Wife Bike & REI Outdoor School

[andygua]

Hi!
I'm trying to get my wife to the trails and am planning to do the following things:

1) Get her a Cannondale F6 Feminine (she already tried it and it and felt comfy on it)...any comments/suggestions?

2) Attend one of the REI Outdoor School sessions "Introduction to Mountain Biking". I've been riding for years but since she's a newbie I thought this could give her the confidence to start hitting the trails...has anyone here ever attended those sessions? Are they worth the $65 they charge? I think I don't need that class, but I would take it anyway to go together...

All comments & suggestions are much appreciated.


Thanks!

[DownHillPhil]

Make sure she has pads would be my 1st suggestion

[2wheel_lee]

Read through this: How to get your wife / GF to MTB?

There's a lot of great info in there about getting your wife/gf into mountain biking.

I don't know if the class is worth it, but it would also help if you can get out and do some of the newbie rides posted in Traihead, or the Sunday morning Fullerton Loop ride (I know, it may be a bit far for you)
Sunday Morning Fully Loop -- 8:00 am

[boludo]

First things first.

1. Have her hang from the rafters in the garage and give her a few rib and stomach shots. if she can take that, then she can crash.

2. Lay into her shoulders with a wiffle bat. If she can take that, then she can bike and crash.

3. Buy her some really good dessert or treat. Just when she grabs for is, slap her hand really hard, throw it on the ground and pee on it. That simulates those rides where you think all is going great then the crap hits the fan. If she can take that, then shes ready to be a mtn biker.

Make sure you're wearing your pads and a cup while performing these trials just for your own good.

With my wife it was just her fear of not knowing what to do in certain situations. very timid. I just had to remind her over and over that if it doesnt kill her i'll never collect on her life insurance. no...thats not it. Always remind her to use her brakes.

A class would be good in that you wont loose your cool at her. Someone else has to use patience.

my DOS CENTAVOS.

[andygua]

Originally Posted by DownHillPhil

Make sure she has pads would be my 1st suggestion

She already does...first thing I got for her, an essential!

Originally Posted by 2wheel_lee

Read through this: How to get your wife / GF to MTB?

There's a lot of great info in there about getting your wife/gf into mountain biking.

I don't know if the class is worth it, but it would also help if you can get out and do some of the newbie rides posted in Traihead, or the Sunday morning Fullerton Loop ride (I know, it may be a bit far for you)
Sunday Morning Fully Loop -- 8:00 am

Yeah, the Fully Loop is a little far...I may take her to Mullholland that's closer and fairly tame...

[boludo]

Of course she already has pads. All women have PADS!

[andygua]

Originally Posted by boludo

First things first.

1. Have her hang from the rafters in the garage and give her a few rib and stomach shots. if she can take that, then she can crash.

2. Lay into her shoulders with a wiffle bat. If she can take that, then she can bike and crash.

3. Buy her some really good dessert or treat. Just when she grabs for is, slap her hand really hard, throw it on the ground and pee on it. That simulates those rides where you think all is going great then the crap hits the fan. If she can take that, then shes ready to be a mtn biker.

Make sure you're wearing your pads and a cup while performing these trials just for your own good.

With my wife it was just her fear of not knowing what to do in certain situations. very timid. I just had to remind her over and over that if it doesnt kill her i'll never collect on her life insurance. no...thats not it. Always remind her to use her brakes.

A class would be good in that you wont loose your cool at her. Someone else has to use patience.

my DOS CENTAVOS.

lol! I think that's more likely what she'll do to me after the first ride...hahaha!!!

ok, let's try to get back in course...any suggestion about the bike and the REI classes?

Thanks!

PS: Boludo, eres argentino?

[DownHillPhil]

Originally Posted by boludo

Of course she already has pads. All women have PADS!

LMFAO

[boludo]

No soy Argentino. Vivi en la otra patria mia por 2 anos. De que cuadra sos? Soy de Boca.

And for the bike, just make sure she likes, that she can dismount easily/low top tube, has a nicely padded seat and good suspension. once my wife was able to handle it and become 1/10th of the biker denmother is i've been able to upgrade her bike.

Buenas suerte.

[andygua]

Yo soy Chileno, de paso por algunos anos aca en LA...en general soy mas fan de River en lo que es futbol Argentino

Thanks for the tip on the bike...I guess the F6 does the trick and I thinks it's a great starting point and easily "upgradeable"

[Shannon]

First have her join STR. Then PM George so she can have access to the girl's forum. You know, where us girls talk about our pads and stuff...

[DownHillPhil]

this thread is killing me

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by DownHillPhil

this thread is killing me

Such an untimely death.

[andygua]

Originally Posted by Shannon

First have her join STR. Then PM George so she can have access to the girl's forum. You know, where us girls talk about our pads and stuff...

Yeah, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun discussing about the pads each uses!
I'll try to get her into STR, but she's not really into forums, but we'll see...

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by andygua

Yeah, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun discussing about the pads each uses!
I'll try to get her into STR, but she's not really into forums, but we'll see...

We're planning a girls ride in the near future. I'll send you a PM with the info. See if she's interested. It'll be a beginner friendly ride for the gals.

[andygua]

Originally Posted by Shannon

We're planning a girls ride in the near future. I'll send you a PM with the info. See if she's interested. It'll be a beginner friendly ride for the gals.

Great...please do! I'll give her the info and hopefully get her to join you. She'll be glad to know there are other "normal" (not pro's) ladies around

[ohyeah89]

Originally Posted by andygua

ok, let's try to get back in course...any suggestion about the bike and the REI classes?

That's exactly what I had planned on doing when I decided I wanted to start mtbing (the REI class)! I didn't want to go on a group ride yet since I had no experience whatsoever, I wanted some instruction.

BUT then I saw a post on here for a FREE beginning mountain biking course offered through Irvine Ranch Wildlands. FREE or 60 bucks for a class??? I went with the free and it was AWESOME!!! The trail we went on was SUPER beginner friendly (I think the Fullerton Loop would be too much for me for my first time), it was a great intro.

Just looked up their website (https://www.irvineranchwildlands.org/activities/)
and unfortunately it doesn't seem like they are offering the beginner classes any time soon but still there are a lot of FREE (I think CORBA does one) or low cost beginning mountain biking clinics.

If you do end up going to the REI one, post a ride review, I'm curious what they do in there!

[JamR]

Originally Posted by ohyeah89

That's exactly what I had planned on doing when I decided I wanted to start mtbing (the REI class)! I didn't want to go on a group ride yet since I had no experience whatsoever, I wanted some instruction.

BUT then I saw a post on here for a FREE beginning mountain biking course offered through Irvine Ranch Wildlands. FREE or 60 bucks for a class??? I went with the free and it was AWESOME!!! The trail we went on was SUPER beginner friendly (I think the Fullerton Loop would be too much for me for my first time), it was a great intro.

Just looked up their website (https://www.irvineranchwildlands.org/activities/)
and unfortunately it doesn't seem like they are offering the beginner classes any time soon but still there are a lot of FREE (I think CORBA does one) or low cost beginning mountain biking clinics.

If you do end up going to the REI one, post a ride review, I'm curious what they do in there!

The beginner MTB Clinics and rides are offered once per quarter right now, as are the intermediate/advanced clinics.

We are looking into offering the beginner clinics more often and at different locations to give riders an option of trails.

I'll keep everyone posted as we get the new dates determined.

We're continually looking for new and varied routes throughout the Irvine Ranch Wildlands based on the public comments we receive on a regular basis.