I read these forums religiously, but just joined simply so I can share my story. I'm a female and I've been riding for 9 years. 95% of the time I'm with a group of all guys and I have no problem holding my own with them. I've never had any incidents at all while riding, probably because of my fathers incessant warnings to be safe and watch for the idiots on the trails. Anyway, this past winter I experienced something that terrified me, and I'm not easily scared.
I went out for a short ride one night with just two friends. I was pulling up the rear, and we were riding on trails I know like the back of my hand. There wasn't much traffic on this particular night, and (for whatever reason) I could feel my helmet loosening up as we were riding. I pulled over to the side of the trail as soon as it was safe to fix it. My friends didn't see me stop, but I wasn't worried because I knew there was a parking lot that the trail cut through only a few miles up and they would wait for me there. As it was, the area I had stopped in was an area with a lot of visibility-I could see a bunch of trails that were winding through the woods. As I was fixing my helmet, I noticed a group of three sleds that were FLYING through the woods on a trail off to one side of me. It made me uneasy, since it was dark and I was by myself, but I knew the trail they were on and I knew that if they were trying to get onto "my" trail, it would take them awhile. I got back onto the trail and almost immediately came to a sharp hairpin turn. As I was making it, I could see the three sleds quickly approaching behind me. This really scared me, because less than 5 minutes earlier they hadn't been anywhere near the trail I was on, and they were now approaching me FAST. I continued up a hill, through a very narrow part of the trail. I wasn't going slow, but I also wasn't flying because I knew how narrow/dangerous the trail was. As I was watching in my mirrors, these sleds just kept getting closer and closer to me, at one point I would put money down on the fact that the guy in front hit my mud flap. I kept turning around and waving so they would know that I knew they were there (it would have been impossible not to notice them though), but they weren't letting up. I began getting really panicky since I still hadn't caught up to my friends and it seemed like I was never going to find a safe place to pull off and let them pass. The guy in front of their group was standing up and gesturing too, which wasn't helping. Anyway, I finally pulled off to the side, far off because by that point I was terrified of what they would do when they passed me. There was more than enough room for them to pass without an issue, but both the first sled and the second swerved off the trail to hit my skis. The third sled came close, but then pulled away at the last minute (which was good, there was a kid on the back of that one).
As a female rider (I'm sure the guys could tell I was a girl), this incident TERRIFIED me. I frequently ride last, and I have never been tailgated like that. For it to happen in the dead of night, when I was alone, with no other traffic in the area, was a bad experience. By the time I got to my friends, I was sobbing. Snowmobiling isn't a sport for pansies, and anyone I ride with would agree that I'm not one. I also don't expect female riders to be treated any different than males, but please, don't ride a girl's ass when you can see she's alone. The point of me posting this is to say that you never know what kind of people you're riding behind on the trails. I know that many people have a desire for speed, I'm one of them most of the time, but please, if you come up behind a group of riders, be patient until you can pass them, especially if they've acknowledged your presence. You never know if that last rider is a 19 year old girl desperately trying to get out of the situation you've put her in.