Female Cycling Numbers

[Patchelicious]

this ego trip the the cyclist are having all started from the road scene....keep left keep left...we know this .... hell i still do it..

 

i did some MTB rides ...really enjoy it when i can ..but that the same egos are now coming to the trails...hence i find it intimidating...

 

where to now........

You know how all the cocks used to drive BMWs, but now its all cocks in Audi's.....

 

Times change.

 

The roadie scene is actually a much more friendly place these days, and I believe it is because all the golfing bones heads are taking up MTBing.

 

On the road if a bone head cyclists comes up behind you, he simply rides around you an carries on. On a MTB trail that same bone head get stuck behind you and shouts stuff like "track" or tries to pass you dangerously. This is why I hate "We have 99% single track in our race" races.... Long Drive Champions love "bossing down single track in their sleevless shirts, hairy legs and short socks shouting at people before loading their bikes onto their bakkies" its what makes them feel like manne.

 

Ladies, dont give up cycling because of some idiots, just find a nice group to go ride with.

[Pulse]

As a girl and a newbie this is my experience with cycling:

Being a runner myself (Ultra road marathons mostly) I took up cycling about a year ago as a form of cross training between my running and my closest friend, who has been a competitive cyclist since before he could walk, encouraged me to give it a go too. We built up a bike together with his help and the help of all you here on the hub and managed to get a nice spec-ed mtb for around 10k.

 

I started cycling with him only and myself just around the roads in Pretoria and then we started going to mtb parks and started with a 16km race and worked up to 45km races and 60km group rides. I was more than happy to ride my bike on the roads (if it meant going round in circles to get longer distances) to get fit and enjoyed the actual cycling itself very much three times a week when I didn't run.

 

However the more I began to join races and go to mtb parks I began to enjoy it less and less. I'm not the most confident on the trails when it gets technical or tight lines and somehow managed to faceplant at almost every race without fail. The thing that got me though was that no matter if I was in the J batch at a trailseeker if I got to a technical section and needed a bit more time to maneuver through it I'd be shouted at from behind with numerous calls of "TRACK" and just general irritated comments of inconvenience. Now twice shy I'd just get off and pull my bike off the path into the bushes at every small technicality so people could pass and not even attempt anything which never helped me gain the confidence to practise them.

 

Group rides were similar; I would be perhaps the slowest in the bottom batch owing to my difficulty with technicalities and although those ahead would go on ahead of me and then come back and forth all the time it never gave me much confidence or encouraged me to try I'd rather just get off and run with my bike to get through it quick and not be left behind.

 

I tried going to bike parks alone at early hours eventually to practise and get better which did help granted but the moment anyone came up behind me at a race or a normal hour of the day the same thing would occur.

 

And I'm not trying to run down anyone in the cycling world because there have been those who stop behind me and wait and encourage me to give something a go and they'll wait behind me happily or pass me when there is space and give a cheerful thanks on their way past. But in general I felt the people are just not as interested in helping someone who is a little less confident (as most ladies are). Whereas during a group run if someone is having an off day or is a little slow one if not all will take the time to slow to their pace that day or walk with them and encourage them to run again at the next lamp post or whatever.

 

And I don't mean to offend anyone with what I have said here just thought I'd share my experience which has put me off cycling a lot and hence I haven't touched my bike in the last few weeks after the latest group ride.

Well said!

Your experience with races is exactly the reason I choose not to do the bulk of the local races any more, which is a pitty

 

I hope you progress to the level that you have with your running, and you kick some ass!

[Gen]

You know how all the cocks used to drive BMWs, but now its all cocks in Audi's.....

 

Times change.

 

The roadie scene is actually a much more friendly place these days, and I believe it is because all the golfing bones heads are taking up MTBing.

 

On the road if a bone head cyclists comes up behind you, he simply rides around you an carries on. On a MTB trail that same bone head get stuck behind you and shouts stuff like "track" or tries to pass you dangerously. This is why I hate "We have 99% single track in our race" races.... Long Drive Champions love "bossing down single track in their sleevless shirts, hairy legs and short socks shouting at people before loading their bikes onto their bakkies" its what makes them feel like manne.

 

Ladies, dont give up cycling because of some idiots, just find a nice group to go ride with.

So basically the golfers are to blame..[emoji102]

 

Noted.

[Angus**]

in 90s all the dads where in a gun store and all the kids where riding bikes

 

now all the dads are riding bikes and all the kids are at home playing call of duty with guns

 

its hard to keep track

 

what happened with kite surfing ......?

I think Kite surfing is on the rise!!  however with the price of kites lately sure that will also start dying

[Uni]

My 5c as a weekend warrior. 

3 - 4 years ago - queues for the ladies bathrooms were non-existent - in terms of MTBing - the number of women riding has definitely increased a lot. 

I'm not one for doing races (my reasons are my own oddities) but I have friends who also feel it's not worth it financially - for example paying R150 to race at Northerns or Modders when you ride there on the weekends for R40. 

Another friend was talking about doing the Juma but saying how she doesn't want to do 50km or 20km - something in the middle would be preferably as it's expensive day out for 20km.

 

I joined a ladies only MTB group - I only did one ride with the group. There was no benefit for me in that ladies only environment - and TBH - not fond of it. Riding on my own on the road is definitely more scary from a criminal safety aspect than being in the bike parks. 

[EmptyB]

I reckon it's a financial issue, costs are so high, not just bikes and spares but traveling costs too .. or the fact that trail running has become so popular...

 

PS is trail running still a thing?

 

 

OR

 

People are over these big events and would rather do smaller events?

I am almost over these big events completely...including Sani2C and similar such events!

[Pulse]

You know how all the cocks used to drive BMWs, but now its all cocks in Audi's.....

 

Times change.

 

The roadie scene is actually a much more friendly place these days, and I believe it is because all the golfing bones heads are taking up MTBing.

 

On the road if a bone head cyclists comes up behind you, he simply rides around you an carries on. On a MTB trail that same bone head get stuck behind you and shouts stuff like "track" or tries to pass you dangerously. This is why I hate "We have 99% single track in our race" races.... Long Drive Champions love "bossing down single track in their sleevless shirts, hairy legs and short socks shouting at people before loading their bikes onto their bakkies" its what makes them feel like manne.

 

Ladies, dont give up cycling because of some idiots, just find a nice group to go ride with.

This ^

 

Except, I think the BMWs have moved on to Rangers

[Frosty]

Thanks Gerald for the stats. Can you perhaps compare the last 3/4 years?

For the road race, I need to dig into my archives to find the data - MTB is the first event we organised this November.

 

 

edit: found the files - just need to download, sort and update the graphs.

This graph has been added to my original post

 

This is purely ROAD race related, and excludes the MTB event that was organised for the first time. The goal is to grow numbers back to late 2000's numbers of 5000-6000.

 

Looking at this, the guys are coming to the party, slowly. It's the ladies that we need to cater for.

[blondeonabike]

Welcome to the hub!

 

interesting perspective. It is true that a lot of people do get quite irritable when it comes to technical sections. I have not raced a MTB race in years now, so I cant comment on what the situation down here in KZN is like in a race situation...but just riding out in the trails on the weekend everyone is very chilled. Maybe also it is the number of trails available in relation to the population that means that you hardly ever encounter other groups

 

My biggest problem is waiting and waiting and waiting for @blondeonabike to finally make it down the singletrack 

Im sorry.  I get very scared

[Ozzie NL]

Have to say that I also get the feeling there are more females in the dirt scene than tar.

 

It might have something to do with the nature of the bigger events, ie W2W, S2C which have a bigger social aspect to them due to the multi day nature. However even at one day MTB events there some to be more girls than boys vs one day road races.

 

My wife rides tar with a racing license and I always feel they get a raw deal vs the racing guys largely due to the smaller numbers. Except for the really big events, (think 947 / Argus), there tends to be only one Elite batch of ~50 individuals with strength ranging from professional to +50 vets, (ie the equivalent of male elite, VA, VB and VC combined in one batch).

This in effect means that the true elites fight it out amongst themselves and the remaining 20 odd women get blown to pieces halfway and ended up riding the rest of the race solo (Riding AL I always see tons of dropped female elites) as they get DQ-ed if they come home in another batch.

I know in the case of my wife she is now starting to wonder whether this is what she took up a racing license for as the best she can achieve is hang on for dear life as long as she can but knows she will get dropped at some stage.

 

Clearly above does not hold for open seeded batches. Speaking of those though. What is it that women cannot ride A  o B and I think C batch at the 947?  My book you should be able to ride the group if you can hold the pace regardless of being knobbed or not.

[blondeonabike]

I am quite similar to Gen.  I prefer to ride with guys.  Guys are intense and competitive but they are not emotional.  I once was part of a ladies riding group, but the talk always seemed to be about kids, cooking and feelings.  I call it "doing Oprah on the bike"  I hate it.  At school I also stayed miles away from girl teamsports like hockey and netball , I preferred being part of the shooting team.    There are a few ladies in our club that I do enjoy riding with but they are quite competitive so we challenge each other.

 

Last year I rode Maluti with a mixed team, the guys took leadership,  the girls sucked air and rode as hard as we could.  That worked well.   An all girl team?  Maybe if all women could syncronise their cycles so nobody is pms 'ing, then it might work

[Stretch]

Im sorry.  I get very scared

ha ha...while in reality you are one of the fastest chickies i know..I am the one that gets more scared the older i get!

[Red Robin]

Goodness, when I read of some of the negative experiences that ladies have had with MTB then I realise that I have either been really lucky or these are things I may experience once I progress to more technical trails.

[Serious Panda]

I don`t think the lady numbers are declining in mtb, only for road, therefor I don`t think its because of expenses - mtb is a lot more expensive than road.

[Ozzie NL]

I don`t think the lady numbers are declining in mtb, only for road, therefor I don`t think its because of expenses - mtb is a lot more expensive than road.

FACT!!!!!

[Gen]

I am quite similar to Gen. I prefer to ride with guys. Guys are intense and competitive but they are not emotional. I once was part of a ladies riding group, but the talk always seemed to be about kids, cooking and feelings. I call it "doing Oprah on the bike" I hate it. At school I also stayed miles away from girl teamsports like hockey and netball , I preferred being part of the shooting team. There are a few ladies in our club that I do enjoy riding with but they are quite competitive so we challenge each other.

 

Last year I rode Maluti with a mixed team, the guys took leadership, the girls sucked air and rode as hard as we could. That worked well. An all girl team? Maybe if all women could syncronise their cycles so nobody is pms 'ing, then it might work

[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

 

This is so true.. the last thing I want to do on a ride is think let alone talk about kids and bla bla.. that is my time away from things like that.[emoji102]