Wow!!! Thanks for all the responses! Very helpful!

It seems that there is a major personality factor in who chooses to race and who doesn't. Is this a set thing, do you think women who ride for fun can be "converted," or would it be a better strategy to find women who have the disposition to race and try and get them on bikes?

Clare, I would consider centuries in the "touring" catagory. They're a lot like running events in that participation and personal goals are what matter. Racing can be divided into mountain and road. Mt. racing includes cross country, downhill, and other types I don't know about since I'm a chicken about single track. Road racing includes time trials, road races, and criteriums. Time trials are solo events-you against the clock on a set course-person with the best time wins. Road races and criteriums are pack races, and in most cases if you can't stay with the pack you will be pulled off the course-they can be quite fast, crashes are common, etc. The goal is to win, place, or aquire points in a series. Hope I've got that all right!