Put off biking.

Perhaps I should have added that since been riddled with arthritis, I haven't ridden my bike for yonks plus I moved up to the Shetland Isles. Yes, we do have bikers up here but honestly, I'm not seeing misogyny ... but then I must be doing it wrong, given I've got a PG Dip. in Women's Studies.

The OP went onto a forum and was all butthurt. It wasn't rape culture. It was good old give it to me straight comments. The OP didn't like it.

OP, get out there and take ya test. As I said earlier, forget about purchasing a 125, do a short course, pass your test and get a bigger bike with larger wheels (and that usually means better brakes, excluding, of course, a Kawasaki Purple People Eater ;-) ).

And once out on the roads, remember the golden rule: If an Ovlov is indicating left, they gonna turn right.

You are wrong GirlFromIpanema, it's a forum that is not representative of bikers in general. A lot of the posters are young (late teens, early 20s) men.

Sticking around and educating them would probably be more productive in the long run than flouncing and wailing to strangers. It's remarkable how quiet some of the more idiot element can become when faced with an intelligent, assertive woman who ignores their cheap jibes and shoots them down in (verbal) flames...... time after time.....

Yy Pantah I imagine a load of wannabe bikers on that forum, a bit like trying to find a soldier on ar rse

And ^^ this is why I never post on FWR.

OP if you'd like some sensible input in to your biking journey, feel free to PM me. Female, been riding everyday for more years than I care to mention, longstanding WIMA member and work in the trade. The only advice I'd give you now is to steer clear of so called biking forums and the FB ones as well, unlike biking they're populated by people who say, rather than bikers that do. Best of luck in fulfilling your ambitions though as unlinked said, why haven't you done it already?

I'm still confused as to why Wizzadora felt it necessary to come and post about this on a forum she has never used before.

I too ride a bike, am female and have been a long-term member of BCF. I'm also (not that it really matters) a mum and grandma and lets not say old lets just say "life-experienced".

I find I encounter idiots in all walks of my life, and to be honest I try not to let them get to me. Life is too short to let people you have never met and whose opinions you don't share (or sometimes who are deliberately winding you up) stress you out.

If you want to ride, ride. If you don't, don't. If someone upsets you deal with it, there is no need to run off and bleat about it all over the internet.

Just been laughing at this quote from Evilbendy -

#2 You entered a debate about feminism on a male-dominated forum. What were you expecting would happen? "Vile torrent" my arse, by the way.

#3 Coming over here and baaawwwing about it? Really?

Obviously seeing no irony in the fact that this thread has been dominated by baaawwwing "Bikeys" and that Misogynists posting on a Feminist forum might expect to get short shrift themselves....

How do you survive on those big, tough bikey forums if you can't take a bit of gentle MN ribbing?

Good for you unlinked It must give you a warm fuzzy feeling of belonging.

The OP will get over her foray into BCF, you on the other hand will still be a handmaiden to a group of mutual masturbators.

I'm really sorry to read that you had a bad experience, Wizzzadora, but I can assure you that it's not all like that. There's a lot of really nice people out there, so don't let the odd troll spoil it for you. I've been riding for 25 years; I ride solo, I ride with friends, I go on bike rallies and I help other people develop their riding skills, and most of the misogyny I've encountered has just been friendly banter. However, until you get to know people on forums, you don't really get a good idea of which people really are nasty and which are just trying to be funny. It's not so much trolling, as just being silly. I can give as good as I get. Anyway, as Evilbendy wrote, you don't have to tell people you're a woman. There are people I've been acquainted with for many years online who have been really surprised to discover that I'm female. I have even been told I'm an 'honorary bloke', which amused me somewhat.

There weren't so many female bikers around when I first started riding, and in the early days, I occasionally got comments from some men, about 'having delusions of grandeur' or 'are you a bit 'butch'?' but that was very rare indeed, and I used to respond with something along the lines of 'Sorry, am I threatening your manhood?'. That sort of thing hasn't happened (to me, at least) since about 1992, though. Kylietart is right, most of those men wouldn't dare say such things to your face. The only one occasion since then that I have experienced misogyny was one young lad who said that didn't want me as his IAM observer because he thought that no girl would ever be as good as he was. He was disabused of that notion fairly quickly - I was one of three female Senior Observers.

Don't be put off biking; get out there and ride, enjoy the open road and, above all, have fun.

They've been getting themselves all het up over a day trip out to MN to post penis/cat pictures wizzadora

I should think they all have very little in their lives other than their bikes/wanksocks.

"And here we see many examples of exactly what I meant."

Perish the thought, you mean people expressing opinions that DON'T agree with your own? Is this matriarchy then, given that I'm a 50 year old woman expressing my opinion? I won't wrap you in cotton wool, I won't pat you on the head and say "There, there, it's okay".

As others have said, many bikers they've met are friendly and welcoming. That said, the bikers I know are pretty outspoken and you know what? I'd rather be outspoken any day than be hypocritical and be two faced.

Oooh the M25 with a fully loaded bike filtering over the QE bridge - who needs Alton Towers!?

My cat can't help with that method of cleaning - she's not allowed cream!

To be blunt, if it's such a "life long ambition", why the hell haven't you done it by now? You don't need a deposit on a 125 given that you can do a local course.

If you continue to act in a special snowflake manner, you'll never survive any forum, let alone the M25.

And what's with all these bloody annoying photographs of cats? Meh, real women prefer dogs. ;-)

OP, I ride a (big) motorbike and have met some lovely people.

I've never been a member of that forum so I can't comment but generally bikers are some of the nicest people I've met and love to help out.

I have a couple of biker friends but the majority aren't bikers but I still get the thrill of riding a bike without being a member of a biking group.

If you really want to do it, do it. You only live once!

oooh nobby, that looks like a penis.... only smaller

Who is unhappy nobby? Not me.

But this Yes now do some more reading and you'll find stuff from much more recently does read as somewhat commanding, no?

Would it help if I quantified my opinion on your terms?

OP I wouldn't start biking tbh. Mostly because the rates of death due to accident are so high. Could you consider taking up knitting or jam making instead which have not caused one single death in the UK in the past 12 months

Names? What names? Poor ickle biker

If it's someones "lifetime ambition" (as has been said somewhere in all this) to ride a motorbike who are any of you to try and put her off with accident statistics? I've injured myself far worse doing sport (supposedly good for you) than I have in any of the three crashes I've had on a bike. For the record all of those were caused by myopic drivers who don't look where they're going - this opinion is not just mine but that of the police and the insurance companies involved also.

The OP may wish to develop her ability to give as good as she gets - I'm female, been riding for 13 years, ride every day, go to bike runs, events, rallies, rode over 2000 miles around Europe camping with my OH last year.

Bike forums may be full of tools - I may be one of them! Not all tools are male, neither are all sexists. And most of those men spouting their sexism wouldn't dare say it to a ladies face.

And as for biking being a male dominated society - hahahahaha behind almost everyone of those men is a woman, be it his wife, girlfriend or mother! And there are more than enough of us girly bikers to hold our own against the blokes.

Now where do I go to find advice on which sort of beaker my OH should be washing his willy on? I'm trying to wean him off wiping it on the curtain!

It's not an order.

I care because you said "Mostly because the rates of death due to accident are so high" and that depends what you're comparing it to. Most deaths happen when someone is sleeping at night in their own bed!

You gave your opinion and you're unhappy because I'm giving my opinion. What's wrong with that? There's no need to start name calling, that suggests that you don't have anything constructive to add to the conversation.

No.

I don't care to follow orders from random visitors

Why do you care anyway? OP asked if she should start biking, I gave her my opinion. Not sure why you feel the need to try and sway me, it wasn't me asking for opinions

You are a card nobby

Yes now do some more reading and you'll find stuff from much more recently.

Plenty of information?

Its a 20 year old study, carried out by one leading spinal specialist.

You are splitting my sides here, really