vrkelley

I'd like to extend the traveling Bow invitation to Californian women and their guests (and this will be posted on the N. Cal forum, and Athenas).

During the adventure each rider receives a special colored bow from the previous rider. Bow stays with her on her bike adventure for one week. During the Traveling Bow Adventure, she can journal her adventure in the Women's forum. The goal is to inspire you to try something new and build relationships while biking.

When her adventure completes, the Bow adventurer rides or mails her bow to the next adventurer. And the Traveling Bow Adventure continues to the next rider.

If you are interested please PM me for available dates.

prendrefeu

Why a bow?
What colour is this bow?

(Serious questions, above.)






(Somewhat partially playful, but still somewhat serious thoughts below)

Why not pants? Aren't there traveling pants? There was a film about this, right?
How about a pair of shorts, instead of the bow? How big is this bow? Is it aero?

And why not find other methods of supporting women in cycling? Not sure how Seattle rolls, but down here we've got B*tchin' (Monday Nights at the Bicycle Kitchen), GOGA Ride, and the Whirly Girls (a bit more sporadic, and rare, but a 'founding' group) - and those are just off the top of my head in the last few seconds! There is more out there, and a growing solidarity among women cyclists (which I wholly love, encourage, and wish I could do as much as I can, as a man, to help.)

The bow is a nice thought, but does lend itself to the traditional connotation of 'lady' and, likewise, the terribly-wrong stereotype of women in cycling by peoples who, for the most part, do not ride.


Anyway, good luck and I hope the bow's adventures, whatever they may be, are worthwhile for whatever your intentions are.

merider1

Welcome, vrkelley. I will give this consideration as I think the intention behind it is a very positive. Thanks for posting it here.

ovoleg

say what, this sounds beyond...

oh i wont go there

East Hill

Don't worry ovo, you aren't eligible .

Well, not unless you want to go for surgery you may later regret .

East Hill

vrkelley

You are so sharp. This will actually be Bow's 3rd adventure yr and she goes worldwide. Yes the original adventure was inspired right after that Adventure of the Traveling pants movie. We figured pants flopping in the breeze would slow the racers

Guys, if you can round up a female to host Bow, you can ride along. We have done this in the past. LordOpie was one of several who did this.

East Hill

Here's a photo showing the Bow.



East Hill

vrkelley

Thanks East Hill. As always great photos. This year there are 2 Bow adventures. One international and the other North American. IBow is more mysterious

Another question came up. Yes Guys, if you want to experience a Bow adventure, a female B/F member can invite you as guest on the adventure. We've done this other years. This is not a political gig. The point is to encourage female riders to try something new..blog it, and share how riding in different areas of the world differs.

Surferbruce

i love women but i'm so glad i'm not one...

East Hill

Why? It's a challenge that all men should try .

East Hill

Surferbruce

i'm just kidding of course (well...sort of) but of course anything that gets more people(and women) cycling is a good thing.

merider1

You may already be doing this, but compiling these adventures for a book might make for something young teenagers would enjoy (and may encouarge them to start cycling).

ronjon10

Is the blog publicly available or just in the womens forum? I'd be interested in reading it.

prendrefeu

Many are starting to cycle because of the very large, and growing, urban riding culture.

merider1

Well, good. The bow adventure will just add to the positiveness.

vrkelley

It's on the Women's forum but I'll be you could rope a woman into letting you read it We've had so many different kinds or riders from all over. Probably a hidden benefit is that the guys will have their S/O's out there riding with them.

I never thought about a book! Wonder how former riders accept that.

ronjon10

Not sure that's always a benefit (for either side)

Happytime

Encouraging women to ride is great. So is having adventures. Sounds like fun.

But promoting it on an open forum and then posting the results where men are not allowed to read about it is lame.

Bring it out of the closet! The men I ride with have been nothing but supportive and I politely refuse to participate in anything that will exclude them. (Well, except maybe Vance. Go ahead - exclude him)

East Hill

Actually, for those who would like to read of my adventure, it is publicly available on my blog.

https://wildlifeuk.net/blogs/kingfisher/2007/09/

It's slightly (very, very slightly) changed, because my blog is directed at a UK audience interested in UK wildlife (so I have to explain a few things), but otherwise it's exactly the same as what was posted in the Women's Forum.

East Hill

merider1

I have the bow and am beginning the journey this week - injured and all. It turns out that I don't need to be on the bike to take this adventure (something that both surprised and impressed me. This adventure isn't just about a big bike ride, it's about inspiring other women to not only ride but to push past obstacles and set backs. I'm all for encouraging women to be more athletic and involved in any sport, so this is a bit of a twist on that for sure and something I'm proud to do). My struggle trying to get back on the bike is all part of it, so that will be my adventure (a tough one for sure, as I'm going to try and at least take a spin on my bike by next weekend, and as of now, I'm still way gimpy).

Since I know how much the So Cal men are just dying to hear all about my adventures with the bow ( ), I'll be sure to offer the option for all you gentlemen to read about my adventure in a separate way (a separate thread here in So Cal once I'm done with the adventure in full). As for the women on here, I'll be posting over in the women's forum. I know a couple of you don't like that the women's forum is closed to men (I'm neutral on that issue), but I hope you'll come check it out. Who knows, maybe one or two of you will take the adventure as well. (Happy, Sacha would look good with this bow - the colors would match well )

In the meantime, I'd like to publicly thank our guest, vrkelley, for the invitation and for visiting the So Cal forums.

vrkelley

It is what it is. If "lame" invites 50% of the population so be it. "Lame" also invites men to ride along with Bow Adventurers...If you didn't take the invite...deal with it.

vrkelley

+1 Yes!

thomson

Gosh it is so tempting, you sound so friendly and all.

I am neutral, actually that might be misleading, I just don't care. But Happytime does have a point, you come on a board that does not exclude anybody to promote something that does.

merider1

Well, actually, I disagree and here is why. I am taking this adventure and I am happily going to share it with all of you. I will start a thread here, and everyone can read it. It's going to be fascinating to see who is truly all that interested. Also, East Hill put a link to her blog below...so you aren't being denied her adventure. Who's reading? Hmmmm?

And don't forget, this was created to encourage WOMEN to ride - women who do not necessarily like to mingle with men out of intimidation (sorry, guys, but there are some women who are put off by the male banter). Happytime and I are anomalies and not the norm when it comes to the types of gals out there who won't even post on here (I've met a couple, and they do not care for certain posts made by the men, by the way, and really only want to go on Team Estrogen, for example, as they hate the sexist comments and jokes).

As for getting my panties all twisted up in there over the fact that you men can't go on the women's forum, I'm just not going to do it. Big deal if some women want their own forum. If you guys really want yours, ask the forum owner. I'm sure you'll be granted one. And if you really want to hear all about our periods, special needs for bikes, experiences, etc. either create a new account and type in your new profile that you're a woman (thus, you'll have immediate access to the women's forum) or just PM me directly. I can give you all the insights you can stomach into the secret world of the vagina and you don't need a password to get in.

Now, I am taking this adventure, and am committed to it, because I want to encourage women of all types to come out and ride. Something as "lame" as the fact that it's on a women's only forum isn't going to dissuade me from using the bow as a symbol/metaphor, writing my experiences for a female audience (and all of you, aren't you excited?!) and feeling quite good about it. Who knows, maybe a couple of the women over there will come over here, and maybe a couple will even join on a ride or two.

Now, for those of you manly men who want to read all about what I'm doing, I'll have the thread up in this forum in two minutes. You can read my entry #1 while sipping your latte.

efficiency

Read that back to yourself and see if you like the way it sounds. Is this tone you like to send out when inviting people along?