2010-06-26 - Ladies London to Brighton Ride

Yes!

Not sure you'll get a forum girlfriend that way.

ha!

well done girls

Not sure you'll get a forum girlfriend that way.

am I asking though? oooooooh!

Hey, I like that idea, Julia!

I wouldn't argue with a boy in drag. God knows how I ended up with such a MAN when I like the girly boys. ;D

I agree with above we don't need a separate sub-forum for the ladies.

Boys in drag can be cute, we should give them a go!

Let's do it. Cambridge ride?

What!? including boys in drag. That would be amazing.

But at our pace and no one left behind

What I was trying to say but came out wrong in the message I ended up deleting was that I really enjoyed having a day out with the girls, regardless of pace or any such concerns, and that I hope there are more!

Basically, I like riding my bike (pretty sedately at times) and doing so with good company, whether it be a mixed group,gals only, or boys in drag.

We'd certainly attract a lot of attention!

... next time we go EVERYONE must have a map, we don't want to lose people again!! ...

It would be good if everyone had a map, but I don't think that everyone's map reading abilities should be what is relied upon. I had printed a map, but not in sufficient detail to help - and with the nature of my job, I have good map reading skills (given a suitable map). The ride was intended to be all inclusive, and I hadn't expected to be that far behind that in the straights - I figured I'd see at least someone up ahead.

A backstop and a closer knit group would certainly help, with more regrouping points - particularly in the countryside. The regrouping worked during the urban areas where junctions forced us to stop, but where junctions weren't so clear it fell apart.

I belive that the point I went wrong was where road markings were either worn out, or freshly tarmaced. I would not have intentionally turned off the road. Having looked on Google maps, it is a clear right fork that should have been taken, I stuck to the road bearing left - on the understanding that if I stuck to the 'straight ahead' and following the road, I'd meet someone at a junction. As it turned out, it was 6 miles further from the point that I went wrong that the group waited. I think that was possibly a bit too far between regroup points when you're largely in the middle of nowhere.

I'll volunteer to be a backstop, as long as I'm available to do a recce. Will be learning the route by heart next time anyway.

DISCLAIMER this is not Shootthebreeze this is his better half, Larissa...
Loved the ride, thank you so much Clefty and Stix for organising and for your infinite patience and general good humour, big love!
Other highlights:
Jayloo's buttery flapjack mix - amazing, need that recipe and to catch up about general (career) stuff ;-)
Plum's gutsy fixed riding, strong legs respeck!
Deluka's performance up Ditchling Beacon sans gears (arrived there soon after me hee hee)
PIckle (Go Ghana!)
Everyone else for being beautiful and fun
L xx

The reason I'm recommending a sub-forum is that many women are only posting on women only ride threads and are otherwise not having anything to do with the forum, which is a shame. It would be nice to have a place that would be friendly and easy going (like the rides), and if people start to feel more comfortable, then they could go onto the rest of the forum when they like.

I know some women have left the forum completely thanks to some members attitudes, and it's a shame to have lost them. It might be helpful if there is a corner of it that they feel comfortable in and that they can ask questions without feeling like they have to deal with everyone.

I had a lovely drink tonight with Emilia (who has pretty much left the forum), and Fluff (who hasn't, but would be more involved if there was a seperate corner for super cool women who do neat things on bikes) and we thought it might be worth at least having a try.

And then we could also try having beer-ded ladies (aka women's drinks)!

Can we at least give it a go?

Can we at least give it a go?

IMHO its better to create new sub-forums when the people its for demand it themselves, rather than foisting from above.

I wrote a long reply about the pro's/cons of a ladies sub forum, only to manage to completely delete it!
Anyway, I see it from both sides of view. I don't want to go down the whole segregation route, but on the flipside, as Nhatt says I think it would maybe bring some more lady lurkers out on rides, who would then go on the regular mixed rides.
I thoroughly enjoy forum rides/beers in what is basically a male dominated forum, but I also really enjoyed hanging with the ladies yesterday and will be organising more ladies only rides - as it does bring out some of the girls who wouldn't necessarily come of regular forum rides, because they don't know anyone, or aren't sure about the pace etc etc.

I'm willing to give it a go, question is - how do we do it? invitation only? a separate sub forum but still visible (and postable) by anyone else?

And do tell me how I am "above"?
I would like to think I am one of the people demanding it. Along with quite a few other women. I just want to get more of a feel to see if I'm not the only one who see's a problem with women leaving/not getting involved with the forum, and this as a possible solution.

IMHO its better to create new sub-forums when the people its for demand it themselves, rather than foisting from above.

err, that's what we're discussing - there's no 'foisting' going on here.

Sorry, my mistake, I thought you were an admin, and male, I think I am mixing you up with another username.

I'll get my coat.

Exactly Claire. It doesn't mean that we have to only hang out in the ladies sub forum, but it would be helpful to bring out the lurkers and to have a place where they can regularly check to see what's going on so that they don't miss anything.

I can see some good reasons for not having it as well, but I still think the pro's out weigh the con's.

I think it should be open, just a cluster of information that people know they can find, just like we can post in the oxford sub-form, the tricks sub-forum, or the classifieds. It's a just a lumping together of simular topics, and hopefully this will encourage more women to both participate in and to organize events.

I'll get my coat.

Don't worry about it...my name isn't that feminine and I post a lot more on here than most women do, so it was a fairly safe assumption.

I get your points completely more women on the forum would be ace.

But do you think having a women's only sub forum would stop the problems, surely people who want to create upset will do so in the women's sub forum too?
Also is there that much info that solely relates to women to warrant it, we managed to do this ride well enough without needing one.

Part of why I joined was the fact it is so inclusive of everyone and I have never felt unwelcome to say what I want (not that I say much or have knowledge of others experiences)

maybe a poll is needed?

If it could potentially bring more people out on rides, and get people feeling more comfortable on the forum, well, I believe those are good things.

Most likely there would be a positive and friendly response from the chaps just like on this thread where they checked in, wished us well, offered handy tips, and helped out with the recces.

A ladies forum may bring the gents in droves, like a moth to a flame ;)

On another note, I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures from this ride. Good selection so far. :)