Pooley Grabs Silver

blazing_saddles

Another British medal success. Pooley shows she's not just a climber, getting silver in the Women's ITT, behind favourite Armstrong.

skavanagh.bikeradar

Brilliant! Well deserved especially after the effort she put in on Sunday. British Cycling is eeking out medals and improving it's strength in depth and experience (backroom too). Is Britain learning to love the bike?! I'll confirm/disprove this while commuting to work.

liversedge

Phenomenal ride. It just keeps gettng better, she really deserved this after burying herself for the team on Sunday.

Girlpower!!

captain_oakley

Great ride Emma, well deserved after Sundays selfless display.

You have to hand it to the girlies at the moment, the male of the species are
being shown the way home, not just on the bike, but in the pool, on a horse, etc.

Now about that beach volleyball.....


'A few Good Rears'

oldwelshman

Yes very good ride, well deserved medal. The course was ideal for her. No way was Cooke going to win that.
Good ride by Cummngs in the mens also beating Schumacher, Kirchen and Menchov. I would have expected all thos 3 to have performed better than they did.
Cancelara did well to win on such a hilly course but he is very strong.

NervexProf

Steve Cummings ride was outstanding...did you notice that Dave Brailsford jumped into the following car for Steve's second lap?

To finish 11th in a field of this quality must make Steve feel 7 feet tall.

As to the girls, well, a bow from me..yes they have shown the fellas the way...as I have tried to highlight in the 'Women's Racing' forum.

Keep in mind that Emma Pooley's racing experience is but 2 years young..and behind her there are many more great girls coming through - e.g. Jess Varnish, track.

Now is the time for clubs to mount a recruitment drive to attract more women to the sport - as the Addiscombe CC are, and have always done. Get the girls along, and the fellas will join! - It's human nature!

leguape

NervexProf wrote:

Now is the time for clubs to mount a recruitment drive to attract more women to the sport - as the Addiscombe CC are, and have always done. Get the girls along, and the fellas will join! - It's human nature!

London Dynamo have been actively recruiting women as well and are getting pretty good results too. Now all they need is a few more races to take part in.

NervexProf

leguape wrote:

NervexProf wrote:

Now is the time for clubs to mount a recruitment drive to attract more women to the sport - as the Addiscombe CC are, and have always done. Get the girls along, and the fellas will join! - It's human nature!

London Dynamo have been actively recruiting women as well and are getting pretty good results too. Now all they need is a few more races to take part in.

Well done Lequape...all power to your elbow in getting more girls involved..and yes - they need more, and regular races..of all kinds.

Discounted entry fees for 3/4 road events is maybe the place to start?

Kléber

There are loads of women into triathlon, it is just a matter of time for more to cross into cycling, already many are moving across. Triathlon seems great at welcoming women.

NervexProf

Kléber wrote:

There are loads of women into triathlon, it is just a matter of time for more to cross into cycling, already many are moving across. Triathlon seems great at welcoming women.

Kleber, you are clearly well informed here...what do the Triathlon fraternity do to encourage women to take part which our 'run of the mill' Cycling Clubs don't do?

BeaconRuth

NervexProf wrote:

Now is the time for clubs to mount a recruitment drive to attract more women to the sport.................

You're absolutely right there. There is nothing better than some fantastic role models like Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws to demonstrate that cycling isn't a sport just for men.

There are many signs of real hope for women racing cyclists but I still despair time and time again of some of the blatantly biased reporting. This kind of headline makes me pig-sick: :evil: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/u ... amps-17001
Why does it not say "Atkinson and Wilson-Young win Scots 25 Champs"? The subconscious message to women is "you're not important as a racing cyclist, even if you're the fastest in your country. You're only a woman, afterall, and therefore your championship is inferior and not as news-worthy."

We can encourage women into clubs and into racing but until the cycling media start treating women's achievements equally with men's at every level of the sport, women will not consider it to be a sport for them. There is a MASSIVE role to play in this by the cycling media.

Hopefully Cooke, Pooley and Laws will get some better press-coverage in general now, at least.

Ruth

will3

Tis the same for most sports though.

BeaconRuth

will3 wrote:

Tis the same for most sports though.

I think running, athletics, triathlon and swimming would all treat men's and women's champions equally wouldn't they? I agree women's football, rugby, cricket, golf, motorsport etc etc probably have a long way to catch up too. That doesn't make the bias fair in cycling though.

Ruth

NervexProf

BeaconRuth wrote:

NervexProf wrote:

Now is the time for clubs to mount a recruitment drive to attract more women to the sport.................

You're absolutely right there. There is nothing better than some fantastic role models like Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws to demonstrate that cycling isn't a sport just for men.

There are many signs of real hope for women racing cyclists but I still despair time and time again of some of the blatantly biased reporting. This kind of headline makes me pig-sick: :evil: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/u ... amps-17001
Why does it not say "Atkinson and Wilson-Young win Scots 25 Champs"? The subconscious message to women is "you're not important as a racing cyclist, even if you're the fastest in your country. You're only a woman, afterall, and therefore your championship is inferior and not as news-worthy."

We can encourage women into clubs and into racing but until the cycling media start treating women's achievements equally with men's at every level of the sport, women will not consider it to be a sport for them. There is a MASSIVE role to play in this by the cycling media.

Hopefully Cooke, Pooley and Laws will get some better press-coverage in general now, at least.

Ruth

Ruth - keep shouting the cause...a 58-58 in a National 25 Road title is way beyond me.

Salute Jessica Wilson; much respect.

will3

this is great journalism:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/im ... lery.shtml

wearing GB strip, must be Emma..............................

BeaconRuth

I see what you mean, WILL3.

Ruth

fenlandplodder

will3 wrote:

wearing GB strip, must be Emma..............................

cyclingnews.com made a similar goof with the shot of Nicole Cooke on her back in the road. However they corrected it eventually. :x Diabolical screw up though.

Didn't Emma Pooley protest earlier this year that journalists only knew about Nicole Cooke in road cycling? If so it's an interest turn of events

Still a great ride.

Another interesting thing about the Women's TT was the number of women with post graduate qualifications. I suspect the proportion was significantly higher than in the men's events. Or may be journalists implying that the women are taking the event less seriously.

will3

fenlandplodder wrote:

Didn't Emma Pooley protest earlier this year that journalists only knew about Nicole Cooke in road cycling? If so it's an interest turn of events

Dunno, but earlier in the year, forget which race it was, Emma actually beat cooke, but the Beeb news article barely mentioned thisfact, merely concentrating on where Cooke finished.
Ho hum.

And yes they are a clever lot, Emma has a first class degree in engineering from Cambridge university.

will3

there you go this one.
OK they finished together , but.....EP 6th NC 8th

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s ... 363638.stm

Kléber

A lot of men are into forms of elite cycling from the age of 14 onwards. They start winning races, join the national junior team and work up the ranks until they turn pro. Fitting in studies is going to be hard.

The women don't operate in such an organised and professional circuit, the fact that some are coming late into the sport and then getting to the top shows the levels are not quite the same but at the same time this is good since many of them have time to get what is literally a first class education as well as achieving sporting excellence.

will3

Kléber wrote:

A lot of men are into forms of elite cycling from the age of 14 onwards. They start winning races, join the national junior team and work up the ranks until they turn pro. Fitting in studies is going to be hard.

The women don't operate in such an organised and professional circuit, the fact that some are coming late into the sport and then getting to the top shows the levels are not quite the same but at the same time this is good since many of them have time to get what is literally a first class education as well as achieving sporting excellence.

I think that's a little unfair. You seem to be suggesting that they finish university and then take up cycling. Emma, for example, had three things to do while at university:
Sleep, train ,study.
She mainly seemed to do without the sleep. It takes an enourmous amount of dedication to do well academically and in your chosen sporting field.

Kléber

I didn't say what you're accusing me of Try not to read between the lines.

I was saying it's great to win and to have a good education.

I was just implying women's cycling doesn't drop 14 year olds onto this conveyor belt that goes from their local race onto a pro contract and where there is little chance to step on and off, young riders are usually thrown off along the way and they don't get such a good education. That's why few male elite cyclists have a degree.

ride_whenever

as for your comments on uni there are four things pick three:

sport sleep study socialise

hence sport and study and sleep is possible...

method

NervexProf wrote:

Kléber wrote:

There are loads of women into triathlon, it is just a matter of time for more to cross into cycling, already many are moving across. Triathlon seems great at welcoming women.

Kleber, you are clearly well informed here...what do the Triathlon fraternity do to encourage women to take part which our 'run of the mill' Cycling Clubs don't do?

I'm not a women so this maybe wrong, but a couple of differences are; Cycling and clubs still have a reputation as being cliquey, I know many aren't but some still seem to be, possibly a monority now. Triathlon seems to be more inclusive, for women and men. Maybe because its 3 events and most people have a week one. I think the thing that makes the most difference is the variation in times in any race, it runs from elite, to just managing to get round. So for most peole you're unlikely to be last. Wheras in your first bike race you're most likely to get dropped.

oldwelshman

BeaconRuth wrote:

I see what you mean, WILL3.

Ruth

I dodn't notice anything until about the 5th time I looked at other pics

andrewgturnbull

NervexProf wrote:

Kléber wrote:

There are loads of women into triathlon, it is just a matter of time for more to cross into cycling, already many are moving across. Triathlon seems great at welcoming women.

Kleber, you are clearly well informed here...what do the Triathlon fraternity do to encourage women to take part which our 'run of the mill' Cycling Clubs don't do?

Hi there.

Equal prize money for a start!

Apart from that triathlon is much more inclusive, mostly due to the lack of baggage that comes with a one hundred year old sport like cycling.

Cheers, Andy

ps Emma Pooley started as a triathlete...

Blonde

MTB riding seems to appeal more to women than road cycling - I see loads of female MTB -ers. I think it is because, despite the digusting show of misogyny in some MTB mags, the discipline is relatively new comparede to road, and therefore less of an old boys club in the first place - although you could argue that running and athletics are the oldest sports, yet are reported (and taken part in) more equally. Another reason, and probably a more significant one is that the perceived 'risk' of cying on the road, in traffic, as opposed to off-road, on trails seems to be much greater, particularly amongst women. Don't ask me where people get these ideas from though! I actually stopped MTB-ing partly because I was always falling off with the risk of fairly significant injury, and this was much less likely on the road - not more, but the press are also responsible for talking up the risk of traffic accidents, so it's not that surprising that people generally are put off. I find it quite ironic that horse riding and skiing are both more popular with women than road cycling and yet these are both far more dangerous!

I am with Ruth on the annoying press habit of ignoring women in the sport totally - even in the road cycling mags there is little coverage. When sport in general is reported it is nearly always assumed to be a male activity (only athletics and tennis seem to be immune from this - don't know why, but it must be something ingrained in our culture). When cycling or football is reported it is only pre-fixed with the word 'women's' if played by women - they don't report on 'men's football' or 'men's cycling' thereby implying that it's a male sport and that women's events are not of the norm or are even inferior.

NervexProf

Blonde wrote:

MTB riding seems to appeal more to women than road cycling -thereby implying that it's a male sport and that women's events are not of the norm or are even inferior.

A very thoughtful response to the issue I raised Blonde - I don't despair tho' with Nicole and Emma's medals this week I feel a new dawn stirring!

Despite my (your?) groan/moan I well know that there are many 'blokes' who have the utmost respect for icons of cycling; e.g. Beryl Burton - and going further back the great and bubbly Eileen Sheridan!

All is not gloom..but we fellas, and you girls must continue to shout your case.

Chris_Who

I thought it was interesting that Emma talked post-race about why she felt happier doing the time trial than RR - that without your competitors around you there is less naked aggression

perhaps other women are put off by the competitive aspect - tri seems to be much more about beating yourself

cougie

I know that in my bike club its only about 25 years since women were even allowed to ride ! How mad is that ?

To be fair - lots of bike clubs are so cliquey and old school that i think they put off men as well as women.

Tri clubs are newer and the emphasis is really on having fun and the challenge. Doesnt matter if you're a bit slow. Being slow really isnt that much fun in road racing - you'd be out of the back before you know it. And TTing down a lonely dual carriageway at 7am - well its not quite fun for all the family is it ?

Kléber

It's tougher for women at all levels. At the top, look at the Olympics, keirin is for the men as there isn't a women's version and half of us are spending more time speculating about who is going to join Team Garmin than discussing women's racing.

Lower down, club cycling is a bit of a closed world. Triathlon allows people to enter events online, to race and have fun, half the point is to complete the course, to challenge yourself and you are treated as a winner if you complete it, with a t-shirt and a finisher's medal.

But to ride a TT and you get a cup of tea for handing your number back. Before all this, you normally need to join a club, buy a handbook, get a chequebook, post forms off and then with luck you'll find yourself in a lay-by on the A1 at 6.47am preparing to dodge trucks, hardly for beginners. Road racing is easier to enter but beginners racing is very hard, as even at the lowest level the fitness is high and it's too easy for newcomers to get dropped and put off forever.

Plenty of women have come through but the sport needs to open itself up a lot more and make it easier for newcomers, especially women.