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HistoryWomen have more obstacles than men to overcome when taking up the sport of cycling: from finding equipment that fits to locating a fun riding partner. Mountain biking can be even more daunting with it's macho lingo and current emphasis on techno stuff. Our fearless author and founder, Jacquie Phelan, offers a way (almost) out of the woods...Ever since 1984, I've been working hard with other WOMBATS to serve up a dish of fat tire fun to women who:
a) "Don't like competition" The sport was, and still is, busy serving itself up as, well, if you've read this far, you know exactly what: a blood'n'guts arena for truly gnarly (but also trendy!)dudes. Dudes that like to make what they do seem tougher than it really is, because, of course, then they look tougher too. The fact is, if you know how to ride a street bike and are willing to look a little foolish (very hard for adults, almost impossible for men)while your new mountain bike teaches you how to negotiate dirt roads and narrow trails,you can get very good without ever having to shop at Pergament for a Y chromosome. You just need to give yourself time, and patiently ride lots of miles. And ride with people better than you. But wait! Nobody wants to ride with a weaker, less skilled rider, right?(unless there is romance on the horizon - and even then this phase ends). I remember how long it took me to loft my front wheel. It took two years, plus I had to ask several people. How can you get good if no one will wait for you and demonstrate a skillful move in a difficult section of trail? Almost all the women who come to Camp Winna WOMBAT figure out trail technique, with a little dose of our patented "fat tire finesse." They also learn to stay in touch with their excellent intuitive voice, and best of all, go on to share what they learn through the years. We uppity WOMBATS are staking out some gals-only territory on the outskirts of the "gnarly" sport of mountain biking, and it is quite an adventure. We believe that the more women ride, the less likely the Sierra Club will be able to portray off-road cyclists as testosterone-poisoned youth in search of destruction. We will get these energetic guys to maintain trails with us, then make 'em go race so they can shred without guilt, while we: a) Get ready for our own race
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Meet Founder Jacquie PhelanJust exactly who is Jacquie Phelan? What makes her tick? One person's strategy for survival in a revved up world. I was born to enthusiastic lovers, but reluctant parents. I never grew up, because because grown-up has "groan" in it. My early years were spent mastering the miniature tea set ceremony, reading Nancy Drew, and catching frogs. We moved a lot, from Rhode Island, to Kansas, to Tarzana, a planet that orbits Los Angeles, California. I learned to ride a bicycle in Topeka at age 9, and it wasn't easy. I was on Mom's huge bike. "Let me learn this" I bargained with God, "and I'll never ask for anything again." It turns out I lied to God. Riding a too-big bicycle turned out to be easy, compared with babysitting five younger siblings. I ran away a lot, just to get out of the house. I prayed for admittance to a college as far from Los Angeles as possible. I got my wish, and attended Middlebury, a college that usually knows better than to accept my ilk. Now I owe God two favors. At Midd, I was a San Fernando Valley Girl in Vermont's dairy country, and swam naked as much as possible on the two warm days that inevitably occurred during finals week. I was an OK scholar, but a great host to my friends who came by for waffles on Sunday in my dorm room. I made snow sculptures for laughs and collected beer cans for cash. I got disciplined for speaking French in sociology class, and socializing in French class. After graduation, I did not apply to medical school: this would prove to be my first concrete contribution to the betterment of humanity. Moving to San Francisco changed my life; it's a town an ordinary human can circumnavigate in a day by bicycle. LA cannot be circumnavigated by bike; by the time you complete a lap, there's more city added. I decided to become famous. For a Tarzana kid, it's ridiculously easy: glue a toy duck on your bike helmet, and ride a minimum of 15 miles a day in heavy urban traffic. Fame will be yours in a month. This home-grown fame has little resemblance to the glitzy big screen recipe. For one thing, it's a lot healthier, less toxic. It never runs away from you. If you don't like it, you tear the duck off the helmet. You'll never suffer strangers who walk up to you and start talking like they know you. Your secret will be safe. So, why did I take up bike racing? Especially off-road bike racing, when it's always on the road that I'm riding? The only people they notice racing bikes are men. Ah, yes, but there are other reasons to ride than fame, and racing isn't the only way to ride a bike. I biked San Francisco streets for survival. Financial survival. It's just plain cheap to ride everywhere, compared to Muni, or owning a car that you can't find a parking spot for. But this survival plan wasn't very well thought-out. It began years earlier as an anti-plan, hatched half-consciously when a "health" teacher at my high school pointed out how we would divide up our efforts as consumers of the future. Health was the LA City School System's answer to sex education. Mr. Vadetsky was a very right-on guy, pretty nice, he seemed fair. He'd show us vivid anti-drug movies, and try to stifle the snickering that implied that probably half the class was stoned that morning. One day, to illustrate our use of time and resources, he drew a sort of peace sign on the blackboard. More like a luxury car logo, actually. Three equal segments. "If you think school is a bore" he intoned, "adulthood has a few surprises in store for you. Like how hard it is just to keep your head above water, to survive financially". This classroom didn't have any kids who worried about financial survival. "Here's how much time you'll spend on earning the money to buy and maintain a car" and he shaded in one third of the pie. "Here's how much time and work goes into purchasing a home" Another third of the pie took a dose of chalk. "And this last third, that's for sleep, recreation, and leisure time". It was a pretty scrawny slice. I raised my hand. "If you rode a bike, and rented your apartment instead of bought a house, would that give you a bigger hunk of the pie?" "How would you like to visit the vice-principal's office?" He was joking. Mr. V always counted on me to have the off-camber opinion. So here we are now, nearly a lifetime later, with me pigged out on all the pie I could possibly eat, trying to figure out about the other two thirds. Since I don't know the answer to the question, "Is it better to take your retirement when you're young and fit, risking a lifetime of marginal survival, or after you've got financial security, like probably after you're 65?" Thanks to WOMBATS, and my ability to jot down a thought or two, I've managed to share some of that pie-saving strategy with many thousands of people, women and men, but mostly women since they are better listeners. If just a handful of women take control of their right to hog a little of the fun pie, and then show their friends how they did it, then I can rest easy that I've done a better job than I would have traveling the road I was expected to take. (Dear readers: if you'd like a Part Two, please send an email to jacquie@batnet.com to tell me you will read it. I need feedback.) Other Articles by Jacquie | ||||
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