It seems to me that many women who enjoy the sport of mountain biking were first truly introduced to it through a love interest in their past or present lives. I certainly was. I began to contemplate mountain biking and relationships at the first bike race of my now-husband which took place about two years ago. As I was hiking through the woods in search of the "feed-zone" I met up with another woman who used to be my babysitter. She inquired to the age and skill level of my boyfriend and then asked if I raced as well. I replied "Oh no, I just occasionally ride casually - I’m not really into it" to which she shook her head knowingly and gave me a slightly condescending look showing she once was as naïve as I. She asked me if my significant other had upgraded his bike thus far in our relationship. "…Well, no…" I replied somewhat defensively. She chuckled and shook her head at my innocence and youth. I tried to ignore her and feigned an interest in several racers who were approaching. "Look," she said, realizing I felt confused, "I’m going to tell you the way it is…"

"First," she confided in me, "he’ll replace some small, almost insignificant, part on his bike. The part is still good but of course you will soon discover this means little to him. And since this particular part, although no longer good enough for him, is far better than what you have on your bike purchased at Sears, he will ask you if he can just put it on your bike to make it that small touch better."

"I can not emphasize the importance of this moment enough" she said in an urgent tone, "what you do at this point will influence your life to come more than you can imagine. Because this is merely Step One in his overall plan. Step One will be followed closely by several similar incidences concerning his used bike parts. But suddenly one day he will point out casually that your quality bike parts are really quite silly on such a cheap and heavy frame. This makes perfect sense to you as well and voila! - by that Christmas you will own a brand new bike with a full chromoly frame, his old V-brakes, his old grip-shift, his bar ends, his riser bar, his lightweight stem, and a suspension fork he found that was too good a deal to pass up!!!

She had gotten rather excited by this point and several other women nearby were clearly listening in because they were all nodding their heads in silent agreement.

"You may wonder," she continued more calmly,"what’s the big deal? So, I’ve got a nice bike. But ask yourself, what are you going to do when he asks you to go for a ride - still just go for your occasional once-a-month ride on the dike? Why the hell did you need such a great bike then? Not only that but why do you need a lightweight suspension bike to be a "Sunday rider"??"

"It’s too late." She answered for me. "There’s no good argument - you better get riding girlfriend."

"Mmm-Hmm!" the other girls interjected.

"Well, like I told you, I ride casually and Neil doesn’t have a so-called "master-plan" so don’t worry about me," I replied, quite confidently.

She backed down immediately. "Well you’re probably right…I’d better go - they’re finishing up now". She began to walk away. As she was just disappearing around the hill I heard her call back "See you on the trails!!!" and she was gone.

Well, two years have gone by and my fate has been sealed. Yes everything happened as was foretold. Luckily, I enjoy mountain biking immensely and thus have no regrets about having not listened to the warnings of well-wishers. But now at least I have done my part to spread the truth…