bmxer babe, eh? maybe, maybe not. my experience with bmxing has been a love-hate relationship. it hasn’t been all guts-out dedication the whole time… i’ve gone though periods of hating my bike, hating bmx, and hating a good percentage of bmxers out there...which, at the time, seemed mostly to be 15 year old boys trying their hardest to show off. throwing a girl on a bike into the mix made things slightly awkward…

to 15-year-old boys, girls are still a bit of a mystery. they don’t know what to do with us, they don’t know what to think about us, and for the most part, they know that girls don’t like bikes. or boys on bikes. SO, when one of us shows up on a bike, their universe is thrown completely off course. i have gotten 4 reactions to this: oh my god, get this (eeew) girl off that bike; i get completely ignored (wow, since when am i invisible?); oh my god i’m in love; or hey, whats up. most generally i get the “whats up.” at first i was upset by the negative reactions. i cant help it i’m a girl, yeeesh. so what, i like to do what you’re doing. now that i have the situation pretty much in perspective, i don’t really mind. haha you’re just a dorky skinny little kid on a bike, that’s what i say. okay, it’s in my mind, but i still said it.

i don’t go out there and try to prove that i’m a girl and that i can do anything better. ordinarily i go out in my cargo pants and t-shirt or hoodie, weather permitting, and try to make myself a bit less noticeable…i don’t want to attract attention, i just want to do my own thing. i’m just me. when I’m on my bike, i’m just a rider.

i love my bike, and i don’t give a cat turd about what anyone says about my riding. my friends support me, my boyfriend supports me, and if someone doesn’t want to get past that i’m a girl, i don’t think they’re worth talking to.