Heather VanValkenburg
"Why do you race with the men.....What, are you just too good for us...?"NoI'd like to chime in. Although I focus my efforts on the track and rarely do road racing anymore, I can share why some women choose to race with the men during the week nights. (i.e. PIR, Alpenrose)1. Part of it is to get the most bang for our buck. Jeff allows us to race on a smaller buck. Might I have just jeopardized this luxury in the future? Yes. But it is a fact. Should I race 12 laps for $12 or 20 laps for $10. Granted I've only gotten 2.5 laps completed on a Tuesday this year, but that is another story...2. Sorry ladies, but you like to chat. A lot. I don't like to talk when I'm racing. I don't like to listen when I'm racing. I want to be challenged to pay attention to what is happening in the race. I"m out there to have someone kick my ass and if I"m working hard enough, I don't have oxygen to chit chat. The men don't do us any favors. If we want a wheel, we best be aggressive and get it. If we can't keep a wheel, they come around us tight and don't care what chromosomes we have. I know I'm going to get hell for this one, but trust me, I will get emails from some of you thanking me for speaking what you're thinking.3. I've seen the comment along the lines of, "many of us just want to ride our bike and are not really competitive." RACING is competitive and many of us are training for races outside of OBRA. These races are harder and longer. There are constant attacks, teams at work, and ruthless behavior. We ride with the men because they are harder and longer- There are constant attacks, teams at work, and ruthless behavior.All that said, I agree that it's unfortunate that the numbers are low. Many senior women I raced with 3-4 years ago have moved, started families, are taking time away from racing, or have otherwise gotten caught up in life. I don't have a solution to the problem. I'm a bit out of the road racing loop. I just wanted to answer the question many have about a possible why.-Heather VanValkenburg Does this bike make my butt look fast?
> From: rideon1@hotmail.com> To: cmurray@obra.org; obra@list.obra.org> Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 08:19:20 +0000> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Senior women fields> > I second the call for lady racers, tonight I had the pleasure of watching 9 > women riding in a paceline outside of AVC this is a rare sight. For womens > racing and especially those young girls out there saying maybe me there is > no better marketing tool than numbers and visibility. We also have some very > talented junior women that could benefit by benevolent mentorship. Dont let > the velodrome scare you over the last couple of years many typically road > racers have added great speed out at the track and done well.> > > >From: "Candi Murray" > >Reply-To: cmurray@obra.org> >To: > >Subject: [OBRA Chat] Senior women fields> >Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 10:59:23 -0700> >> >Three rivers had 2 women show up> >Swan Island had 4 women show up.> >These races cancelled their women's field.> >Minimum field size is 5. Unless you want to see racing for senior women to> >go away, it is time you showed up.> >Silverton is this weekend.> >> >> >> >_______________________________________________> >OBRA mailing list> >obra@list.obra.org> >http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> >Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org> > > _______________________________________________> OBRA mailing list> obra@list.obra.org> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
_________________________________________________________________
Download Messenger. Start an im conversation. Support a cause. Join now.
http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=TAGWL_MAY07