Dirt Bike Anthropology: One Female's Observations of Grown Up Men Who Take To The Trails

For years there was an event that all are invited to, but I’d be the only woman who’d show up. If I kept a low enough profile, it felt as though I was a fly on the wall or had somehow been given a rare pass to look into the keyhole of the mysterious and secret society of men. This opportunity occurred on day trips riding motorcycles and ATV’s through the mountains on the logging trails of the Tillamook Forest in Oregon. Often, when this happened, I would sit off to the side feeling somewhat like Jane Goodall or like Dian Fossey who studied gorilla groups (pardon the analogy) in the mountain forests of Rwanda. After one such trip, I collected some observations I thought may be of use, especially to women, in not only understanding men, but in following their lead in a few areas that I think we would do well to emulate. These are things that often occur naturally for them, that give them great advantages, and when applied to our own character would in no way detract from our sacred role as women. Granted the qualities observed in my “subjects” were those of spiritually mature Christian men, and obviously not all the qualities I observed are universal; yet the lessons remain the same.