While ninety-nine people out of every one hundred probably think of motorcycles, particularly motocross motorcycles, as something that belongs solely to the male half of this world, the truth is that females are a growing force within the sport. I know you probably thought that the photo of me on the bike was just a shot to hype the column. You're wrong. I actually ride it. I'm not alone. As our other female columnist will quickly tell you, women can ride. Some women actually race (if you've read more than two sentences of any of Kim's columns you know that half of Off-road.com's female dirtbike columnists fall into that category). The fact that Off-road.com actually takes women seriously enough to let us write about this sport should tell you something else. We aren't alone and there may be a female in your household who's about to join us.

One dad wrote me recently and said he has a son (who is eight) who races motocross, and that his daughter (who is six) now wants to race too. He asked what I thought about girls racing. I told him I thought it was great. He then wrote me again and said his wife thought it was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard of, was afraid their little princess would get hurt and or want to quit dance lessons, and what did I think the solution to this problem was? I wrote an answer, then had the good sense to go back and read it. I deleted the part where I said I thought he should keep the kid and get a new wife. (I don't actually want anyone to think that I think divorce is a good thing). I also deleted the part that said I don't think anyone actually needs dance lessons these days. I left in the part where I told him that perhaps he should point out to his wife that a girl is no more likely to get hurt racing than a boy is, and that ballerinas suffer some extraordinary injuries to leg and shoulder muscles. I also pointed out that motocross racing requires a keen sense of balance, a good deal of common sense, and a high degree of coordination. If his wife thought their daughter had these traits then perhaps they should give motocross a trial run. If dancing truly were her forte in life they would learn this quickly. A last piece of correspondence from Dad informed me that he'd bought his daughter a KTM 50, she'd raced her first race, and although she didn't win, she beat the seven year old boy who lived next door to them. That child's mother had recently been heard making several snide remarks to the effect that there were some things women were better off not doing, to which the man's wife had haughtily replied, "Yes, and punching your witless neighbor in the nose is probably one of them."

While this may sound like a funny story, it's true. It's also indicative of a scenario that's played out in dirt bike households across the country on a regular basis. Parents, who have no problem with their male children riding two wheeled machines, often cringe at the thought of their female offspring taking up the same sport. This leads me to believe that while some may continue to spout that "We've come a long way baby!" the distance we've traveled in the last few decades is shorter than we think when it comes to what we allow male and female progeny to engage in. We still hold females to a different standard than we do males. While I have no problem with stating categorically that there are fundamental differences between males and females, when it comes to dirtbikes I'd like to see a little more equality when deciding whether our female children should ride or not. If your daughter espouses an interest in dirtbiking, don't assume she's headed for life as a bar bouncer. Assume that she's seen Dad (and possibly brothers) doing something that looks interesting and fun. Give her the same opportunity to decide whether this sport is really for her as you would a male child. If she enjoys it, you've set the stage for hours of shared experiences that you would miss if you were on your dirtbike and she was in the dance studio. If she hates it, you haven't done any harm. What you have done is shown her that you're willing to let her develop interests that suit her, instead of just you and mom.