I raced bmx back in '83 till '85 and then everyone, including myself, got into freestyle trick riding. I got into mountain biking in the early '90s which at that time was about going for long rides off road. Now, everybody wants to "freeride", which is basically just jumping around doing tricks. I totally respect the freestylers and freeriders for the things they do, and I too know a few tricks, but you have to wonder if it comes out of being too lazy to go for a real ride.
As for impressing the ladies, in my experience, girls always check out guys on bikes.