College and Bikes

The following is a paper on culture I wrote recently for a communications class.  We had to choose a culture we were part of that was not our ethnic culture and choose 6 parts of that culture to write about, sharing the culture as if the person reading the paper had never experienced this culture before.  I am proud to say I earned a grade of 100 on this paper and my teacher had this to say: ""What a fascinating culture paper! I truly enjoyed learning more about this culture, as it's definitely one I've never experienced myself, and you wrote about it in a very interesting way. I felt like I was right there on the trails with you! Great work!"

The Culture and Community of Downhill Mountain Biking

By Christina Faust

A large part of my free time is spent on a mountain bike. In the past few years I have gotten involved in the sport of downhill (DH) mountain biking and racing.  This sport involves riding bikes at ski resorts where you can ride the ski lift up with your bike and then ride down trails built through the woods on the mountain.  It is an inherently risky sport, but when done at your skill level with the right equipment it is a sport that can give you a great sense of accomplishment and teaches you a lot about overcoming fear.  There is a great community amongst the riders, especially on the race scene, and even though we only see one another a few weekends out of the year, many of us consider these friends a part of our family.  It is a relatively small community and you come to know most of the people in it in just a few short years.  It is a culture where I feel “at home”, and that is why I chose to write about it for this project.

Dress

One of the most noticeable traits of the downhill (DH) mountain biking culture is the style of dress. Across all forms of biking, the outfits are known as “kits”. Many people associate mountain biking with spandex kits, more like road biking, and these are often worn by regular mountain bikers.  However, DH riders often dress in looser fitting shorts and loose long sleeve jerseys. Sometimes riders and racers wear full length pants, a crossover from motocross riding.  These pants are affectionately called “pajama pants” because of their silhouette.  DH kits are often very bold in their color schemes.  DH riders are a showy bunch of folks.  We like to stand out in a crowd.

Language

Verbal communication in the DH community does not hold to many rules.  It is a dominantly male culture without many boundaries in terms of communication.  It tends to be very open and a bit crude. A sensitive, timid, or easily offended individual might feel overwhelmed in this community.  On the other hand, this type of communication tends to be very honest and you will know exactly where you stand with others.

There is some jargon specific to the sport of DH that you might hear when starting out and wonder what it means.  A few of the more common terms are: Shred—to ride hard/have fun; Hero dirt—the perfect dirt/surface conditions for riding; Freeride—to ride for fun, make your own way down the trail.

Roles of Men and Women

 

As mentioned above, the DH culture is a dominantly male culture.  There is a growing contingency of female riders and racers, but we are still greatly underrepresented in the sport.  It is hard to get a finger on the numbers of women who ride DH, but at races, about one in every 25 riders is female.  It is a tough sport and takes a lot of determination for a woman to really make her mark in it.  Most men in the sport are very supportive of females in the ranks, but they are not going to change their behavior for us, so one must be able to handle what might be called the “locker room behavior” of men.

Female DH riders are fighting against quite a few societal gender stereotypes, and it is always surprising to hear comments from spectators who didn’t know females “could do this type of riding”.  Surprisingly, there are no set roles for men and women in the sport itself. There is many a lady racer who has a support crew of male bike mechanics and coaches behind her, as well as those who can run the whole show on their own, or even work as mechanics and coaches for the men. It is really a sport that proves how bold and strong and self-sufficient a woman can be, which I think is a great stereotype smasher for society in general. 

Rituals

Just as in any sport, many people have their own rituals, but there are usually rituals shared by the group.  One ritual in DH biking is what is known as the “train”.  This can be a “bro-train” or a “lady-train” consisting of all guys (and usually a few girls), or all ladies.  The riders will all congregate at the top of the mountain trail, oftentimes at the end of the day, and follow/chase one another down the trail to the base of the mountain.  In a way, this is a type of bonding activity in a sport that is otherwise a very independent pursuit.  It is a fun way to end the day of riding, and the collective joy for the ride can really be shared through riding in the “train”.

Taboos

One of the greatest taboos in DH riding is one shared with the ski community.  Never say “one more run” or “this is going to be my last run”.  Mostly superstitious, but there may be some merit to the fact that people believe saying this makes you more likely to fall and get injured.  Perhaps you just aren’t as careful once you feel like you are close to being done, and this is a sport where caution is never good when thrown to the wind. Even if you feel like this will be the last ride for the day, people always encourage you to say, “I think I might do 2 or 3 more rides down”, and then call your day at the bottom of the mountain, when you are truly finished riding.

Friendships

This is one of the most rewarding parts of the DH culture.  For the most part, DH riders are a friendly and welcoming group and you are destined to form a new friendship almost every time you go to the mountains.  You will often find yourself riding on the ski lift up with people you have never met, so of course conversation ensues, and sometimes you end up riding with that person for a while and find other common interests along the way.  It is interesting to find that most people who decide to try or take up the sport are cut from the same cloth, which makes the sense of community even stronger.  In the 3 years I have been riding DH I have gained a large number of good friends who are all very positive and supportive and we all love to have fun together.  Being a female in the sport also makes friendships easier since we are so few in number.  Every time I see another women I try to talk to her and make a connection of some sort.  This helps welcome new women into the culture too which I hope will grow our ranks and continue to break the bounds of societal stereotypes.

The downhill mountain biking culture is my second family and I feel truly fortunate to have found my place in this community.  It has made me feel stronger and bolder and more comfortable in my everyday life.  Spending time where there are few gender stereotypes to fight is very freeing as a women.  The DH culture is so supportive and welcoming and full of great friendships that I hope everyone in this world finds a culture like it in their own lives.