[tumbleweed14]

With the two ladies’ contributions above, I think this makes for a pretty well rounded view of how to handle the situation presented by the topic starter. The noob woman rider perspective is one that may be the most valuable. But in general, there will always be things that we learn on the trail, no matter how experienced we are.

Keep in touch with your inner-noob. This is a great thread.

[tumbleweed14]

Great thread, guys. I don’t post much on forums but this one got me for some reason. I had the same misunderstanding from my girlfriend about how important riding was to me. She really wanted to try it to have a shared experience, so I bought her a used hardtail for her first bike and off we went to the trails. Learned lessons that may or may not help you but definitely helped us:

1. Be patient, encouraging, patient and patient.
2. Let her learn on her own pace. If she is uncomfortable, nervous, or scared, believe her. We all use chicken runs at some point. No one is ready until they decide they are.
3. Never dart ahead and wait because that doesn’t count as "shared time" mountain biking and like someone said above, it may build resentment (did for me) We ended up having an agreement. A one hour ride together, then I got 30 minutes or so to ride hard on my own. Worked out well because I felt like I got my energy out and we still got to spend some good time together.
4. Let her be her. I learned that my GF is not going to be a great MTBer, but she did discover she really like biking. So much so that she bought a VERY NICE entry level road bike and rides several times a week on the rails to trails. She is a different person with different preferences. However, sometimes I wonder if I had done the above better, she would have enjoyed the MTB experience better and stuck with dirt rather than switching to cement.

Any way you cut it, be happy your significant loves bikes. Chicks on Bikes are hot. You know it, I know it, and now we are with them!

Good luck and thanks for the thread guys.

[tumbleweed14]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with finding trails – got to have em. I see from your profile you have ridden quite a bit around Oakridge, Oregon. Sweet. Hope I can get out there sometime. Worked on a fire crew for 2 seasons there in my pre-MTB life. Passed through there a couple of years ago and got in a quick ride up Salmon Creek. I want to ride more in that area.

Well, hopefully you can dig up something to ride on in the part of Tennessee you’re are moving to. I hear there’s a lot of cool stuff in East Tennessee. Also, the Land between the Lakes area in Kentucky was highly recommended by Sweetlife. Don’t know how close that would be. Hopefully, a local can hook you up with good riding somewhere close to home and keep you off of the street.

Land Between the Lakes is a bit more than an hour away from UTM, just far enough to make it a pain to get to. But I will trek when I must to get to decent riding. I am hoping there is some sort of community down there to get involved in.

Oakridge is by far one of my favorite places to ride. So many great trails to do there. Like you, I worked in McKenzie river fire district for a summer, just north of Oakridge district. Some of the best times in my life. Even got to ride the epic McKenzie river trail a few times!

Thanks for the welcome CraigCreek and Bombardier!

[tumbleweed14]

first post but have been adding to the site when I can. I really dig singletracks and think it is growing in all the right ways. I am moving down to Western Tennessee for a job at UT Martin and would love the beta on any good trails within a couple hours of there. Seems thin compared to eastern TN, but maybe there is something to offer. I am afraid of having to become a roadie!

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