Living like a Diva

After a particularly challenging mountain bike ride with the Dirt Divas last night, I had a big revelation in the car on my drive home. I had the windows open (trying to at least partially dry my sweaty hair) and the music cranked...all of a sudden life seemed to make perfect sense to me.

I joined Charlotte's only women's mountain biking club back in April and I love it. I've known about the group for years, but was too scared to go to a meeting or join them for a ride. After all, with my $100 Walmart bike, the guy at the bike shop told me they'd "laugh me right out of town". He couldn't have been further from the truth. After my 10+ years of rowing came to an unfortunate end last fall I knew now was my chance to check out the Divas. Fortunately, my super thoughtful husband got me a new and much improved bike for my birthday, so I had no more excuses.

The Divas ride weekly at 6pm. So that Scott doesn't have to scramble home from work each Tuesday in order for me to ride, I've "treated" myself to a weekly babysitter. It's so liberating to go out and be "Nic" for a few hours and not "Mum". Now, back to last night's revelation. Filled with the post-ride adrenaline high, I realized that everything I've learned so far from the Divas really applies to life and emphasizes the things I was to pass on to the boys:

• It's OK to get dirty...in fact it's really fun
• The sweatier, the better. It means you're working/playing really hard
• If you mess up the first time, always try again. The Divas are all about "do-overs". If you hit a tough spot on the trail, back up your bike and try again. There's always someone there to spot you.
• Support your friends. There's nothing better than hearing "way to go" or "keep going, you're almost there" to boost your ego. That's what riding with these women is all about.
• Be the first to help. Whenever someone falls, there's always at least 3 Divas there to help (one to hold her bike, one to pull her up and one to congratulate her on a great wipe-out)

After all we hear about women being hard to work with and get along with, the Dirt Divas totally dis-spell this myth. I've never met a group of more friendly, supportive and athletic women. Now, let's go get sweaty and dirty!