The State of Women's Racing

[runnergirl]

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!

[Zub_Zub]

I started racing because thats the only type of cycling my school had. I started cycling because a friend at school bugged me into it. Really the racing was a bonus. I did the team time trails for my school this year to make up a senoir team. ow we have had a lot of new cyclist jopin so Ill stay next year to help train/support them. Ive started to do races and the such out side of school and i just find them fun. With all the different people who cycle.
Marie

[singletrackmind]

1) Why did you descide to start racing?
Talked into by the guys I rode with.
2) What kind of local support do you have(ie team)?
An LBS asked me to ride for them.
3) How much of your group riding is with men, do you have female teammates?
Women? What women? When I was racing it was rare to find another woman fast enough and on a mountain bike.
4) Did you play agressive sports in HS/college?
NO. I ran track for a year, then work obligations took over.
5) What do you see as the main obstacles to women racing?
I quit for a few reasons. Turnout-not enough women to race against, that led to promoters to lump all women racers together, podium spots and all. I didn't like that those of us with more experience were taking all the places/prizes and the beginner women were being left out in the cold. I thought it was more important that they get recognition and encouragement. I asked the promoters to award the trophies for the beginner women and maybe send some schwag our way. After awhile it got a little silly to pay $20+ bucks for a little adrenaline and some cheap schwag. I found the fast beginners, sport and above men to be encouraging though it got a little aggravating that they'd start us a few minutes behind the beginner men. We'd catch up to those guys quick and they wouldn't let us pass. I've rolled over a few bikes because you'd have to ride on their wheel til they got nervous enough to crash before you could get by. Oy.

I loved the adrenaline (except the part where you're waiting at the start and all of a sudden you REALLY have to pee-why is that??) and the race scene but for now I'll live without. It's just as much fun to ride my own ride and it doesn't cost me $20 bucks to do it, either!

[mtbdarby]

Hey Runnergirl,
Interesting thread, I can see why you stirred the pot.

For the racers:
1) Why did you descide to start racing? Lots of reasons. I've only been mtb since May of this year. I did my first 4 x 12 race at the end of July. One reason was a personal goal - I need a goal to motivate me. Second was I was told I shouldn't even ride let alone race because of my thyroid. Guess I don't like being told what I can/cannot do And finally, I had just broken up with my bf and I had told him I'd ride on a team with his 13 yo son. I wasn't not gonna ride because we weren't going out, I just got a new team.

2) What kind of local support do you have(ie team)? I joined a local bike club and (can't believe I'm admitting this) I hopped on match.com and found some male bikers in this area to ride with. It's hard to find female mtb's.

3) How much of your group riding is with men, do you have female teammates? Group riding is with the club which is actually about 50/50.

4) Did you play agressive sports in HS/college? Oh yeah...

5) What do you see as the main obstacles to women racing? Knowing that it's out there and how to get started. A huge obstacle in training for me is that I'm a single mom to a 3 yo and I'm new to the area. I can't afford $60+ a month for babysitting one night a week because I only get my little guy during the week. I will only give up so much time with him so I can ride. I do have a trailer for him but he doesn't always want to ride and I will only take the trailer on the road. There are no trails within biking distace to me, I have to drive. I don't have a bike carrier either, so cost is also an issue. I've spent over $1000 this summer on a bike, clothes, assessories, trail passes, race fees, trailer and baby sitting. I also think it's a little intimidating to get into the sport. It is male dominated and they treat you like you know what you're doing or are at a level beyond where you are. I think that was a big source of my nervousness and frustration in the beginning. If you can start out making it fun and challanging, I think you stand a better chance of getting women into in and retaining them - wether they choose to race or not. You have to get them riding first, right?

Hope that helps.

[RebeccaAnn]

I don't race. While I enjoy an occasional group ride, riding for me is much more a solo activity. I enjoy looking at the scenery, taking new roads, and the only competition involved is against my own prior performance.

Now I'm usually pulling a trailer anyway. Singletrackmind, do you think we can organize a race of Trailer Moms here in St. Louis? One with stops every 2 miles or so to retrieve toys & sippy cups from the bottom of the trailer, use the drinking fountain, watch construction workers/trash collectors/trains for a few minutes, eat Cheerios, etc.?

Runnergirl, what reasons are the guys at bikeforums giving for racing/not racing? Do their responses differ from ours? I guess I could amble over and read it for myself....

[Grog]

If you don't race, but plan on it, what is the threshold? A certain avg. pace? Staying with a fast group?

I started riding very seriously this year. I need to build more skills a little bit, a bit of strength too.

But I was truly scandalized at the low number of women in competitive cycling where I come from (Quebec). That is strange because I say we have more local cycling stars who are women than men (Genevieve Jeanson, Lyne Bessette, Marie-Helene Premont in mtb). At a recent race there were 8 women out of 200 men!!! (Actually it was not an official race but we were timed and I finished 7th, I think 8th was DNF... The first lady in, a 16 yo girl!!!, was totally up there with the fastest men, I was really impressed!!!)

That is maybe my biggest motivation, put some women in there. But I couldn't care less about winning or even coming in the highest spots on the roster... I love being involved in something where I can be last and it doesn't matter.

I also find events in general make extremely good and motivating training goals.

Personnality issue? It may have become a personality issue, but maybe because I'm a sociologist I definitely see it as a social thing. Until recently in history women were NOT encouraged to participate in competitive sports but rather to stay on the side and cheer for their male heroes... Even today many competition sports are not considered appropriate for women, and let's say that, exception made for some families, girls are not pushed in becoming competitive in sports, and there's not that many role-models for us out there compared to men. So of course many of us may (sincerely) not be interested in racing (of any sort) but it's not as if it would have been seriously presented as an acceptable option for a lady through our lives. So no wonder it doesn't come "naturally" to us to feel like racing.

[limewave]

Quote:
If you don't race, but plan on it, what is the threshold? A certain avg. pace? Staying with a fast group?

After starting cycling last summer, I had decided to give racing a try. However, an unexpected pregnancy squelched those plans. Maybe next season???

Road riding came really easy to me. After just a month of riding, I was keeping up with the faster group ride at 23-25 mph for 40 miles. The club has been trying to recruit women to race along with their mens team and I thought I would step up to the challenge.

I like doing new things and proving myself against the odds. I love facing physical challenges and finding out how strong the human body really is. Hopefully I'll be able to give racing a try.

[MightyMitre]

I sometimes do time trials as they're a good way to gauge fitness improvements, plus its fun to represent my club and meet up with my clubmates, but generally I just prefer to ride - either on my own or with 1 or 2 others. I like the lack of pressure - if I feel like doing some structured training one month then I can, but I sometimes find training for a specific event, while giving me focus, can sometimes take the joy of of riding. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself/the event.

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?

This is an interesting one. I think women who ride for fun can be converted - some might just need a little push, be offered the opportunity and given the support. This might be especially so for those who have come to sports later in life or have never really been involved in sports. I've met a number of women cyclists who's kids are now old enough to stay home alone, and they can't get enough of it. One in particular now races anything and everything.

Having said that though, it really does depend on whether riders want to be converted. If the opportunity is there for the taking then great, but I suppose not everyone will want to take it and are happy just to get out and ride.