When i heard this story, it make me so angry. I got intouch with the girl it happend to and asked her to write it up. Its really sad the lengths people will go to because they feel women shouldn't ride bmx.
-Kim

I got my bike as a birthday present from my partner David, he's a really cool guy who would do anything for anyone, and as soon as he knew i wanted a bike, there it was waiting for me on my birthday. It wasn't anything special, just a BMX bike that was worth around £200. However from the moment i received it, it had enourmous sentimental value. I lived in an area where girls were supposed to keep to the things they were best known for.......which was standing around the skate park as "cheerleaders" or "motivators", and the only time any of the girls stepped up to try boarding or BMX was when the boys needed a laugh. I'd been friends with these guys for years, well, if you can call them friends, there was a lot more wrong with them than just sexism. I always thougt that the sport looked fun so i said that i was going to get a BMX and go from there.................There was nothing but laughter........."hahaha, you...riding.........seriously?"- that kinda thing.....so i left there for a while until i got the bike.

When i brought my bike out into the world for the first time i almost felt like giving up there and then. For starters it was tough, as i knew it would be but it was harder when every time i messed up with something there was a load of laughter and taunting going on.....someone even threw a can of soda at my head and told me to go home!............and eventually i did. I didn't give up though, i kept trying and the more i did the more violent these old friends of mine got, i mean, they were violent before but not to the same extent......i started to go out during the mornings when most of them were at work, as i worked shifts this turned out to be perfect for me...........or so i thought.

One morning at about nine-thirty i took my bike out to the park and practiced for a while, but it wasn't for long as a couple of guys i recognised but couldn't put names to came in and started taunting me......so i left, my confidence isn't as high as it used to be as a result of all this taunting and i was picked on as a kid too which has actually left me with a stammer and hands that never stop shaking!!!! Anyway i rode my bike over to a bench and set it down to catch my breath (due to asthma......although i'm also very unfit!!!!!!). This guy came up to me and said "nice bike", "it yours?"............so i said, "yup, not that i'm any good with it or anything".............but before i could finish he had his hands on it................i got up to try and stop him and i got hit in the face so hard that i can still feel it if i close my eyes!..............just like that he was gone........and those other guys i mentioned earlier went with him.

This happened in broad daylight, and those ex-friends of mine find it the funniest thing in the world. Nobody bothered to help me, there were a number of people around at the time, and to this day i've never felt safe about riding again, so what i'm trying to say to you all is that things like this can happen anywhere at any time, so take measures against it, in the UK you can get bikes coded which is pretty useful..........i guess i just don't want people to have to go through what i did that summer. Take care of your Bikes..............there are some real Bastards out there.

Kim Osborne, Aberystwyth, UK