Women, Men, and Moto-X

On the left Uncle Michael makes a jump. Todd tells me he cannot go quite as high as Michael, but I can't tell. Above, Evan is decked out with all his pads and gear and training wheels. He now rides without the training wheels. Nina is getting a feel for what it might be like to ride Mommy's bike.






I have been watching the X-Games. I love the feats, the obvious skill and creativity. I had asked Todd a couple days ago if there were any women's events( somewhere around the time we were watching Travis Pastrana be attended to by his Mommy). He didn't know, but I found them last night. I watched the women's super-X final, and saw Ashley Fiolek battle for the win with Jessica Patterson, finally sneaking in to stealing Jessica's line and squeaking to victory. Ashley competed with her peers, and beat them, even though she is deaf. I have great respect for those riders, especially since I putz around with riding myself, as do my oldest son Evan(since he was 5), my husband, and his brother. Michael is above, jumping on Todd's bike, in Todd's clothes. We don't have many pictures of Todd or me on our bikes. Todd is a bit self-conscious of his ability, though he looks like he is as good as Michael to me. And as for myself, I am completely not picture worthy on my bike. The last time we were at the track was the first time I really got airborne. Let me tell you, no one noticed but me. I am just happy that I am no longer afraid to ride on the grown-up track simultaneously with adults and 8-years-olds who know what they are doing.

I noticed at the end of the super-X race that Ashley won, one of the announcers was raving about the maneuver she pulled to get the lead . He said something like "You just can't teach moves like that. She drives almost like a ma...." I laughed. I don't disagree with him. I know some women would be all up in arms about such a comment. I don't pretend that riding dirtbikes is something that appeals equally to the sexes, or is excelled at the same way by both. Most of the time when we are at the track I am one of one, two or no other female riders. I have been there when some teen girls were riding who were definitely better than me. They had the teen fearlessness that I am trying to foster in my riding. But it is obvious there is not the same draw among women to be more than a 30 second girl. There is no discrimination at the track we frequent, so there must be some other reason for the lack of women. I have no delusions about men and women being the same. I also think that there is nothing demeaning in women excelling at different things than men, which is something society needs to catch up with me on. I don't compare in the least with the guys, young and old at the track. The mechanics of finding the best line and getting the most out of my bike turns into a mush of feelings and impressions in my head. I just don't look at things the way most men do. I am beginning to understand how things work, but in my way. I am very happy that the track doesn't freak me out the way it used to. I want to continue to learn how to go faster, and maybe make that big jump that I completely avoid now. Yeah, I am the slow girl on the track now, but you watch out, Ashley, I'm coming. Wait, no. But that was a nice fantasy there for a minute.