John Hinke

I agree that racing is hard. But it's also supposed to be fun, right? I
mean, not too many of us make our living racing. Most of us just enjoy
hanging out with like-minded people doing something fun.

I'm starting to get prepared for the Jedi state championship XC race coming
up and was looking at last years results to try to gauge how much time it'll
take me. Most of the men in my category took between 3-4.5 hours to do the
Jedi race last year. Ouch! I'd better train some more.

I also noticed there were only 5 women who did the race. Their times for
the pro/expert women were off the charts and very unreasonable for just
about any "normal" mountain bike race. The pro woman took 4h14m to complete
the course, while the expert woman took just under 5 hours! That's right: 5
hours. (Better start training more, eh?) How many people want to race that
long or can race that long (ignoring all of the 12 hour and 24 hour racers
out there)? That's a long time to race. I'm not sure I'd come back to a
race if it was that long. I also understand that it's a tough decision for
the promoters. If they make the course too short or easy, people will
complain. If they make it too long people will complain. Finding that
sweet spot is a challenge.

Anyway, I love the Jedi.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org]On
Behalf Of Melissa Boyd
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 2:59 PM
To: sue butler
Cc: obra
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Falls City Firecracker: great event,but where are
the women???

It does seem like women are avoiding mountain bike races, and some of the
responses I heard said that it is "too hard".

Races are supposed to be hard! But, some promoters seem to take great glee
in making them as hard as possible. That may be discouraging some of the
women who are just getting started. For instance, if half the riders in a
category find a long section of singletrack climb (or descent) unrideable
and have to push their bikes, is that "too hard" for that category? What if
it's 80%, or 100% that have to walk? Is that getting excessive? If the
beginner women find they are spending more time pushing their bikes than
riding them, it may be hard to get them to come back and try again. And yet,
that may be just the Best Course Ever for the Expert riders and the strong
guys.

Most races have beginner's distances that are shorter than the Sport and
Expert races. Although it would be harder for the organizers, they might get
more novices to give it a try if the beginner's course was technically
easier and not just shorter.

Melissa

On 6/2/08, sue butler wrote:
I agree that this was a great race and a lot of fun. When do you get to
race on almost ALL singletrack?
I also agree that it was extremely disappointing to have only 4 women
line up for the afternoon session of racing. I know the Silverton road race
took a few 'regulars' out of the pack, but I continue to wonder why other
women don't like to race their mtb's? It is great fun, great people and a
great workout! Stay tuned for upcoming mtb clinics that will be at the short
track races, which start later this month. Maybe this will help get more
women out there racing their mountain bikes. I think all the men that were
there need to work on one woman each to get them there. Because I know when
you have no one to race, sometimes then you don't go and the cycle
continues... I was just glad to be home and able to race a new venue!!!
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