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It seems
to me that many women who enjoy the sport of mountain biking were
first truly introduced to it through a love interest in their past
or present lives. I certainly was. I began to contemplate mountain
biking and relationships at the first bike race of my now-husband
which took place about two years ago. As I was  hiking
through the woods in search of the "feed-zone" I met up with another
woman who used to be my babysitter. She inquired to the age and
skill level of my boyfriend and then asked if I raced as well. I
replied "Oh no, I just occasionally ride casually - I’m not really
into it" to which she shook her head knowingly and gave me a slightly
condescending look showing she once was as naïve as I. She asked
me if my significant other had upgraded his bike thus far in our
relationship. "…Well, no…" I replied somewhat defensively. She chuckled
and shook her head at my innocence and youth. I tried to ignore
her and feigned an interest in several racers who were approaching.
"Look," she said, realizing I felt confused, "I’m going to tell
you the way it is…"
"First,"
she confided in me, "he’ll replace some small, almost insignificant,
part on his bike. The part is still good but of course you will
soon discover this means little to him. And since this particular
part, although no longer good enough for him, is far better than
what you have on your bike purchased at Sears, he will ask you if
he can just put it on your bike to make it that small touch better."
"I can
not emphasize the importance of this moment enough" she said in
an urgent tone, "what you do at this point will influence your life
to come more than you can imagine. Because this is merely Step One
in his overall plan. Step One will be followed closely by several
similar incidences concerning his used bike parts. But suddenly
one day he will point out casually that your quality bike parts
are really quite silly on such a cheap and heavy frame. This makes
perfect sense to you as well and voila! - by that Christmas you
will own a brand new bike with a full chromoly frame, his old V-brakes,
his old grip-shift, his bar ends, his riser bar, his lightweight
stem, and a suspension fork he found that was too good a deal to
pass up!!!
She
had gotten rather excited by this point and several other women
nearby were clearly listening in because they were all nodding their
heads in silent agreement.
"You
may wonder," she continued more calmly,"what’s the big deal? So,
I’ve got a nice bike. But ask yourself, what are you going to do
when he asks you to go for a ride - still just go for your occasional
once- a-month
ride on the dike? Why the hell did you need such a great bike then?
Not only that but why do you need a lightweight suspension bike
to be a "Sunday rider"??"
"It’s
too late." She answered for me. "There’s no good argument - you
better get riding girlfriend."
"Mmm-Hmm!"
the other girls interjected.
"Well,
like I told you, I ride casually and Neil doesn’t have a so-called
"master-plan" so don’t worry about me," I replied, quite confidently.
She
backed down immediately. "Well you’re probably right…I’d better
go - they’re finishing up now". She began to walk away. As she was
just disappearing around the hill I heard her call back "See you
on the trails!!!" and she was gone.
Well,
two years have gone by and my fate has been sealed. Yes everything
happened as was foretold. Luckily, I enjoy mountain biking immensely
and thus have no regrets about having not listened to the warnings
of well-wishers. But now at least I have done my part to spread
the truth…
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