I've just done the A Sig Classic and last year the A19 Sig and I'm discovering that the faster you go the lonelier it gets for a chick on the bike. Last year, I was one of the two fast women in the 19A and pretty much rode with a pack of guys for the last five weeks. But at least there were a healthy bunch of women in that sig. This year in the A Classic Sig we had a record number of women graduates--eight out of like 30-35 guys. Usually it's one, two, maybe three.
I put together a fast women's ride on July 29 and if you want to join us send me an email. We'll probably be doing a pretty fast pace, but write anyway. I've got a deficit of four rides I'm supposed to lead--two from each of the sig's I've done. Last year, I was caught up in training and doing Ironman Lake Placid. This year I'm free but feeling kinda lonely for women riders. The first ride I did after the A Sig I was one of two women and the other one was only in town for the summer and it was her first club ride.
So....I'm trying to find all the women in the club, fast and not, so that I can lead you! Send me an email if you are interested. Let me know what sig you have done, if you have done one, if you want to do one. Also, drop me a note if you train during the day, if you do triathlons, if you are looking for a training partner.
Do not be intimidated by me. I was captain of my high school swim team and I'm like the girl who encourages everyone to do well, as long as they are nice and like to laugh...
But beware, I am that Ironman triathlete who wears arm warmers with my sleeveless jersey that Bicycling magazine made fun of this spring. I'm hoping to get together with the fun chicks of the nycc who like to be fit and still look like girls.
See you on the road!
Karol
It's hard out here for a girl
Sorry, got the date wrong. The ride is on Sunday, July 30. Rockland Lake, approx. 70 miles, A19-22 plus pace. Meet Central Park Boathouse 9 am.
"Might I suggest a bike race if you're wanting the company of fellow fast women. Lots of gals race, and it's a very supportive community. There's a race in Prospect Park on Saturday. Register here.
My team, CRCA/Comedy Central-New Canaan Cyclery, is hosting a ride for aspiring women racers later this month (we hold an annual women's racing clinic).
If anyone is interested, contact me at beth(nospamplease,itmakesmebreakout)renaud(at)yahoo(dot)com."
"I'm used to being one of the boys at work, but agree that it's fun to be a XX-chromosome bearer and that we need to support and mentor each other. Shouts to all of those great women who taught me so much during my short time in the club. You know who you are.
I'm up for anything, but likely will fall into your ""not so fast"" category.
~CML"
No worries, Claudette. It's all good! Please feel free to join us.
... ride with you but I'm not even close to your level. I did the C-SIG this year and recently have been doing B16 rides. However, at graduation I noticed the shortage of women in the A-SIG and A-SIG classic so have set my sights on those for future years. Anyway, I'd love some encouragement and coaching if you're ever up for a slower ride. And I definitely like looking like a girl; can't help it - I have hips.
"Just curious, how would people react if a male club member posted a message looking to start a ""men only"" riding group?"
Ride with us, then feel free.
"""if a male club member posted a message looking to start a ""men only"" riding group?""
A lot less strangely than:
1) If you were female ... (looking to start a ""men only"" group)
2) Were male ... but were a consistent minority in your peer group ... and had to endure endless rest stop commentary about who's the Cute Guy on the Tour.
3) Were male ... but regularly had faster, younger women commenting on your buns, sending you obscene greeting cards/edible Speedos, proposing marriage, etc. (I can relate.)
"
Bill, I totally understand what you are saying. I probably should not have posted this publicly. But I am so eager to track down fast women cyclists. Mostly, they disappear into road racing teams and you rarely see them unless you too race. I do triathlons and prefer the race set up there--no mad pack crashes. Thank you, Beth, for posting though. I still may do it. But I'm mostly wanting to find women who really want to push their limits and have fun too. I do this to blow off steam and recharge. It should be loads and loads of fun.
And I'd really like to keep this first women's ride for just women so we can have a little bonding time. I know that is so not p.c., but I'd really like all the guys in this club to respect that need. I've been about one of two or three women in my pack on about every club and sig ride I've ever done. Can I not have this one ride?
After that, you can come if you are a fast man too.
but...
here are the rules of the road:
1) no jokes about skorts, arm warmers with sleeveless jerseys, boleros/shrugs, bright colors or any item of clothing that a male cyclist would not wear (usually).
2) no commentary about the female anatomy. zippo.
3) no hopes of hammering and seeing who you can drop and your day is not ruined if someone is off the back.
4) no intense, competitive hostility. this is a TRAINING ride. it is not a race.
5) no guys who don't girls (be honest).
6) no guys who just want to come to hit on girls unless you are lance, ullrich, basso or those listed in the cutest guys on the tour thread.
7) absolutely no guy who has ever in his life posted a mean-spirited message about women on this board.
8) be on time.
9) have skills.
10) must like to laugh even when riding fast.
See you on the road!
"Hey Karol. I like the way you think. In your original post you said
""I'm trying to find all the women in the club, fast and not, so that I can lead you!""
So please consider doing a ride for those of us who aren't fast yet but really want to be. Thanks."
I won't be checking this page any more. If you want to ride you know the date, you know the rules. If you can not make the date, send me an email so that I'll be sure to include you if I do it again.
Bill, I understand your hypothetical, but I don't think it's relevant because there's no context, and context here is important. The fastest groups are nearly men-only by default, so organizing a male-only group would suggest an entirely different motivation. I personally think it would be a great for the fast-riding women to organize something where they feel challenged but don't have to sacrifice the fun of fellow female comraderie. Obviously, I'm not a girl myself, but I understand that.
"I just find it strange that the complaint I often hear is that women are a ""minority"" on mixed rides, yet even the fastest can only be on one ride at a time, so if they go on a ""women only"" ride, that leaves the mixed rides with even fewer women. It seems to me the way to solve the ""minority"" problem is to encourage more women to ride with the group– not to create your own female ghetto.
Look at the photo on the home page– 1/3 women. That's not such a tiny minority.
Also, in all my years of riding with the club, I've never encountered a male commenting on a womans buns. I doubt the other men would tolerate it and I can't imagine the women putting up with it."
