Women's Series

Pross

Two 'interesting' races so far in the women's series. After the first race was abandoned due to a serious crash the latest round appears to have been sabotaged by tacks being thrown on the course. Added to that one rider got clipped by a car wing mirror and crashed bringing down some others (one of my club's womens team ended up with a fractured elbow). Hopefully the next round will be less eventful!

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20110418--Road--Women-s-Cheshire-Classic-0

Tom Butcher

Was talking to a woman in the week who wont ride them now - she's switching to LVRCs instead - reckons there are far too many risk takers and inexperienced riders making it dangerous for everyone.

jibberjim

They're actually different series... The first race was the Team Series, the second one was the National series.

Neither the tacks nor the oncoming car were down to the riders - and the first race in the team series probably is an inappropriate circuit for the first race of the season in the team series. And certainly missed having a lot of the stronger riders choosing not to race on it due to its nature.

maryka

Indeed, the Team Series is aimed at a lower level of riders (read: fields aren't selected, many 4th cats choose to enter, etc.) and that Windsor course was a nightmare last year with too much traffic, not enough hills, too many riders -- an 80-rider field is ridiculous for a women's road race on such tight busy roads). I believe the organiser is looking at how to rectify this in future, such as putting into place more restrictive entries.

The National Series race just sounds bizarre though, that one has always been competitive with a top-notch field as it's the first in the season. Bad luck with the tacks and the driver overtaking a few of the dropped back-markers and knocking them off the bike. The race was stopped because on the next lap around, the road was still blocked with the downed riders so it couldn't continue til it was cleared.

What we need in women's road racing is a system more like the men's, now that there are enough women racing. The depth of the field at the top end is much greater, and that coupled with the vast difference in ability between the top end and the lower end means we can have more selected fields, more lower cat races, not allow elites and 1st cats to race in 2/3/4 races, etc. Previously anyone and everyone was allowed and encouraged to enter any and every race just to make up the numbers, but now that's not necessary. So dividing the races into e.g., E/1/2 and 2/3/4 seems to make a lot more sense now for everyone.

If BC isn't going to change the category system (and that goes for men's racing too -- way too many inexperienced 4th cats in these parts jumping straight into open road racing before paying their dues learning the trade in the closed circuits) then the least we can do in women's racing is come up with some measures to protect both the inexperienced and the elite riders from unnecessary risk and danger. The elites don't need to be mixing it up with complete novices, and the novices don't need the stress and intimidation of having to mix it up with elites. It doesn't do anyone any good.

My 2 pence.

Pross

It's a tricky one certainly when I started out women riders were few and far between and the national comps were about the only time you saw any large numbers of women racing. Whilst inexperience is undoubtably a major cause of crashes separating 4th cats from the others would cause issues, for example a clubmate of mine went to second cat in her first season last year but got her points mainly in national comps and went on to race internationally. If she'd been kept out of those races as a 4th cat she might still be a 4th cat now as she would struggle to pick up points against male 4th cats and I can't see many people organising women only 4th cat races. I should also point out that my OP was just pointing out the unfortunate events in the two races rather than suggesting the riders were at fault.

stevec205gti

I've started to follow this with some interest - a guy I work with is the father of a couple of the Motorpoint girls (shouldn't be too difficult to work out who - they're the two with the same surname lol). I've also heard reports that there's a few too many inexperienced riders in amongst the bunch making it a bit hairy. Hoping to get to go along and watch a few races during the season

maryka

stevec205gti wrote:

I've started to follow this with some interest - a guy I work with is the father of a couple of the Motorpoint girls (shouldn't be too difficult to work out who - they're the two with the same surname lol). I've also heard reports that there's a few too many inexperienced riders in amongst the bunch making it a bit hairy. Hoping to get to go along and watch a few races during the season

He's someone who should be concerned as his girls stand the most to lose being in a bunch with novices, as they are on the fast track to the pros. Especially given their propensity for winning bunch sprints rather than hilly breakaway-style races, meaning they endure more risk in races. The more fit triathletes and runners and rowers who get into the sport as 4th cats and who can hang with the 1sts and elites in the bunch, regardless of bike handling skills, the more dodgy it is.

You see this in men's racing too, but because it's harder to move up categories and there are so many more men than women racing, it seems that the inexperienced 4ths and 3rds in the men's races are more watered down (and learn skills more quickly as most races they do will have larger bunches, whereas a lot of women's smaller races will fragment into small groups).

Would really like to see BC incorporate some version of the American system where you can't move up from 4th cat (which is truly a novice category) until you've achieved 10 finishes in the bunch. You can't move up before then even if you win every one of those races, and once you've reached that, you move up regardless of how many points you have or don't have. That would leave 4th cat as a real novice category and 3rd for experienced but lesser riders, and 2nd and above as it is now, for experienced and fitter riders. In women's racing, you could separate it by cat E/1/2 and cat 2/3/4 for the sake of getting enough riders to make up the field. But the days of all-cats women's open road races need to come to an end. E.g., you'd never let a male 4th cat former high level rower or triathlete in his first road race ever enter an E/1/2/3 open event, why do we do that with women?

Pross

I know we discussed this about a year back regarding men's racing but I would go along with something along those lines. My own idea would be to use the Go Race format and new riders would have to complete a set number of those races before racing in open races. Make the maximum field in the Go Races smaller (say 30) so that they get used to bunches without quite as many riders and have some form of commissaire report system so that any riders who ride dangerously get flagged and have to stay in the category until they have done say 5 or 10 races without being flagged. I would add though that the most dangerous rider I have raced regularly with was a clubmate who rode in junior worlds and was a regular in the National Series in the 90s so it isn't always an experience thing (he liked to ride head down - crashed into me in a time trial having only just recovered from riding into the back of a stationary van on a chain gang and then went on to cause a bunch pile up when sprinting head down in a crit!)