Right here.
“Where are the women?” A question I’ve heard race promoters/directors ask. Most often regarding local road racing events.
The photo above is from the 2019 Castle ‘Cross. A healthy grass roots CX race in Kansas City. The race had 21 women starters spread over 6 categories (WPro 1/2/3, W40, W50, W60, W4, W5) plus 8 Junior women in 2 categories. Here’s the link to the full results. This race is not particularly exceptional prior to the pandemic.
Peer racing. The largest historical growth in bicycle racing over the last decades has been in Masters racing. For amateurs, the chance to compete against similar athletes based on ability or age has built participation. Bicycle racing was late to the game. In the mid-80’s, beyond Senior and Junior categories, often the only age based option was the ‘Veteran” class, offered to men 35+. And while there were exceptions, this was standard for many races.
Meanwhile, running events, offered equal age categories (if not prize lists) from the late 70’s on. Followed shortly by Triathlon, both of those sports experienced booms. Both continue to thrive.
Some will argue this is an ‘apples to oranges’ comparison. Or that cycling has fewer participants (particularly women), thereby equal categories/classes are impracticable. We find both of those arguments flawed. All three are endurance sports that share a common pool of possible participants. Two have less of a gender gap.
At the grass roots level, we see gravel racing offer incentives to women racers. At the grass roots level we see some road events appear to disincentivize women’s participation by reducing categories/classes. It’s a self-fulfilling opposite of “If you build it they will come.” If you don’t build it, they won’t come…. for sure.
We can go into the mechanics of how to foster competitive racing by combining categories/classes into larger fields at the start (then breaking out separate awards). We know it works. We know it increases numbers at our cyclocross races. These women, if not already road racers, would be an ideal target for promoters.
We also encourage race directors to be aware of changing demographics. We’ve noticed a trend in 10 year age groups for both Men and Women, 40+ and 50+, but then a jump to an open ended 60+. There is an overall aging trend in the cycling population. The 70+ group, which is growing, is now lumped into a less than equitable 20 year bracket.
There are many obstacles to attracting riders to road events. There is no guarantee that offering equitable racing categories will immediately increase participation. But over time, the evidence from other cycling disciplines, and other sports show that fairness is a component for growth.
