this is a very universal rant. even here in northern CA (the largest region within USACycling), we don't have as many women's fields as we'd like. we typically run W1/2/3 and W4 (or combined W3/4) in crits and W1/2, W3, and W4 in road races. there are probably fewer than a dozen masters women's races.

in cyclocross, each promoter runs their races slightly differently, but there are distinct categories for Women A, Women B, and Women C, and sometimes, Masters Women. typically, these fields have staggered starts but are on the course at the same time.

while I share your pain, I'll also share a couple of thoughts from a promoter's point of view.

for most road races, there is a limited amount of time that the promoter can get permits for the roads. this means that it's likely impossible to add a field without eliminating another field. there are also safety concerns with having too many bodies on the road at the same time.

for crits, you're most definitely limited by schedule. I promote a crit annually, and all the mens fields sell out (100 field limit with the exception of the CAT5s who have a 50 field limit). I also include separate Women's CAT3 and CAT4 fields. The W3 never sell out (100 field limit). The W4 comes close. So, as a promoter, my income is greatly reduced by dedicating two time slots to the W3 and W4 fields. I'm committed to doing it, however, because our mission is to promote women's cycling.

as Eden mentioned, getting involved with your local association is one way to influence the decision makers.

another suggestion is to promote your own race (and have whichever fields you want).

you can also lobby promoters to offer a separate Women's 4 field (and do your best to lobby other women racers to participate in that race). we've begged promoters to include a separate field in the past and we reward them by filling that field up.

if you want to encourage other women cyclists to race, put on an intro to racing clinic. tie it in with a specific race and then get all the women out there together.

another successful idea is to have a women's race series (like cycling made real).

yes, this is a real chicken and the egg situation. women don't race because they don't have a welcoming environment, but promoters won't create that environment because there aren't enough women who race. what to do? stick to it. be a champion for women's racing. don't give up. get your friends involved.

Lorri (who'se been racing and promoting since 2002)