Originally Posted by
hammy56
My wife entered a few crits a couple yrs ago. Shes strong and capable.
After the first one she said "why would i want to support this? These people are ****** ********."
now she does some mtb racing, and will start racing cross this year. Loves the atmosphere.
Bingo.
There is a huge cultural difference between road racing and MTB/CX racing. In road racing, winning is what it's all about; witness the "does 47th place matter?" thread, or CDR's post about paying your dues getting your ass kicked for a long time without having fun. Road racing commonly brings out the *******s, or at least the ******* that's within each of us.
In MTB and CX, it's much more about pushing yourself and having a good time. ******ishness isn't really tolerated.
My hypothesis is that these environments are differentially appealing to the different genders.