A few different events recently have caused me to reflect on the state of women's cycling at all levels.
Firstly, I have recently been to a triathlon to watch some friends race. There were many women participating in this event, from beginners getting out on a rusty old bike to elite racers with high tech gear. This is in contrast to most cycling events, whether races or community events, where the women's field consists of a handful of entrants and is dwarfed by the size of the men's field. I started wondering why this is. Why do women participate in triathlons but not cycling events?
One possible reason became apparent at a cycling event I did on Sunday. I completed the 100km City of Armadale Grand Fondo, which was organised by the Perth Integrated Health cycling group. It was a good event, lots of excellent organisation had gone into it. The course was clearly marked with arrows and corner marshals in tricky areas. It was a timed participation event, not a race, but there was one section where we were encouraged to race for the "King of the Mountain" (KOM) prize. This was a section of really steep climbing, which I attacked as hard as I could in the hopes of winning prizes prizes prizes :)
I rode most of the ride by myself, and had a good time in spite of the patches of rain. I had started the ride about 10 min after most of the 100km riders and I was pleased that I gradually caught and passed many of them.
After the ride, I went to the presentation ceremony as I thought I may have a chance of being in the podium finishers for the women's KOM (QOM). However, the organisers had neglected to consider arranging a women's category for the prizes. The top ten men were recognised and presented with a jersey, and the top three men were given cash prizes. As a last-minute attempt to recognise the women, the organisers found a spare Jersey and presented this to the fastest woman. A small gesture.
I would be so interested to understand how the organisers totally overlooked arranging a women's category for the prizes.
For the record, the fastest woman up the climb was the 13th fastest overall up the climb. And the fastest woman for the 100km ride as a whole was the 7th fastest overall. So awesome! I was the fourth fastest woman up the climb and 15th fastest woman for the 100km.
The good news is that after receiving feedback about this, the organisers have promised to do better next year. This may be an opportunity for someone to step up and sponsor the women's prize ..... :)
