Girl Racer Woes
So sure, I haven't been racing long enough to truly feel I own the title of "female racer," but even in my short career I've noticed some troubling trends.
Hair. If you keep it long, it's going to get destroyed, no matter how hard you try to keep it soft and silky (unless you've been blessed with a mane of shampoo commercial quality hair). I've also noticed thinning around my temples, perhaps from my already baby fine, frail hair doing battle with the snug helmet as it squeezes onto and off of my head. I think I'm going to transition back to my natural brown and stop bleaching it, hopefully this will help it stay stronger.
Girl-specific issues having to do with long hours spent exercising in the hot sun in a leather suit. 'Nuff said.
Boys behind you target fixating on your ponytail or the sheer fact that you are female, and then crashing into you. This has happened to Krystyna, another racer, and probably others, and I saw it happen in front of me when Zoe was in front of the rider who crashed in front of me. He was so fixated on the fact that she was female, it didn't occur to him that there could have been TWO females in his race, and he ended up getting the two of us confused and blamed the crash on me.
Once you've spent two years spending money on bikes, a trailer, parts, suits, helmets, tires, racing schools and over $1,000 a race weekend, you look into your closet one day and notice that you haven't shopped for clothes since gas was still two bucks a gallon. You look at your frumpy, limp hair, ill health, battle wounds, and empty wallet, faintly able to recall a former, more glamorous you, and wonder if this absolute abandonment of all things sexy is similar to the unfortunate transformation that hits most new mothers.
I'm tired of being dirty, injured and unpolished. But I still want to go faster...
Hair. If you keep it long, it's going to get destroyed, no matter how hard you try to keep it soft and silky (unless you've been blessed with a mane of shampoo commercial quality hair). I've also noticed thinning around my temples, perhaps from my already baby fine, frail hair doing battle with the snug helmet as it squeezes onto and off of my head. I think I'm going to transition back to my natural brown and stop bleaching it, hopefully this will help it stay stronger.
Girl-specific issues having to do with long hours spent exercising in the hot sun in a leather suit. 'Nuff said.
Boys behind you target fixating on your ponytail or the sheer fact that you are female, and then crashing into you. This has happened to Krystyna, another racer, and probably others, and I saw it happen in front of me when Zoe was in front of the rider who crashed in front of me. He was so fixated on the fact that she was female, it didn't occur to him that there could have been TWO females in his race, and he ended up getting the two of us confused and blamed the crash on me.
Once you've spent two years spending money on bikes, a trailer, parts, suits, helmets, tires, racing schools and over $1,000 a race weekend, you look into your closet one day and notice that you haven't shopped for clothes since gas was still two bucks a gallon. You look at your frumpy, limp hair, ill health, battle wounds, and empty wallet, faintly able to recall a former, more glamorous you, and wonder if this absolute abandonment of all things sexy is similar to the unfortunate transformation that hits most new mothers.
I'm tired of being dirty, injured and unpolished. But I still want to go faster...