To any women who race or are thinking of starting,
There is a shortage of women's only races in our region and I was excited to see that there are some Prospect Park races coming up that have a women's field. Check them out and think about getting out there! The more of us that show up for these, the more promoters will consider adding women's fields to the regional races.
http://www.kissenasports.com/nycs_competitor_info.htm
Also, a group in NJ is promoting races exclusively for cat 4 women which is another great opportunity to get out there and get started. The next race in that series is this coming Saturday in Newark, NJ.
http://www.racelistings.com/register/events/flyer.asp?ID=418
Let me know if you want more info and hope to see you at the races!
ML
Women's racing in NYC
Registration for Cherry Blossom is also available here:
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=3390
I would love to race, but am getting a very late start to the season. I am still doing the base layer of 500 miles. Are there any good training sites for women?
Late? It's only April!
The best way to train for racing is to get out there and ride. If you haven't gotten your base established, put in the miles. Go out for two or three hours. Not super hard, just get the aerobic base in your legs. And no stopping at the Runcible! After the base, you start with small doses of intensity, a few minutes at a time. Then the higher intensity intervals, in shorter doses, with decreasing recovery between. (Caveat: This is grossly oversimplifying a training program; it all depends on what kinds of races you want to do, when they are, the distance, what your strengths and weaknesses are.)
CRCA, the predominant racing club in NYC, offers a women's racing clinic on June 24. By then, you should be fired up and rarin' to go. Then you can see if you like racing; if you get bit by the bug, there will be lots of information on which races to try next.
In response to the original post, there are plenty of races with women's fields, if not in NYC, then in the surrounding vicinity. For example, CRCA offers many separate women's fields in its club races; Kissena offers separate women's finishes for its Prospect Park races; and there are many great races in New England that accommodate cat. 4 women (such as the Palmer and Sturbridge races, the last weekend in April, see bikereg.com for more info).
However, there aren't always women's fields, and cat. 4 fields available. But if you want to race, and you really want to get fast, sometimes you have to ride with women who are higher than cat. 4's, and also with men.
My only point is that the non-CRCA races in NYC do not always have women's fields. Floyd Bennett, Spring Series races, and now Branchbrook (in Newark) don't have women's fields... So, I am trying to encourage women to get out to the non-CRCA races in NYC when there is a women's field because it encourages the promoters to keep having the women's races. A lot of people don't have transportation to the out-of-town races.
In response to the training questions, check out books like Joe Friel's Cyclist Training Bible and the web site www.trainingpeaks.com
thanks for the wonderful feedback.
