NYT article: Building Grit in Girls Through Mountain Biking

[Tricia]

This was a fun read.
Building grit in girls through mountain biking

 

[Tom K.]

Great stuff!

IMO, in this day and age, anything that gets kids -- girls and boys -- out from behind their various screened devices into the outdoors for a little activity and reasonable competition is a great thing.

NICA does this in spades with mountain bikes: https://www.nationalmtb.org/

 

[AmyPJ]

MTB brings out my grit, too
My daughter so far is not interested.

 

[Tom K.]

MTB brings out my grit, too
My daughter so far is not interested.

Age? IME, nothing hooks a teenager on mtb like a fun day of shuttling on fast, easy trails.

 

[Plai]

I've got two daughters. One atheletic, the other a bookworm. Mt biking greens is about the only thing I can get the bookworm to do (other than skiing). I don't know about the "grit", but the confidence from this and other activities is starting to assert itself. It's fun to watch blossom.

 

[AmyPJ]

Age? IME, nothing hooks a teenager on mtb like a fun day of shuttling on fast, easy trails.

She's a very awkward 12 year old. I think she'll grow into it but she's just not an aggressive kid at all.
I'm just glad she'll ski all over the mountain in any conditions.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Maybe there is a Heisenberg thing happening here. The fact that you are there observing her changes the outcome. It seems like the article is telling you to give her a bike in the woods and set her loose.

 

[fatbob]

While I applaud the sentiment the case study offered seems a bit weak. Jackson doesn't strike me as the sort of town where any kid wants for stimulating outdoor activities and a school network geared to match. Far more impressive if it were offering urban appartment dwelling girls a chance to explore horizons beyond the nearest mall etc ( which it may well be doing)

 

[AmyPJ]

Maybe there is a Heisenberg thing happening here. The fact that you are there observing her changes the outcome. It seems like the article is telling you to give her a bike in the woods and set her loose.

No doubt, if I could get her out there riding with some of her friends, she'd enjoy it more.

 

[Tom K.]

She's a very awkward 12 year old.

So was I. Five years later, not so much!

No doubt, if I could get her out there riding with some of her friends, she'd enjoy it more.

Is there anything like this in your neck of the woods? https://www.evergreenmtb.org/education/youth-dirt-camps

 

[AmyPJ]

So was I. Five years later, not so much!



Is there anything like this in your neck of the woods? https://www.evergreenmtb.org/education/youth-dirt-camps

I believe there is in Park City, yes, but I can tell you right now, she would be VERY uncomfortable. (She is autistic-I have to know when to push and when to back off.)