What She Said: “Introducing…”

Here’s column number one from another of our new Singletrack Columnists, What She Said. Mostly – though not exclusively – on the topic of ranting…

Rant! Rantrantrantrant! RANT! Oh, and RANT!

Write us an article.

OK, but RANTRANT! Then, RANT!

Seriously, write us something. 1,000 words. On whatever RANT you want.

I will, but first let me just rant for a minute. SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET IS WRONG.

You know what? Start a column.

Yeah yeah, but I just have this one last thing to RANTRANTYRANT.

 

The above represents a summary of several conversations between myself, and Singletrack Mark over the span of… a span of time. I’m a self-professed internet ranter. It’s one of my superpowers.

I’m also tall, American, hopefully nice, and sometimes funny.

I work in the bike industry for ‘a major cycling brand’. I’ve been Keith Bontrager’s 24-hour race mechanic. I’ve served as an ‘expert in my field’ across video, radio, written word, and public appearances. I ride bikes.

I’m also a woman.

It’s probably a combination of all of those things that led to those ranty exchanges on Twitter. And it’s definitely some of those things that have you reading what I’m saying now. So what would you write about if you were given the opportunity to become a columnist for a mountain bike title? It might be about some fabulous new piece of kit. Maybe it would be about some new-fangled technology that is getting talked about. You might weigh in on the over-debated wheel size debate. Perhaps you’d want to talk about just how much you love riding your bike. Or, you might lament about how life gets in the way of you spending more time on your bike.

In reality, there’s no shortage of things to read on any of these subjects. And while I might opt to discuss some of them, because I certainly have things to say about them, what I’d really rather use these bits and bytes for is to talk about women. Mostly.

Before you get excited, I’m in no way talking about a resurrection of Friday Kylie, or how to get your ‘bird’ to let you buy that new bike you want, or anything that sounds even remotely pejorative about ‘er indoors. There are also plenty of readily available resources for those subjects. (cough) Daily Mail (cough)

And before you leave this page because you don’t come to Singletrack to hear someone spewing a bunch of feminist garbage, or read about ‘girl things’, then keep in mind that women don’t only read about those topics, just like #NotAllMen read only things involving chain lube and tyre pressure.

Feminism is important to all of us, even in the bike world. And if you don’t know why, then you are exactly the person that I would hope to reach. It’s true, I am a feminist. And to be fair, you should be as well. Feminism is not about man hating, it’s about equality.

Anyhoo… what I’ll aim to do is offer some content that makes you think, provides some perspective, and gets you looking at women as a key factor necessary to grow cycling across every discipline. Because among other things, that’s what we are.

To that end, you might find me talking about the disparity in pay between men and women pro racers. I might discuss the way the cycling industry markets to women. More than likely, I’ll talk about what it’s like to be a woman who works in the male-dominated world of the bike biz.

If you worry that engaging in a discussion about women and cycling would appear awkward, then consider that women who join in to a typical forum thread don’t worry about how their presence is perceived. If you have something to say on a subject, than say it. The way to increase awareness and participation of cycling to women is if EVERYONE joins in to the discussion, not just more women.

There will be other, gender-neutral subjects, as well. I promise.

As an industry insider, you might catch me trying to shed some light on the perception people have about how this side of the fence works. Ideally, I’ll get you thinking about how to invest your hard-earned dosh when you are shopping for a new bike. Ultimately, I hope to be entertaining and insightful.

You know what? I might even go crazy and occasionally talk about something other than just mountain biking. Watch out! This is an op/ed column, after all. I do more than just mountain bike, so experiences are drawn from the various ways that I scoot around terra firma.

So there you have it. I’m setting the expectations early and completely reserve the right to throw you a curve ball every once in a while. You don’t have time for boring, and neither do I.