Girlie bikers
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
So, how many of you out there are amongst the rapidly increasing numbers of female bikers? Have you recently got fed up of being the decorative bit perched (usually rather precariously)on the back of your nearest and dearest's latest toy and decided to play the boys at their own game?
For those of you reading this who are in the dark about motorbikes perhaps you should look a little closer next time you see a bunch of bikes zooming past. Mind you, you could have some difficulty telling if a rider is a woman or not as motorcylce clothing is pretty unflattering. Your best bet is to see them stop at traffic lights and observe just how much they have to be on tiptoes to keep the bike upright (unless they have a cruiser type bike with a low seat). Most sportsbikes are still designed for male leg lengths and I have personally parked my bike horizontally twice because of this. I don't know if any other women out there have a solution to this barring stabilisers (no, don't laugh, some disabled bikers have resorted to stabilisers so they can enjoy biking). The obvious answer would appear to be to wear platform boots. But where can you find such things that will survive the onslaught of the gear change?
Anyway, we girlies are a growing contingent along with 'born again' bikers. It seems that in our ever more paranoid world there is a growing trend to escape the confines of a cotton wool wrapped existence. However, this is being continually attacked by the 'nannies' who fail to realise that it is mainly other road users that cause accidents. After all, I don't hear anyone clamouring for mountain climbing to be banned or restricted and yet there are a significant number of accidents on Ben Nevis every year. Why are we applying double standards?
Well, enough diatribe for now. I'll just end with a plea to organisers of trackdays to think about putting on special events for us wimpy women so that we don't have to cope with the rampant testosterone floating around at ordinary days.
For those of you reading this who are in the dark about motorbikes perhaps you should look a little closer next time you see a bunch of bikes zooming past. Mind you, you could have some difficulty telling if a rider is a woman or not as motorcylce clothing is pretty unflattering. Your best bet is to see them stop at traffic lights and observe just how much they have to be on tiptoes to keep the bike upright (unless they have a cruiser type bike with a low seat). Most sportsbikes are still designed for male leg lengths and I have personally parked my bike horizontally twice because of this. I don't know if any other women out there have a solution to this barring stabilisers (no, don't laugh, some disabled bikers have resorted to stabilisers so they can enjoy biking). The obvious answer would appear to be to wear platform boots. But where can you find such things that will survive the onslaught of the gear change?
Anyway, we girlies are a growing contingent along with 'born again' bikers. It seems that in our ever more paranoid world there is a growing trend to escape the confines of a cotton wool wrapped existence. However, this is being continually attacked by the 'nannies' who fail to realise that it is mainly other road users that cause accidents. After all, I don't hear anyone clamouring for mountain climbing to be banned or restricted and yet there are a significant number of accidents on Ben Nevis every year. Why are we applying double standards?
Well, enough diatribe for now. I'll just end with a plea to organisers of trackdays to think about putting on special events for us wimpy women so that we don't have to cope with the rampant testosterone floating around at ordinary days.
