A couple of months ago, I was back in Lithuania for a short visit before gearing up to ride South America again. I wasn’t planning to do much except see my family and friends, enjoy being able to speak my own language for a little while, and do a beer tour in Vilnius’ Old Town.

然后，我得到一个消息从我的好友Jurga. “Hey, if you’re back, why don’t we do an off-road training weekend for women riders?”, she said. “Nothing complicated, just the bare basics – a little bit of theory, standing up on the pegs, clutch control, dealing with uphill and downhill on dirt, that sort of thing?”. I’m not a certified off-road instructor, but helping out with dirt riding basics sounded like something I could do, so I said yes.

Jurga and I expected some five or six women to show up.

取而代之的是，我们得到百余注册。

惊讶 - 但也兴奋 - 关于疯狂的数字，我们订的越野训练跑道，租了一堆泥土的自行车，并邀请女性乘坐。因为我们有这么多的参与者，我们不得不这样做，而不只是一个几个周末，和Jurga现在继续采取女车手出来立陶宛TET（横贯欧洲试行）。

同时，我刚刚完成在厄瓜多尔，在那里我们骑着比预期更多的污垢，并遇到了一些我的第一次全女性的摩托车之旅在厄瓜多尔的抗议麻烦但仍设法有一个真棒时间。The sheer joy of tackling some of Ecuador’s most scenic roads with an all-female crew was simply unparalleled, so next up, I’ll be leading another all-female motorcycle expedition in Colombia before going to scout some off-road routes in Northern Peru and get ready for the 2020 rally racing season.

整装待发，在哥伦比亚妇女的摩托车之旅。图片：Motobirds

Together with Aussie rider加布里埃拉·林福德，I was also asked to help bring more women into roadbook navigation rallies, and I’m constantly getting messages from female riders inquiring about more women-only dirt tours, training, and enduro trips.

So clearly, women want to ride dirt. Then why don’t they just go for it on their own?

Confidence

可以肯定，很多女性做骑污垢单独或与他们骑哥们，是自学成才，或者干脆去为它没有太多的犹豫。越来越多的女性正在进入反弹种族和车手一样Megs BraaporCrystal继续在全球范围内激发女性车手。

But often, women struggle with confidence. So much so that Alisa Clickenger, moto journalist, author, and women’s motorcycle tours guide, has literally写了一本书关于它的（不妨一读！）。

What I’ve seen happening a lot (as told to me by countless women riders online and in person) is this: women start to ride with their husbands or boyfriends, said husbands or boyfriends are a little too fast for them, they can’t keep up which causes stress and uncertainty, and before you know it, women start to feel reluctant to ride dirt. This was my experience too back in 2014 when I was loaned an old Africa Twin 750 and tried chasing after a pack of experienced (male) riders whose only advice to me was “just get on the gas!”. It’s not bad advice in itself -you do need momentum to keep the bike upright on dirt – and I’m eternally grateful for those guys lending me a bike and taking me out to ride with them. However, after clutching the handlebars for dear life and trying to keep up with a group of much more experienced and faster riders, I left the trails that day thinking I was completely useless and simply had no talent for dirt riding.

我挺过来了;但有些女性不这样做，特别是如果这种情况发生了一遍又一遍。And it isn’t the fault of women riders’ partners – it’s probably more to do with the fact that training your loved ones to ride isn’t always the best idea as personal stuff gets in the way, which is why professional dirt training is always so much better.

Still, the most common question I got about the all-female tours wasn’t “is it going to be epic”, “do I bring rain gear”, or “how much dirt are we going to ride?”.

它是：“我将能够跟上？”

Mind Tricks

虽然妇女谁露面训练周末回到立陶宛居然可以骑的污垢 - 他们几个，还有 - 他们都希望在最基础的开始。他们不想跳了日志或学习车轮离地，他们想了解自行车运动越野，如何如何保持控制，以及如何有信心骑。同样，一些谁在厄瓜多尔旅游参加的女性担心自己挣扎骑越野，但实际上，当它来到了它，确实非常出色。

男人和女人之间的差距信心是真实的，它反映了摩托车世界了。根据Forbes，“A Hewlett Packard internal report found that men apply for a job or promotion when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them. What doomed them was not their actual ability, but rather the decision not to try”. It seems to me, this applies to dirt riding, too. Most guys will just go for it, whether they’re actually capable or not; during my own training sessions in the US, I’ve noticed that men were more likely to go for “intermediate” or “advanced” training even if they’d only gotten their bike licenses a few months ago, whereas women aimed for “beginner” or “intermediate” even if they’d been riding for years.

The Joy of Riding

尽管信心差距，齿轮，适合矮个自行车，少培训机会较少的可用性，妇女仍然骑污垢。有些女骑手不需要鼓励 - 他们只是得到它，不管情况。我很高兴，也很荣幸认识很多谁骑非常巧妙，种族集会像疯子，并解决巨大的原木，如果他们的小树枝的女性。

But for many, a little boost of confidence, a little training, and a little experience of riding together without the pressure to go fast or compete can be a game changer. That’s why women-only events, tours, and dirt riding camps or simply ride-outs can be so valuable: it’s not about exclusion, attention-seeking, or separation. It’s about giving women riders a little bit of space to ride, learn, and grow as riders together, so that they can then just hit the trails on their own – or go ride with those fast guys.

Speaking of fast guys: most of them are awesome. I’ve ridden withrally racers，越野教练和导师骑，硬耐力赛nutcases，根本车手谁是更加经验丰富，技术精湛，而且比我更快。所有这些人的99％是令人惊讶的支持，耐心和欢笑，我知道，摩托车社区本身在很大程度上是这样。

Still: women riding dirt, riding together, and teaching and supporting each other is something I’d love to see more of.