I have 5 Sufferfest Training Video codes to download “ANGELS” that have been left over from the Golden Spokes. I was going to post a blog but this seems as good as any place to put them. The first preference goes to the hard as nails women that turned up and competed against the guys. Ladies, let me know if you are interested via the comments and I will sort out getting you the codes. If there are any left, it will be a first comment first served basis.
Nice one Jorgy.
In fact, where are the women’s results anyway??? Don’t we ‘encourage women’s racing’?
we stated from the start that the men’s and women’s fields would be combined. if you look back to this year, there has been very little in the way of women’s only races due to there not being the numbers. based on that we didn’t feel that we could hold a women’s only category.
with the numbers that we had, we could have on the day, but this would also mean that jess allen and the u19 girls would have been racing against some of our girls that are not very experienced at racing. with a small field in windy conditions, there wouldn’t have been anywhere to hide and the race would have actually been a lot harder for some of the girls.
yes, we do encourage women’s racing, and part of that is to actually get them out and actually racing. do they need their own category to be able to do that??? i don’t think so. would it be good if we could??? of course it would, but with the numbers we actually get in women’s racing, it is just not feasible.
there are things that we are going to do different next year based on what we did this year, and either women’s or a ‘d’ grade may be an option. however, we will have to wait and see how things progress throughout next year.
Would keeping the women mixed in with the men’s fields but having some women’s prizes or medals (with podium boys… who could we use…?) for the female “winners” in each grade be the way to go?
I agree with you Mike – keeping the women in the mixed fields but having a category (with podium boys of equal quality to the podium girls….mmmm, this may be difficult!) is the way to go. Girls can always choose to race up a grade if they wish, but the opportunities and some form of incentive should be there (equally) for those of us who aren’t super-fast but are keen to wear the club colouts and have a go. These opportunities are there for the boys who aren’t super-fast.
It is a bit of the “chicken or the egg” thing – unless there are female only categories, then the chance of encouraging women to give it a go is unlikely. You can’t judge the numbers you actually get in women’s racing on the numbers you get in an ‘open’ category.
Waiting to see how things progress throughout next year is not the ideal goal to work towards – however Jorgy, I was semi-hard as nails on Saturday and started the race, so if your kind offer of the passes aren’t taken up by the hard as nails ladies who finished, I would love one….
I love that in the B Grade photo you can see little Ben (?) getting a hug from one of the podium girls. Kid was WORKING.
Jorgy I was one of those girls that gave the C grade a go and slogged it out ’til the end…it’ll be great to take you up on your kind offer :-). As for the Saturday, riding amongst the men was great experience. Having a ‘race within a race’ as such, where the women’s times are seperated out may be a way of giving women recognition thus in turn encourage more participation. All in all I’d give it another go next year!
Having the women race in the Open Grades is definitely the way to go, but having their own winners and prizes is important. Well done on the weekend’s efforts!
I am keen to do my bit to help ….. I will be the podium boy next year if you ask me nicely.
And if we ask you nicely to _NOT_ be a podium boy?
Will there be any more pictures posted?
Thanks guys for a well run event, twas a great day despite the weather.
Does anyone know the times for the A, B and C grades?
I have 5 Sufferfest Training Video codes to download “ANGELS” that have been left over from the Golden Spokes. I was going to post a blog but this seems as good as any place to put them. The first preference goes to the hard as nails women that turned up and competed against the guys. Ladies, let me know if you are interested via the comments and I will sort out getting you the codes. If there are any left, it will be a first comment first served basis.
Nice one Jorgy.
In fact, where are the women’s results anyway??? Don’t we ‘encourage women’s racing’?
we stated from the start that the men’s and women’s fields would be combined. if you look back to this year, there has been very little in the way of women’s only races due to there not being the numbers. based on that we didn’t feel that we could hold a women’s only category.
with the numbers that we had, we could have on the day, but this would also mean that jess allen and the u19 girls would have been racing against some of our girls that are not very experienced at racing. with a small field in windy conditions, there wouldn’t have been anywhere to hide and the race would have actually been a lot harder for some of the girls.
yes, we do encourage women’s racing, and part of that is to actually get them out and actually racing. do they need their own category to be able to do that??? i don’t think so. would it be good if we could??? of course it would, but with the numbers we actually get in women’s racing, it is just not feasible.
there are things that we are going to do different next year based on what we did this year, and either women’s or a ‘d’ grade may be an option. however, we will have to wait and see how things progress throughout next year.
Would keeping the women mixed in with the men’s fields but having some women’s prizes or medals (with podium boys… who could we use…?) for the female “winners” in each grade be the way to go?
I agree with you Mike – keeping the women in the mixed fields but having a category (with podium boys of equal quality to the podium girls….mmmm, this may be difficult!) is the way to go. Girls can always choose to race up a grade if they wish, but the opportunities and some form of incentive should be there (equally) for those of us who aren’t super-fast but are keen to wear the club colouts and have a go. These opportunities are there for the boys who aren’t super-fast.
It is a bit of the “chicken or the egg” thing – unless there are female only categories, then the chance of encouraging women to give it a go is unlikely. You can’t judge the numbers you actually get in women’s racing on the numbers you get in an ‘open’ category.
Waiting to see how things progress throughout next year is not the ideal goal to work towards – however Jorgy, I was semi-hard as nails on Saturday and started the race, so if your kind offer of the passes aren’t taken up by the hard as nails ladies who finished, I would love one….
I love that in the B Grade photo you can see little Ben (?) getting a hug from one of the podium girls. Kid was WORKING.
Jorgy I was one of those girls that gave the C grade a go and slogged it out ’til the end…it’ll be great to take you up on your kind offer :-). As for the Saturday, riding amongst the men was great experience. Having a ‘race within a race’ as such, where the women’s times are seperated out may be a way of giving women recognition thus in turn encourage more participation. All in all I’d give it another go next year!
Having the women race in the Open Grades is definitely the way to go, but having their own winners and prizes is important. Well done on the weekend’s efforts!
I am keen to do my bit to help ….. I will be the podium boy next year if you ask me nicely.
And if we ask you nicely to _NOT_ be a podium boy?
Will there be any more pictures posted?
Thanks guys for a well run event, twas a great day despite the weather.
Does anyone know the times for the A, B and C grades?