Guys Getting Chicked
What does a girl have to do if she wants marriage proposals, arm-wrestling contests, shock-and-awe accolades, and (sadly) trail blocking and really strange behavior? Simple: Pass a guy on the trail or in a race. If you’re the dude being passed, you just got chicked. I chicked a few guys while racing on a co-ed duo team with my partner, Mario Correa, this summer at the inaugural Breck Epic. Mario got a premier seat at the funny things that happen when a girl passes a guy. Why? Because this time, he rode like a girl. ( I was in the front, for the most part.) I heard some pretty colorful comments and saw some good antics and figured there had to be something to this. So, I asked a few very fast women about what happens when they take the lead in a ride or race, and I asked some men what it's like when their partner passes a guy. Here’s what they had to say.
--Heidi Volpe
Mario Correa
Racing in the mixed duo category was a fun experience. Each day Heidi and I joined 100+ fellow adventurers to ride the fantastic singletrack and
delight in the expansive views that only the Rockies can offer. There were a great number of riders from all over and all were friendly, but some had a Jekyll and Hyde transformation once they dawned their kits and hopped on their bikes; they turned into trail egomaniacs. We would come upon these types of riders and they'd increase the pace once she passed and would do their best to try and stay ahead. The first few times it didn't bother me, but once it became a pattern and started to interfere with our rhythm it began to test my patience. When there was singletrack ahead these guys would kill themselves to get to the bottleneck first and subsequently they wouldn't have enough energy to keep up the good pace. We'd catch them but they wouldn't or couldn't move over to let us pass so we had sit back until the trail opened up. I had never encountered such a resistance, almost a fear, of being passed, but then again,
I'm a guy. I figured it had to be an ego thing and in this case these riders had egos that far exceeded their strength and skill on the bike. The whole situation was silly; a strong rider is a strong rider, muscle has no sex. It was rare to hear words of encouragement as Heidi passed, but there was never any lack of reasons or excuses to "explain" their riding condition. It's as if there were two "classes" of riders and one didn't really have respect for the other.The ugliness of it disgusted me.
I once had the good fortune of staying in the same bed and breakfast as Thomas Frischknecht, former world champion, and Tinker Juarez down in Costa Rica at La Ruta. After the race on one of the days, I was enjoying a beer with Tinker and a couple other riders, reviewing the day, when Thomas walked by our table. I observed the interaction between these two phenomenal riders;and there was nothing but great mutual respect, each complementing and congratulating the other. There were absolutely no egos involved.
Dave Harris couldn’t ask for a better partner in his epic escapades. He races with the formidable Lynda Wallenfels, who chicked the entire men's solo field of 30 racers at the 24-hour Old Pueblo this year:
When she passes guys in races (and often riding at/near the front of the race) she seems to be asked a lot whether she’s single. In TransRockies last year we rode SS. There are a lot of flats in TR, but you really have to gear for the climbs, so we’d find ourselves working through the field after the spun-out flats. Sometimes we went by big groups of guys that seemed like they were motionless. On day 2, as I went by a team on a fireroad climb, one guy whispered to his teammate: “We just got passed by a dude on a SS!” LW, right behind me, heard the exchange and said, “Wait, it gets better!” All I recall from that guy was a groan after that.
In TransRockies ’06, we won the open mixed field. LW was fast as ever. On day 4, we had some very difficult climbing--and we were right at the front of the race. This climb was clearly hike-a-bike, and everyone was getting off and running/pushing up this bear of a hill--all but LW, who zipped on up past everyone. This guy shouts out: “How much do you weigh!” as if she were only able to ride that hill because she was helium-filled, or something. The girl is strong!
Lynda Wallenfels
At Vision Quest in 2008, we had a terrible start, arriving a bit late and ending up at the back of the pack staging. We were mowing up through the field on the first climb, and I was riding on Dave’s wheel. This dude we passed shouts up after me: “Wow! Props for the single." Then a moment later, he shouts: “Hey, are you dating anyone?” and Dave puts his hand in the air and shouts: “Yeah, me!” And the dude says, “Aww." It was a funny moment.
Next, I asked Greg Martin what is was like to ride with recent podium girl Rebecca Rusch:
For the most part, I'd say the guys are pretty respectful of her, especially now that she's more of a known entity. There was one instance in La Ruta 2006 where this Tico [native Costa Rican] guy was determined not to let her pass him. The course went from double-track gravel road to single file through some railroad sections. This guy would fall back on the road sections and then sprint up in front of Reba and cut her off going into the single-file sections. Then, he'd slow down and she would try to get around him. He couldn't go fast, but he didn't want her to pass him. This happened
several times over the course of 10-15 miles. I commented about it to Reba, and she said it wasn't the first time she'd been treated like that in the race. After that, he and I exchanged some words in our native languages for a bit. After we got to the final road section in to the finish, he wouldn't do any work. He wanted to just sit on my wheel. Ultimately, neither Reba nor I wanted to ride near this guy because he
was so "twitchy" and unpredictable that he was a danger to the group. So, I told Reba to go on with a couple of other guys in the group, and I dropped back with this guy. After the group got out of sight, I dropped him and bridged back up to the group. In the end, she finished the stage 10-15 minutes ahead of him. It was pretty funny, and really strange behavior. I'm sure she's had more instances of "machismo gone wild," but this was the most obvious case I've witnessed.
Rebecca Rusch
Good job, man! I guess I look like a guy sometimes, or they just can’t believe they are being passed by a woman.
Sarah Kaufman
I think one thing that’s funny is the wide variation in responses. Sometimes when guys realize you are a chick and that you are leading or close to leading a race, they are super gracious, totally ego-less, pull over, and are very encouraging and supportive. And then there are the others, the guys whose immediate response when realizing they are getting passed by a chick is either to start pedalling faster (and usually get super sloppy) or they just refuse to pull over. At this point, I usually get flustered and start riding like crap, too, because I freak out knowing my competition is trying to catch me. I like to collect myself, start riding sanely again, and proceed to ride the guy’s wheel like it’s my job--just stick to it like glue 'til he gets uncomfortable and hopefully let’s me by.
When I lived in San Francisco I used to go for mountain bike rides in Golden Gate Park. The singletrack is really fun and there are some flowy sections that you can really rail. I remember once flying around a corner and ending up in an impromptu homeless camp. There were about five homeless guys sitting around completely wasted (on who knows what). They immediately began shouting and slurring, but really encouraging things, like: “You gooooo girrrrrrl!” Priceless.
Rebecca Tomaszewski:
A lot of guys get weird about being chicked, but I had one dude point out that he’d rather look at my rear than his buddies, and that he’d rather get passed on a bike than beaten in arm wrestling!
James Herrera keeps some pretty fast female company, riding with the likes of Kelli Emmett, Alison Dunlap, and Katie Compton. How does a strong male rider deal with getting chicked on a regular basis?
Kelli, Alison, and Katie are three of my best friends. But look at who you’re talking about. Kelli’s a top U.S. cross-country racer who’s won the U.S. Super D title and Single-Speed World Championships. Big Al’s been to the Olympics twice and won mountain bike Worlds in 2001. Katie’s a six-time U.S. National Cross Champ and has placed second and third at Cross Worlds these past two years.
In truth, I have no problems about being schooled by anyone who's better than me, male or female. I've also had the pleasure of coaching and riding with gravity racers Tara Llanes, Kathy Pruitt, and Tracey Moseley. Most guys couldn't keep them in shouting distance on a descent. Guy or girl, people just need to get over it. If someone's coming up on you, move your ass over.
Sharon McDowell
This was a casual ride (birthday ride, actually) with an older friend of James Herrera and I and some of his “older” buddies. As is often the case, I was the only girl on the ride. On the first major descent, James takes the lead, and I quickly jump in behind him having already assessed that I can descend better than the rest of the boys. Another guy drops in behind me, obviously a little peeved that I didn’t let him go ahead (he had already made some snide remarks). James and I are hanging, having fun, he is slowly losing ground. Finally, James and I stop to wait up for the group, he comes up and says something like, “Wow, I’ve never see a girl who could descend that fast” (a back-handed comment, which came out sounding like, "You descend pretty good, for a girl"). Needless to say, James couldn’t resist making off-handed remarks about my descending skills the rest of the ride, all within earshot of this guy.
Katie Compton
I had a guy ask me to marry him after I passed him on a climb in 24 hours of Canaan. Another one that I remember well was one guy said to a friend of mine during a CX race I was winning: “Damn, she’s fast for a big girl!" The guy didn’t realize the person he was talking to was a good friend of mine. I thought that was pretty damn funny.
Alison Powers
Man to my sister: "Hey, your sister's not very nice." Sister: "Why not?" Man: "When she passed me, she didn't even say hi or anything. She just flew by and said something like, 'Dude on your left.' That's not nice." This was during a mountain bike race this year in Fruita.
Joy Durekson
Dudes hate being "chicked." I have guys simply hear me breathe or cough and realize I am not male, and you can instantly see them pick up their cadence and pace. At some races, it has seemed more important for them to stay between me and the finish line than to fight for a podium spot in their own category. I, of course, always find this very entertaining and see it as a challenge! At a local MTB race, one in particular kept jockeying for position, and I just calmly told him, "Dude, I’m on lap three, your on lap two. Let it go." He said, "Oh," and calmed down and let me pass.
My MO is that I will usually pass them on the climbs, only to be caught. I blame gravity and their mass for getting them by on the descents.
Alison Mann (fresh off the top spot in the U.S. Cup Unification Race):
Probably two of the memorable moments were from 12 Hours of Temecula this past January and Idyllwild Spring Challenge this May. Both were compliments from guys about my descending, which was cool. At 12 Hours, I'd just railed down the ridgeline descent, letting it fly since I knew I had at least one person on my wheel. I got to the bottom and on my way up the sandy wash, as the guy passed, he said, "Nice descending!" At Idyllwild Spring Challenge, on some of the early single track, I chose the rock-roller line instead of the go-around, and the guy behind me said, "Nice roll!"
As far as any "bad" experiences, usually that just involves me calling out: "Rider back" and having the guy I've just put 2-3 minutes into decide he wants to race me and take off in a sprint. It'd be okay, but I would prefer not to have to make a second effort to make a pass. Resistance is futile!
Krista Park
I’ve never passed up an opportunity to get some extra motivation from trying to hang with and pass fast guys. I love the guys that throw out the compliments when I go by--nothing better than being told "you rock" during a race. I had more kudos during Firecracker 50 than any other single race. I love those guys.
I travel a lot, and in my experience, I find that attitudes vary based on region, rider level, and whether the guy knows the girl trying to pass him. I spent a lot of time in Durango this summer and have to say I felt almost no egotude whatsoever. Everyone was friendly, and treated me like a rider, not a "girl" rider. Georgia guys are great, too. I started racing there and always felt respected.
My most memorable incident trying to get by a guy was a few years back at a local Utah race. Due to the race format, I had to start behind the expert men. After having a terrible time getting through the pack, I caught up to a guy before the descent and tried several times to get by, asking nicely over and over and over, but was getting blocked. He probably thought he could make it to the downhill, where he’d drop me. After riding his wheel and almost running over him for half of the descent, I finally yelled (and I’m not proud of this): "You're so slow!" He got mad, slammed on his brakes, and let me by. I said thanks and rode on.
Kelli Emmett
A guy once told me, "I never had a girl kick my ass before." I told him he better get used to it if he wanted to keep riding with me.
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Great article. I love fast and strong women in sports, and have nothing but respect and admiration for them. The first (and only) time I saw Joy "Duerksen" (it's misspelled in the article) race, she was intense, and I thought it was cool how passionate she was about the sport.
I got chicked recently while climbing a hill on mountain bike, and I couldn't help but smile. I once got my a$$ handed to me road biking by a much older gentleman. Once I finally caught up with him and we talked, he said he was on his third consecutive century (US, not metric) in as many days.
Anyone who can beat me has my respect.
Posted by: Ron Swann | September 25, 2009 at 06:55 PM
If someone is better, then they're better, period. I often speed up to keep up to people that are faster than me as a carrot on a stick kinda thing. I don't care if it's a guy or girl, I just wanna push myself to get faster. But I always let them pass first and then try to keep up. No need to hold everyone else up if you can't hang.
Posted by: Chris | September 25, 2009 at 07:00 PM
p.s. the term "getting chicked" is probably not helping the cause. If you want to be treated equally, using a term that essentially says, "Haha, you just got beat by a girl" seems counterproductive. Just a thought.
Posted by: Chris | September 25, 2009 at 07:02 PM
There are always one or two women that I never want to beat me. So I make sure that I beat them. The rest can have at it and kick my ass. Getting beat by a "chick" also gives you a great opening after the race if you want to meet her. That is turning your loss into a potential gain.
Posted by: Donnie | September 25, 2009 at 08:14 PM
Yeah not like it's earth (or ego) shattering to have my girlfriend pass me skiing, kayaking, or mtn biking (up) something, the first two she teaches for a living, course she's not heavy enough to catch me on the downhill.
Posted by: marcus | September 28, 2009 at 04:34 PM
Chris, good comments!
I think the article was a good one since there are guys who block girls just because they are girls, maybe they will read this and think twice. I am sure girls block guys as well, so hopefully the article helps everyone and we can all be racers who support each other.
Posted by: Krista Park | September 28, 2009 at 06:03 PM
Hey Chris,
I see your point: Got any suggestions?
Really the point is no matter what the gender is: pull over. This is post is about strength and skill set.
Have to say the term chicked was put forward by one of the male riders I interviewed, funny!
Posted by: Heidi | September 30, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Great article. I love fast and strong women in sports, and have nothing but respect and admiration for them. Speed is Feauture Of Youth.Mountain Climbing through Cycle race is interesting sport.Life is race,so i like sport of race.2-3 minutes are given to women for increment of their spirit
Posted by: adaptateur | October 10, 2009 at 11:23 AM