Where da women at?

[Mike Sacristan]

So basically what we are saying is that we are wondering why more women don't participate in our extremely dangerous sport or similar dangerous activities such as riding a bicycle.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/13/safety-women-cycling-roads
https://qz.com/quartzy/1745124/why-women-dont-cycle-and-what-cities-can-do-about-it/

The difference being that EUC riding requires full body armour and therefore must be much more dangerous. 

Wear armour the wheel might cut off!
Wear armour you might fall! All it takes is one pot hole!
Wear armour what if a squirrel crosses your path?

How about they just don't ride then? 

 

 

[bigwave]

4 hours ago, seage said:

I

I was all for "wear what you want" for quite some time. Im still kinda like that. But the other day i was on a ride and watched a girl on a longboard fall off. Her shoulder hit first and her unprotected head snapped into the ground. The crack was loud enough that i heard it over my music and the wind in my fullface helmet.. She was knocked out cold immediately. We called 911 immediately. She then began to have a seizure. She foamed the mouth. Woke up, passed out again, then woke up and was in shock until the ambulance finally came. I...yeah, i cant. I know people talk about it being safer without, and all that talk about knowing how to fall and so on, and yeah, if thats how you wanna play it, go for it. But man...lets just make some stylish/affordable gear so that no one has an excuse anymore, and get more people in it instead. Im actually pretty traumatized by seeing that. It plays back vividly in my head. I was so scared she was gonna die right there. 

I spent 32 yrs of my life as a Professional Firefighter. I've been to more accidents than I can remember , Vehicles ,Motorcycles, Bicycles, Blah Blah Blah...Like the above incident @seage witnessed, most incidents are the result of a poor decision. Speed, poor road conditions, distracted driving , intoxicated etc. I get a laugh when police always say "speed was a factor" . Speed is a factor,A poor decision (speed) but I found the "sudden stop" had the most effect on the outcome! I hope that girl gets better and its not a life altering injury.

When I started Kitesurfing back in the day (1999) it was flat out dangerous . People were not only getting injured, several have been killed . Beginners and Professionals. The greatest Professional Waterman, Robby Naish said the words that I live by. " Kitesurfing is as dangerous as you want to make it"  These wise words totally apply to EUC. Even being a "newbie" (well 350 km now , can I be upgraded to sort knows what's going on...lol) I realized those words were all over this sport. If you just want to ride around in a zone thats comfortable or you want to just let her rip, thats your decision .

I said this in the video thread. Every time I' m riding I look at that road(pavement) and Mr Road says" think you're going to win this battle" and I say " No Mr Road, nobody beats you. I just want to walk away still moving and grooving "  Lol  

I will not judge anyone for what they wear or do not wear. What you wear does not affect me at all. What affects me is what I wear and that is a decision I make. 

I hope more women enter the EUC ranks , its super fun and very rewarding!

[Rehab1]

5 hours ago, seage said:

I was all for "wear what you want" for quite some time. Im still kinda like that. But the other day i was on a ride and watched a girl on a longboard fall off. Her shoulder hit first and her unprotected head snapped into the ground. The crack was loud enough that i heard it over my music and the wind in my fullface helmet.. She was knocked out cold immediately. We called 911 immediately. She then began to have a seizure. She foamed the mouth. Woke up, passed out again, then woke up and was in shock until the ambulance finally came. 

That is horrible news! God bless her. Is there anyway to find out her present condition? 

[Unventor]

5 hours ago, seage said:

Im actually pretty traumatized by seeing that. It plays back vividly in my head. I was so scared she was gonna die right there. 

Very sad new. I hope she recover but from how you described it I seriously doubt it. 

I don't really care about being stylish. I am very greatful that I had the accidents I have and that I recovered from then. And I were smart enough to wear gear to protect myself. 

I ordered another TSG pass helmet as it was on sale and 2 new visor would be 2/3 of the full helmet price. Unfortunately I can't find my preferred colour the traffic green/yellow one. So I picked a white one. 

But back to you story. I can't help thinking how people are crying out for more speeds. It just seem that most don't understand the falls often are different mechanics compared to a mc fall. 

I can say the ground hit you hard and it isn't going to budge much. It mean in shout your body will feel the impact force. 

Yes I sometimes ride unprotected, but I wear a helmet 99.99999% of the time. The idea is if I smash up a knee I will live on. If I smash up my head... maybe I will not live and if I do the question is if I want to. 

I am sad you had to see such an accident. I am glad you chose to share it. Maybe next time people with wear a helmet at least. 

[seage]

48 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

That is horrible news! God bless her. Is there anyway to find out her present condition? 

We passed on our information to the guy who was with her, but havent heard back.... im praying shes okay. Or at least will be.

 

2 hours ago, Mike Sacristan said:

So basically what we are saying is that we are wondering why more women don't participate in our extremely dangerous sport or similar dangerous activities such as riding a bicycle.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/13/safety-women-cycling-roads
https://qz.com/quartzy/1745124/why-women-dont-cycle-and-what-cities-can-do-about-it/

The difference being that EUC riding requires full body armour and therefore must be much more dangerous. 

Wear armour the wheel might cut off!
Wear armour you might fall! All it takes is one pot hole!
Wear armour what if a squirrel crosses your path?

How about they just don't ride then? 

 

 

Thats not really what I was getting at, at least. I mean, from cycling to riding motorcycles to skydiving, they all have their different "uniforms" so to speak. But im not saying that everyone NEEDS to wear armor. Its more that i wish there were more stylish and practical options out there for everyone to WANT to wear armor. Like what the girls said, it feels like theyre in a bubble. Thats real, i believe them. Well, if we had more, non-bubble, options, maybe they'd enjoy wearing that gear. Our sport can be more dangerous, this is a fact yes, but its not always. Hitting max speed, super high jumps in the skate park, riding up stairs (Fantomas, lmao) is on the dangerous side. But slow cruising to the coffee shop on your Mten3 lowers the risk factor. Doesnt kill the risk, as you could be riding really slowly while on your phone, hit a giant dip in the road, fall straight down and crack your rib on the machine. Anything can happen. But at that point, its not even a PEV thing, thats just a "bad luck" thing. Like stepping on a lego and falling down the stairs. 

 My main point, and at least what i was in agreement with @clementine418 about (even though it wasnt too clear, im sorry) is that I hope we get more options in terms of fit, style and convenience when it comes to our "uniforms" with the growing popularity of PEV's. I cant blame anyone for not wanting to wear the options we have now, because they truly are limited. But im hoping for a future with more variety as the demand and need rises 

For myself, i'll still gear up. I dont care if the public thinks "Wow, that must be dangerous..." When people ask me "So do you need to wear all that gear to ride?!" I say "Nope, but i plan to ride hard."

 

 

[seage]

50 minutes ago, Unventor said:

Very sad new. I hope she recover but from how you described it I seriously doubt it. 

I don't really care about being stylish. I am very greatful that I had the accidents I have and that I recovered from then. And I were smart enough to wear gear to protect myself. 

I ordered another TSG pass helmet as it was on sale and 2 new visor would be 2/3 of the full helmet price. Unfortunately I can't find my preferred colour the traffic green/yellow one. So I picked a white one. 

But back to you story. I can't help thinking how people are crying out for more speeds. It just seem that most don't understand the falls often are different mechanics compared to a mc fall. 

I can say the ground hit you hard and it isn't going to budge much. It mean in shout your body will feel the impact force. 

Yes I sometimes ride unprotected, but I wear a helmet 99.99999% of the time. The idea is if I smash up a knee I will live on. If I smash up my head... maybe I will not live and if I do the question is if I want to. 

I am sad you had to see such an accident. I am glad you chose to share it. Maybe next time people with wear a helmet at least. 

I hope you're wrong :(... Really rooting for her to get better. She was so happy before it all happened. Ausjdfk. Its hard. 

I do like to match my gear. Although i try to be hi-vis stylish. White, black and red. High contrasts and blinking lights. 

I do understand more speed. Its an adrenaline thing. And people are going to get it. I for one wasnt really interested but now i am. I can say that I do enjoy getting up to speed once in a while. There are different dynamics to if you fall going slow compared to fast, so it is a different experience overall. And then theres also outside factors, like, if you slide into a boulder, lol.... But you're right, its far different than virtually anything. You just freefall off the front or back and you're on your own. As much as i would like to go a little faster, i NEVER want highway speeds. Im not trying to go as fast as an MC. Ever. EVER. Id break every bone in my body on a fall. I feel like at that level you'd need a license or something. Or be a registered professional stuntman, or be forced to only be able to do that on a closed track 

And yeah, after that accident, im not messing around. I already pretty much always wore a helmet. Once in a blue moon i wouldnt, but even before this incident, i just opted to put on a bucket or a bike helmet when i felt too lazy to put on the full face. Im not sure if i can ride with people here on group rides who dont want to wear something on their head. Not because im trying to police their experience, but because im petrified. I never want to witness that again. Im not built like a paramedic or a firefighter in @bigwave's case

Interesting story actually.. Guy on a board was visiting town. He had a connection problem, board cut out. He hit the throttle on his controller and it cut back in. He goes flying off the back. EXACT SAME FALL  BUT BACKWARDS as that girl. He was wearing a helmet. He hit a patch that he had on it, that was soft. He didnt even a headache, just stood up and dusted himself off. He would have been in the hospital. This was last week, on thursday. Needless to say, i was about to have a panic attack when i saw his head snap into the ground....then he hops up. We did a check, made sure he was okay. Kept checking in with him, but he was actually fine. 

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND i feel like i hijacked the thread. Sorry yall. Main point, lets force some fashion designers to design dope ass gear for women so that they actually have realistic options if they do decide they want to try  this reckless hobby. XD

[Blicky Te⚡️la]

Perhaps the evolution of cycling culture here in the US could be instructive here. 

The term “cyclist” used to only conjure up images of 40 years old white suburban dads with disposable income riding in full Lycra kit looking to shave every spare once from his bike because, speed.

That has changed as we began to adopt more of the “slow ride” movement you see some European countries. 
 

biking in heels, tweed, bespoke, wicked cool helmets and even the bike industry (Indy) responded with bikes that are more about commuting and getting there in style as opposed to a Cat 6 race machine: 

I for one think looks of the gear AND the styling of the EUC’s themselves will bring more people in general...some guys want to look good too. Which is one of the reasons I started this thread...

less focus on speed/competition and more shots of everyday commutes or fun would go a long way...

[Tazarinho]

16 hours ago, Mike Sacristan said:

I could go on.. but I think I forgot my point

@Mike Sacristan and yet I feel you explained your point very well! I also think @General Principle also perfectly explained why we have even less women on the forum than riding EUC's!

I'm starting to teach my girlfriend on the V8, and we have gone on our first 10k little rides. She can't dismount or mount very well, and doesn't feel ready to 'leave the nest', as in that she prefers that I ride next to her and either hold her hand, or keep it ready to be grabbed. Even if I point out it's the perfect way for both of us to end up sliding all over the road if she suddenly yanks my hand. As soon as I move my hands a little bit away she starts windmilling with her arms and goes all over the place. If there's even a little bump she will dismount and roll the wheel over it, but she'll happily go full (V8) speed over uneven cobblestones, which I couldn't do at her mileage.

She does gear up, and wouldn't even try practicing in the parking lot without full gear. Even though she plays rugby completely unprotected and will happily tackle a girl twice her size even if she gets trampled on by studded boots afterwards.

Helmeted and padded up for the wheel she does actually look cool and stylish in a Steampunk video game kinda way. But of course I'm completely biased.

[RockyTop]

 My wife wears gear along with a full face helmet. The full face helmet hides her identity.  

[travsformation]

The explanation to why there aren't more women in this forum is in this very thread. Not in the explanations themselves, but in the overall rationalizing and grasping for every possible applicable explanation, from fashion to safety, biology and social anthropology...And we wonder why they keep their distance

Also, the cools kids are using Instagram (more pics, less talk). And you'll find no shortage of female riders there:

https://instagram.com/wheeleuses.of.the.world?igshid=1hc41envylmwv

P.S. You're welcome, Instagram, for all the new users 

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by travsformation

[Esso]

What part of Myspace can I find this "Instagram"???

[travsformation]

13 minutes ago, Esso said:

What part of Myspace can I find this "Instagram"???

[seage]

8 hours ago, travsformation said:

The explanation to why there aren't more women in this forum is in this very thread. Not in the explanations themselves, but in the overall rationalizing and grasping for every possible applicable explanation, from fashion to safety, biology and social anthropology...And we wonder why they keep their distance

I mean, anyone whos watched a video from (or lives in) China, France, Russia or wherever, has seen communities with manyyyyy female riders. 

And we've had a female rider weigh in on the thread about the fashion side. From my Russian female friends perspectives, shes told me that she cant find anything that is either comfortable or looks good so she just rides conservatively with nothing. So i think the fashion/equipment conversation is still pretty valid outside of the forums. 

As long as the fashion talk doesnt turn into "yeah, lets make chainmail bikini armor" and armored tank tops, or some weird fetish, male gaze stuff, lol... Dont wanna start EUC Gate, please.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by seage

[RockyTop]

8 hours ago, travsformation said:

The explanation to why there aren't more women in this forum is in this very thread. Not in the explanations themselves, but in the overall rationalizing and grasping for every possible applicable explanation, from fashion to safety, biology and social anthropology

?? I don't Know??   ......So you are saying that we tend to over analyse things? ...... I am going to have to look into this further.............  

Really though, I don't think you could be anymore wrong!!  I think it is because we are too harsh of other peoples opinions. 

[travsformation]

2 hours ago, seage said:

As long as the fashion talk doesnt turn into "yeah, lets make chainmail bikini armor" and armored tank tops, or some weird fetish, male gaze stuff, lol... Dont wanna start EUC Gate, please.

Definitely agree with that!

2 hours ago, seage said:

And we've had a female rider weigh in on the thread about the fashion side. From my Russian female friends perspectives, shes told me that she cant find anything that is either comfortable or looks good so she just rides conservatively with nothing. So i think the fashion/equipment conversation is still pretty valid outside of the forums. 

I didn't mean to suggest it wasn't valid. I was also wondering and entertaining different explanations, just like everyone else, when the situation suddenly struck me as very funny: all these guys (including myself), sitting in front of our computer, theorizing about the absence of female rider presence online from every angle...and I thought to myself (also bearing in mind conversations about MOSFETS, speed/voltage/current charts, motor magnets and so forth): "Man, are we nerds...and we wonder why more women don't hang around here"

But I admittedly didn't convey the idea too well...re-reading my post, it reads like I'm being pedantic and dismissive towards others' opinions (or harsh, as @RockyTop put it), when that was far from my intention. I was actually having a self-deprecating laugh at us all, as a whole (including myself, of course, but I somehow took the latter part for granted and didn't even think of mentioning it). The humorous intent was very clear in my mind, but apparently got lost in translation (from brain to words) and came through as something quite different than what I intended. I try to be mindful of how I word things, but have an odd work schedule lately, not getting much sleep, a bit scatter-brained...so...my apologies for any misunderstandings.

2 hours ago, RockyTop said:

So you are saying that we tend to over analyse things? ...... I am going to have to look into this further.............  

The rest of you clearly do. I, as can easily be inferred based on this unnecessarily long post, clearly don't over-analyze things...at all...ever.... (unless I'm breathing)

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by travsformation

[Blicky Te⚡️la]

11 hours ago, travsformation said:

The explanation to why there aren't more women in this forum is in this very thread. Not in the explanations themselves, but in the overall rationalizing and grasping for every possible applicable explanation, from fashion to safety, biology and social anthropology...And we wonder why they keep their distance

Also, the cools kids are using Instagram (more pics, less talk). And you'll find no shortage of female riders there:

https://instagram.com/wheeleuses.of.the.world?igshid=1hc41envylmwv

P.S. You're welcome, Instagram, for all the new users 

 

My favorite platform! 
 

Though it’s a long way from its “instant-telegram” origins.

[Ek.]

Ok, looks like you found two women. Make it three, though I only visit the forum occasionally. I know there's at least one more around here somewhere too...

I happen to agree about the difficulty of finding sensible gear for women. The gear is what stops me from riding most of the time. I have these huge big knee pads which make me look like an alien, a helmet that makes my head look tiny inside a giant orb and, well I don't mind the jacket but damn was it hard to find one that doesn't look like it's from Samurai Pizza Cats. I'm already weird enough: I teach IT, and favour practical clothing. I'm not huge on personal image (not keen on makeup etc), but it's pretty annoying to be considered an oddball and that makes me reluctant to ride my EUC around people I know. Can't be bothered with the remarks and questions. If it looked a bit cooler, I'd ride more often.

I'll also add myself to the riding slowly statistic, and the preference for wheels that are easier to carry. Mine's a 14D.

I also find that many of the EUC and PEV YouTube channels (not really the ones from people on this forum actually) are subconsciously exclusive. A great example is evX, which is a pity because he's got some high quality videos. I was just given the feeling that I was trespassing in a boy's club. It was mostly the language, I think, but also some of the production choices and video themes. I watch a lot of inline skate videos and they're not like that at all (even though the content is mostly men). I did mention I'm a bit weird.

[Tazarinho]

Stumbled upon this thread as well.