Racing
- Thread starter mtbmamma
- Start date
I rode at Canberra on the weekend at the Twilight race at Mt Kowen and out of 247 riders there were 47 females which was awesome. It was a good fun course and wasn't techinical. I think this is what attracts the women riders in Canberra as it is more fun and less threatening. The club is well run and with the regular clinics more women are participating. As well the 24hour popularity is huge and again this is seen as a fun event.
Compare this to XC courses in Sydney which are more technical and you are lucky to get 5% females. You really need to "act" confident as some of the guys can be quite intimidating when they are riding very close behind you on a technical section and you are a beginner.
I too would like to try 4X one day to improve my skills but I would never go when the guys are there on a race day as I would be too slow and get laughed at. I would be keen to meet up sometime though.
Compare this to XC courses in Sydney which are more technical and you are lucky to get 5% females. You really need to "act" confident as some of the guys can be quite intimidating when they are riding very close behind you on a technical section and you are a beginner.
I too would like to try 4X one day to improve my skills but I would never go when the guys are there on a race day as I would be too slow and get laughed at. I would be keen to meet up sometime though.
*_DIRTChick_*
Squid
Whoah, girls, don't let yourselves get to intimidated by the dudes!! Guys racing and gals racing isn't expected to be of the same standard, no matter what the sport, if it was, competing would be mixed gender.
I'm the only girl in my home town who rides DH (a few fit female xc riders) so I've never ridden with girls before, only ever with dudes, but I love riding with them. They are heaps more confident than myself and possess more skills, but i don't let that intimidate me. Instead I try to watch and learn what I can.
I can't wait till i'm ready to race, but it's not the competitve aspect i'm looking forward to, it's the adrenallin rush from simply 'being in a DH race'.
I was a lil iffy about the prospect of racing to, thinking i'd look slow and unskilled, but when I witnessed the girls smashing down the hill at worlds this year, I got totally pumped to race, no matter what my current level may be.
Don't worry to much about being left behind on the track when riding with the guys, they can wait hehe!
I agree with what everyone has said regarding this topic, MTB riding is extremely male dominated and testosterone driven. More outlets/opportunities for female riders to be able to get together in a 'female' environment to ride would be awesome
I'm the only girl in my home town who rides DH (a few fit female xc riders) so I've never ridden with girls before, only ever with dudes, but I love riding with them. They are heaps more confident than myself and possess more skills, but i don't let that intimidate me. Instead I try to watch and learn what I can.
I can't wait till i'm ready to race, but it's not the competitve aspect i'm looking forward to, it's the adrenallin rush from simply 'being in a DH race'.
I was a lil iffy about the prospect of racing to, thinking i'd look slow and unskilled, but when I witnessed the girls smashing down the hill at worlds this year, I got totally pumped to race, no matter what my current level may be.
Don't worry to much about being left behind on the track when riding with the guys, they can wait hehe!
I agree with what everyone has said regarding this topic, MTB riding is extremely male dominated and testosterone driven. More outlets/opportunities for female riders to be able to get together in a 'female' environment to ride would be awesome
mtbdh_girl
Likes Dirt
I've always felt that one of the parts I liked least about competitve DH was practice. I had no trouble with racing, I am far too competitve by nature so tend to give anything a go when challenged, but in practice you get soooo many people on the track at once, and trying to pass you constantly. Ifound this the most intimidating. I think this was in part because I didn't really know anyone well, ie I had no 'mates' to talk to/hang out with or ride practice with. The only time I ever got to ride dh was at races. I would love to race again, but these are the things I remember which put me off. I am a fairly quiet (read shy) person so I find it very hard to get talking to people. I liked 4X but the problem I had was that most of the 4X races I rode were kinda a bit bitchy. I guess a combination of lack of prctice and lack of confidence lead to fear of failure. I think I probably just have personal issues with being slow!!!
peep
Likes Bikes
Hi all,
I'm from Brissy and have attended a few DH events and competed in one (whoo!). I'm definately keen to have a proper go at racing next season, and would love to see other girls have a go as well - I don't think there were many girls racing this year at all in QLD...
I think that having confidence is a big factor in starting racing - that means a bike you feel good on, and spending a lot of time on that bike riding different tracks and getting a few skills before turning up to a race day.
More women-specific rides and skills sessions would be great, but I think riding with 'the boys' is really important cos they can teach you heaps. Besides, any race day will be male dominated, so the more you ride with boys the more tolerant to testosterone you will be!
Zooke - Roadie Rob (on farkin) has been doing some basic and Intermediate womens only clinics - I've been to one and got heaps of help from it. I recommend heading along to one - just check his website. If there are a few girls around keen on more specific coaching we could hook up and do a group session...
I'm from Brissy and have attended a few DH events and competed in one (whoo!). I'm definately keen to have a proper go at racing next season, and would love to see other girls have a go as well - I don't think there were many girls racing this year at all in QLD...
I think that having confidence is a big factor in starting racing - that means a bike you feel good on, and spending a lot of time on that bike riding different tracks and getting a few skills before turning up to a race day.
More women-specific rides and skills sessions would be great, but I think riding with 'the boys' is really important cos they can teach you heaps. Besides, any race day will be male dominated, so the more you ride with boys the more tolerant to testosterone you will be!
Zooke - Roadie Rob (on farkin) has been doing some basic and Intermediate womens only clinics - I've been to one and got heaps of help from it. I recommend heading along to one - just check his website. If there are a few girls around keen on more specific coaching we could hook up and do a group session...
wgtngrl
Cannon Fodder
Hi girls
I'm based in Wellington, NZ, and we've recently been asking the same questions over here. We have a fantastic club with many volunteers and some of the countries top riders as members who are friendly and approachable. I thought I might share some of what we've found on here as it may be of interest to anyone who is trying to improve racing numbers. (This is XC based because that's our club's focus - there is a seperate club for DH and currently only 1 woman competing, though I may do this years series if I have time...)
A couple of us did a very rough and informal survey on a couple of websites and got about 20 women responding. We looked at reasons for not racing, reasons for racing, factors that would encourage women to race.
There were 4 main reasons given why they weren't racing - not being fit enough, prefering more social events, the race environment and other riders (seems really common here too) and simply not having the inclination.
The fitness factor is something the club can probably help with by arranging womens rides and getting them out more often - offers of this have been well received and it looks like it's the same here.
Social events - there is an annual womens only triathlon run in the main centres in NZ every summer for the last 4 or 5 years. This attracted 4000!! women in Wellington and 7000!!! women in Auckland in 2006! These numbers are phenomenal so I'm going to try and tap in to what they've done to get women so involved and interested. Though I think there may be a saftey-in-numbers factor.
Race environment and other riders - I think this is a misconception held by people who haven't even been to races. Our aim is to get them along and challenge the misconception - I didn't know anyone when I started racing and now I probably know a good half of the 300 odd riders we get to our spring series races (5).
Not wanting to race... if we can up the numbers I think we could even convince these girls to give it a go.
On the up-side we wanted to know what women enjoyed about racing if they were doing it and found that it increased their motivation to ride (not to mention how much it can improve ability!), the chance of winning a spot prize (club races now offer spot prizes to all women who enter), beating the guys (YFY), socialising and getting to do different rides.
So we'll try and tap in to all of those factors to get more girls along. We have a small population but I know there are lots of women who enjoy riding.
The focus is on Wellington for now, but with luck in the coming years we may be able to get numbers up for nationals as well...
Any feedback/suggestions etc greatly appreciated
I'm based in Wellington, NZ, and we've recently been asking the same questions over here. We have a fantastic club with many volunteers and some of the countries top riders as members who are friendly and approachable. I thought I might share some of what we've found on here as it may be of interest to anyone who is trying to improve racing numbers. (This is XC based because that's our club's focus - there is a seperate club for DH and currently only 1 woman competing, though I may do this years series if I have time...)
A couple of us did a very rough and informal survey on a couple of websites and got about 20 women responding. We looked at reasons for not racing, reasons for racing, factors that would encourage women to race.
There were 4 main reasons given why they weren't racing - not being fit enough, prefering more social events, the race environment and other riders (seems really common here too) and simply not having the inclination.
The fitness factor is something the club can probably help with by arranging womens rides and getting them out more often - offers of this have been well received and it looks like it's the same here.
Social events - there is an annual womens only triathlon run in the main centres in NZ every summer for the last 4 or 5 years. This attracted 4000!! women in Wellington and 7000!!! women in Auckland in 2006! These numbers are phenomenal so I'm going to try and tap in to what they've done to get women so involved and interested. Though I think there may be a saftey-in-numbers factor.
Race environment and other riders - I think this is a misconception held by people who haven't even been to races. Our aim is to get them along and challenge the misconception - I didn't know anyone when I started racing and now I probably know a good half of the 300 odd riders we get to our spring series races (5).
Not wanting to race... if we can up the numbers I think we could even convince these girls to give it a go.
On the up-side we wanted to know what women enjoyed about racing if they were doing it and found that it increased their motivation to ride (not to mention how much it can improve ability!), the chance of winning a spot prize (club races now offer spot prizes to all women who enter), beating the guys (YFY), socialising and getting to do different rides.
So we'll try and tap in to all of those factors to get more girls along. We have a small population but I know there are lots of women who enjoy riding.
The focus is on Wellington for now, but with luck in the coming years we may be able to get numbers up for nationals as well...
Any feedback/suggestions etc greatly appreciated
Zooke
Likes Bikes
A few previous posts have been asking why women don't like racing or getting into riding, how they tend to feel intimidated by the guys riding with them and how much better they can sometimes be. I would also like to add that sometimes girls feel a little out of place when riding if they first started going with their BF.
This idea comes after doing a ride yesterday, although it was a road ride for charity, one thing that my mate and I noticed was the number of girls on fairly decent road bikes follwing guys on full spec road bikes in team gear of some sort and the look on the girls face just screams that they were lured into coming along cos they were told it wouldn't be all that difficult. Although you think that the fact that it was a 100k ride would let them know it would be kinda hard. anyway, what I'm trying to say in a round about way is guys (yes I'm sure you all read it) and ladies who ride with guys that have girl friends, suggest if they want to get inot the sport that they first ride in a behinners group, not with their bf. Just until they get comfortable, otherwise you do get put off.
This idea comes after doing a ride yesterday, although it was a road ride for charity, one thing that my mate and I noticed was the number of girls on fairly decent road bikes follwing guys on full spec road bikes in team gear of some sort and the look on the girls face just screams that they were lured into coming along cos they were told it wouldn't be all that difficult. Although you think that the fact that it was a 100k ride would let them know it would be kinda hard. anyway, what I'm trying to say in a round about way is guys (yes I'm sure you all read it) and ladies who ride with guys that have girl friends, suggest if they want to get inot the sport that they first ride in a behinners group, not with their bf. Just until they get comfortable, otherwise you do get put off.
Id disagree with that so it must be a personal thing. I personally ride much better with my bf there, trying everything he does.Especially when hes following me down the hills!!! And when im unsure of something and he says i can do it i really know i can i dont think id be up to where i am in riding if it wasnt for riding with him. I guess it all comes down to individual guys and girls!!!!
mtbmamma
Likes Dirt
I find riding or doing any sort of sport with guys is good. They really push you to do better. They also don't coddle you but let you know, if they're good friends, whether you can do something or not due to your abilities. If you can't they are ususally the first to help and direct.
roxy12
Fat Tyre Flyers
mmm sounds like we just have a quite a few jerks in victoria.
Dont get me wrong there are alot of GREAT HELPFULL guys here but we have our share of wankers to.
The guys who simply have to make smart arsee comments, put me down, and try to belittle me as a rider. Not to mention the idiots who take off the second after i have gone from the top of a track then bitch because im slower then them, seriously if they dont know im not going to be as fast as a male elite rider there just plain stupid. I always thought it was common sence to leave space between riders anyway?
ahhhh sorry just venting
Dont get me wrong there are alot of GREAT HELPFULL guys here but we have our share of wankers to.
The guys who simply have to make smart arsee comments, put me down, and try to belittle me as a rider. Not to mention the idiots who take off the second after i have gone from the top of a track then bitch because im slower then them, seriously if they dont know im not going to be as fast as a male elite rider there just plain stupid. I always thought it was common sence to leave space between riders anyway?
ahhhh sorry just venting
Zooke
Likes Bikes
My suggestion was more aimed at beginners, and people who are think it might be cool to get into the sport that their partner really enjoys doing. I personally enjoy riding with guys, the only person I ride off road with is a guy. But I know when I started I prefered riding with a girlfriend who was not quite a beginner but was really understanding.
From the way you say and look like you ride, apart from the fact that there is no way I would keep up with you, but I think I would be a little intimidated by your level of riding, although I'm sure you would put anyone at ease.
wow, after reading about others experiences, I think I can say that mine in canberra have been quite wonderful.
Ive competed in 2 x 12hr xc races here and at rossi, and was stunned by the generous and caring nature of the other riders on the track, both male and female. Anytime I showed any signs of distress on the track I was asked by almost every passing rider if all was ok.
1. Why are there not more girls interested in racing of any sort - downhill, mtnx or xc?
I am not particularly competitive when it comes to riding, but entered as my husband and I had encouraged a coupla other girls to start riding when I did, n we thought we'd join the boys for a night race as night riding is the best buzz ;-) I would not currently enter the scott24hr as I dont particularly like kowen and do find the sheer number of 3000 odd riders intimidating. If I did compete again it would be purely to have fun with the girls n fellas we ride with in a great environment ;-)
2. What would make it more enticing for girls to race?
The skills camps that CORC run are wonderful, I have not attended but a friend has, and she raved about it. They are a great building block for future racers.
Spot prizes are probably a good incentive/motivator.
We try to encourage as many people into riding as possible, and recommend to those that make any noises about competing to first go watch a local race as a spectator. Going out to see the 2000 Mont 24hr was what convinced us to buy bikes ;-)
Ive competed in 2 x 12hr xc races here and at rossi, and was stunned by the generous and caring nature of the other riders on the track, both male and female. Anytime I showed any signs of distress on the track I was asked by almost every passing rider if all was ok.
1. Why are there not more girls interested in racing of any sort - downhill, mtnx or xc?
I am not particularly competitive when it comes to riding, but entered as my husband and I had encouraged a coupla other girls to start riding when I did, n we thought we'd join the boys for a night race as night riding is the best buzz ;-) I would not currently enter the scott24hr as I dont particularly like kowen and do find the sheer number of 3000 odd riders intimidating. If I did compete again it would be purely to have fun with the girls n fellas we ride with in a great environment ;-)
2. What would make it more enticing for girls to race?
The skills camps that CORC run are wonderful, I have not attended but a friend has, and she raved about it. They are a great building block for future racers.
Spot prizes are probably a good incentive/motivator.
We try to encourage as many people into riding as possible, and recommend to those that make any noises about competing to first go watch a local race as a spectator. Going out to see the 2000 Mont 24hr was what convinced us to buy bikes ;-)
dilemma
girl+bike
Hey girls,
I've just experienced my first DH race - I've been keen to do it for a long time and finally bit the bullet and did it!
But first I'll share my thoughts on the questions...
1. I think probably the intimidation factor comes into it a lot. Especially if you don't know someone who's already into it. I think this is the case for all disciplines of cycling on a whole (except maybe triathlon) which makes it pretty hard to get into it. I've often wondered why there are a lot more women involved in triathlon than other forms of cycling, considering that it's a pretty bloody hard sport (especially to be good at all 3 disciplines!). But it's made a lot more accessible and I guess it's a fair bit more mainstream with its connection to surf lifesaving/ironman etc.
So probably to make mtb racing more accessible, that's a good idea that (I think) Terranik had about 'learn to race' days. In terms of making racing more accessible, I think endurance racing (8, 12, 24 hour) is helping that quite a bit as you get to experience a race but it's not necessarily ultra competitive.
2. What would make it more enticing? Knowing that you can go to a race and there will be friendly, helpful and encouraging people - girls and guys - would be an instant enticer, and for the most part I'd like to think this is already the case! But it would be great to have a guarantee!
There's a bit of a write-up about the race I did yesterday on the girl+bike site, and a couple of pics too. I'll put some more pics into the gallery soon.
http://www.girlplusbike.com/Pages/Inspire/Inspire%20stories/Girls%20down%20hills.html
I ended up with a mechanical so couldn't finish my qualifying run (or do the final run) so that was a bugger, but I had a great day anyway getting to know the other girls and seeing how all the racing stuff works for DH!
(Thanks to Lizardskin, Jules & Jules for helping me out!)
MTB-ChiK
Likes Dirt
Hey dilemma,
Great write-up and website you got there It was really good reading the article on your first DH race as I could relate to that too! I had my first race in Mt Gambier last month and the Adelaide girls were just awesome to hang out with and were very friendly and helpful. I only wish I could've been there for Eagle Quarry! The weather, track, everything looked perfect for a great race. Bugger about your breakage during your run though Don't feel too bad, at least your body isn't injured... I haven't been able to ride DH for over a month since my shoulder is still cactus from a pre-race injury (wahh!... maybe I should get it x-rayd )
In regards to riding with the guys I have never had a problem with our local boys... And the guys I've met through DH racing have all been pretty good. Even though they smell out the shuttle buses & pay each other out with rather crude humor (which I'm used to, and find amusing anyway) I think the majority of them are great & have respect for the chicks. Those that don't, and find it necessary to put chicks down... well, they're the ones with 'issues' and are just threatened that you'll outride them one day, if not already!.... roxy, that's you
Great write-up and website you got there
It was really good reading the article on your first DH race as I could relate to that too! I had my first race in Mt Gambier last month and the Adelaide girls were just awesome to hang out with and were very friendly and helpful. I only wish I could've been there for Eagle Quarry! The weather, track, everything looked perfect for a great race. Bugger about your breakage during your run though Don't feel too bad, at least your body isn't injured... I haven't been able to ride DH for over a month since my shoulder is still cactus from a pre-race injury (wahh!... maybe I should get it x-rayd )In regards to riding with the guys I have never had a problem with our local boys... And the guys I've met through DH racing have all been pretty good. Even though they smell out the shuttle buses & pay each other out with rather crude humor (which I'm used to, and find amusing anyway) I think the majority of them are great & have respect for the chicks. Those that don't, and find it necessary to put chicks down... well, they're the ones with 'issues' and are just threatened that you'll outride them one day, if not already!.... roxy, that's you
Hi peep
I too ride with guys all of the time and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the challenge of trying to keep up with them and the fact that it forces me to ride thing's I might otherwise chicken out on.
What you've said makes a lot of sense, spending plenty of time on your bike and being comfortable on it before you hit the racing scene makes a huge difference. I spent a couple of years just riding my bike and building up my skill base and confidence before starting XC/enduro racing last year.
I have found most guys are very supportive of chicks in racing, simply because we are giving it a go. I have to admit when I first started it was a tad daunting. I am no XC whippet and I got overtaken by absolutely everybody. But the more I race, the better I feel, the faster I get.
BTW. I am also from Brissy and am keen to get into DH racing. I was hoping to buy a DH bike soon so I can start racing this season. I'm not sure how likely that is at this stage, as DH rigs are soooo expensive
wgtngrl
Cannon Fodder
this is a message i keep repeating. it's so true! a lot of girls are stuck in a bit of a catch 22 saying they don't want to race because they're not good enough yet not believing it would actually make them better. and it applies to both xc and dh. the thought of my next race or series is what keeps me motivated enough to sacrifice my sleep-ins, drinking, get out and train in horrible conditions (that, and i can call the boys soft
)then again i just love this game...
so many dh chicks on here - what's in the water over there???
mtbmamma
Likes Dirt
I think its a bit of good old Aussie pride. Us girls have it in spades and won't let those guys beat us..............well, maybe they can beat us, not all of them, but at least they can't call us soft.this is a message i keep repeating. it's so true! a lot of girls are stuck in a bit of a catch 22 saying they don't want to race because they're not good enough yet not believing it would actually make them better. and it applies to both xc and dh. the thought of my next race or series is what keeps me motivated enough to sacrifice my sleep-ins, drinking, get out and train in horrible conditions (that, and i can call the boys soft
then again i just love this game...
so many dh chicks on here - what's in the water over there???
I think we all love our bikes no matter what and thats what keeps us coming back for more.