Quote Originally Posted by SheFly View Post
Eden - shows the regional differences in racing. In fact, sounds like I am living in the TOTALLY WRONG PART OF THE COUNTRY for women's racing!

In the Northeast, we are like aicabsolut - ecstatic to get new racers, and I am always recruiting...

SheFly
I've never raced elsewhere (just up here in Washington and down in Oregon), but I have got the idea that we have a very large and very active women's field up here in the PNW (my team is all women, we have about 80 this year, most are active road racers, three quarters are cat 4s). It is an interesting experience to be in a field of 80+..... our 1,2,3 field at the Walla Walla stage race had that many last year. Thankfully this year we will have an entirely separate 3's - though it may not be too much smaller..... On the first day of registration there were already 30 or 40 women signed up.

It hasn't been that long though. Probably less than 10 years ago there weren't enough women to separate any of the fields. It used to be 1-4's all in the same races. Throw people in the deep end and they sort out quite quickly. The ones who stayed with it tended to be the strongest, and are often the women who still are winning today. Now there is almost always a separate 4's field, so it is easier to stick with it longer. It's a good thing. It means more participation. The people who are really strong can move up and those who need to develop don't end up dropped, alone and discouraged at every race. It's also meant our 3's field has had an opportunity to grow, which in turn will grow our 2's.