offending the many women who adopt a "female stance". But hell, I don't like to sit on the fence.

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