Interview with Jess Stone on Pedalfeet blog

There’s an interview with Jess Stone on Pedalfeet (Susan Greenwood’s blog) today. Read it here.

Thinking of racing? Here’s what’s required

Credit to Winston from Rollapaluza CC* for this handy summary – league info is most useful to London riders but the rest is relevant to all.

“Most cycle racing in the UK is run under British Cycling regulations, this includes: Road, track, criteriums (circuit racing on road bikes), grass track, Cycle Speedway, Mountain biking (all disciplines) and BMX. The general exception is Time Trials (includes Hill Climbs) which fall under CTT (Cycling Time Trials)

British Cycling

BC have three membership levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold in general you will need Silver or Gold to race plus a race license (there are exceptions.…keep reading) details here:

Membership benefits

Membership prices

Racing licence prices

BC membership runs for 12 months from the date of application, however a BC race license runs for every calendar year.

Generally if you wish to race in a BC race you are required to have a BC race license.

If you are not a member you can purchase a day license at the event for £5.00 – this is not possible at major events (if you intend to race more than once or twice this gets expensive….refunds aren’t given if you purchase a full license!)…guess what? there are exceptions.

Go-Race events are intended for novices to cycling, you do not require a license or BC membership, you get no BC ranking points and there is no prize money, in reality you would only race a few of these before making your decision to take it more seriously or not.

* BIG NEWS: If you have BC silver membership you do not have to pay for a day license (at events where they are allowed) and you can have as many day licenses as you want throughout the year! I learnt this yesterday, this means with Silver membership you could race all Herne Hill track leagues and open events and all the Crystal Palace circuit races and most of Hog Hill races without ever buying a license…..you do not get BC ranking points however.

Cyclo-Cross

Run under BC rules ‘cross is even easier to take part in, excepting major events you only need to be a BC member to race, you can even be a Bronze member with no license. If you are not a BC member you can ride on a day license, for ‘cross they are only £3.00

You do not need a cross bike to race cross, excepting major events you can race on an MTB and the rules state any bike is permitted, but I guess it has to be roadworthy and comply with usual brake requirement for road bikes.

Clubs

Note: You can join BC without being a member of a cycling club (private member), however you may have difficulty entering time trials if you are not a member of a club affiliated to CTT.

CTT (time Trialling)

If you want to ride in time trials (and hill climbs) you do not have to be a member of CTT, but your club does, most clubs affiliate to CTT. Some events, like the Catford hill climb are starting to introduce categories for non-club affiliated riders.

Leagues:

Surrey League Organise tons of road races, best way to join is make sure your club is affiliated then join yourself, it is possible to join indvidually but they request that you assist in the promotion of at least two events

Membership costs: £20 senior men, £10 senior ladies, £10 juniors or £5

Website: http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/ SERRL

Another league with loads of road racing and plenty of events at Hog Hill (Redbridge cycle circuit) easier to join than the Surrey League and cheaper too at a tenner.

Website: http://www.serrl.co.uk/ Herne Hill Track League Every Wednesday from early May ‘til end of August. A fiver to register for the league, then £8 per event (£6 for juniors, £3 for youths)

Welwyn Track League

Fridays, full details to follow.

Other Racing:

BC and CTT do not control all racing, just most of it, there are other associations such as “The League International” who organise racing based on age categories. There are also other events that run independently from the National federations for example:

SSUK : UK single speed MTB champs
Rollapaluza : Roller racing.”

*As well as doing roller racing, Rollapaluza run a cycling club which is open to all. There’s no pressure to race but there are some great riders in their membership – including Estelle Rogers – who are happy to share their expertise.

Cycle Show 2009 – the ‘New Cycling Sisterhood’

Cycle Show is usually about 98% male, so it’s not very surprising that this year they’re aiming to be ‘female-friendly’. I got quite excited about this prospect, thinking big focus on women specific bikes (which would be great seeing as no shops ever seem to have high end WSD bikes in store for you to try out), women-specific cycling gear, etc. Great!

But apparently their idea of being female-friendly differs slightly to mine, and actually equates to focusing on how to look good on a bike. Because, you know, women are only going to ride their bikes if they can wear a lovely feminine outfit and some chainring earrings. So, we have a lovely celebrity panel who will be providing advice on fashion, hair, and make-up. Yes, make-up.

Maybe I’m missing something and there is a particular type of lipstick that improves your performance on a bike, or Cycle Show has taken a drastic change of direction and all the stalls aimed at men will be focusing on how they can look good on their bikes, but I suspect that’s not the case. I acknowledge that looking good on a bike is important to some women, but focusing on that aspect of women’s cycling at a show which has historically appealed to club riders and competitive racers just reinforces the stereotype that men value performance, women value appearance.

Anyway. It looks like there will be some good stuff: on Saturday 10th there are two presentations on ‘Competitive Women’ which will feature interviews with (at 12.30-1pm) Shanaze Reade, Victoria Pendleton, Nicole Cooke, Rachel Atherton, Lizzie Armitstead (or ‘Armistead’ as they’ve spelt her name on the programme…), Jamie Mert and Hollie Avil. So that should be good.

There’s also a presentation on Commuting for Women which includes an interview with Koy Thompson, CEO of LCC (not quite sure why they’re interviewing him and not one of the women at LCC, but there you go) and Kate Spicer, and one on family cycling including Josie Dew. They’re also doing women’s maintenance classses which is pretty cool.

All the info’s on the Cycle Show website.

Lizzie Armitstead signs with Cervelo Test Team

National U23 road race AND track champion Lizzie Armitstead (she’s 20 years old) has just signed a two year contract with Cervelo. Here’s her comment:

“”I wanted to be part of the best women’s team in the world,” said Armitstead.

“When the opportunity to join the team came along, I couldn’t turn it down. I am excited to race with the riders on the team and also to be able to use the equipment. My goal for 2010 is to continue my development and learn from the more experienced riders…and I would like to be a key member of a winning team.”

Awesome work.

Female membership survey from British Cycling

Feed back! A search function for women’s events would be awesome.

FEMALE MEMBERSHIP SURVEY: British Cycling is currently undertaking detailed research into the provision of competitive and non-competitive opportunities for Women and Girls. We are very interested in receiving feedback on your experiences in connection with British Cycling events. Please take the time to let us know what you feel has been working well and where we could improve. This could be in connection with any discipline.. What is your opinion of the quantity and quality of the existing events? Do you feel the category system is appropriate for Women’s racing? What has been your experience of specific events? Your views will help form the basis of future recommendations, in order to further improve the events calendar. Please email your feedback to jennygretton at britishcycling.org.uk All replies will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Review: Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow Saddle

I’d always assumed that if you’re riding for more than 30 miles, you’re going to be in some saddle-related discomfort. Apparently not.

I’ve never used a women specific saddle before. I’ve always found the non-WSD Fizik and Specialized saddles pretty comfortable, though as I said – that’s with the assumption that I’m going to be wriggling around trying to change my position for comfort after 30 miles. I have a fairly well broken in Brooks on my touring bike, and that’s great while you’re on the bike up to about 80 miles – but I find if I get off the bike for a break and then get on it again I’m in all kinds of pain.

I’m intending to start racing next season, and I’ve just sorted some WSD bars for my road bike, so figured I may as well try out a WSD saddle too and this one came highly recommended from other female cyclists.

Now, admittedly I’ve yet to use the Lady Gel Flow for more than 90 miles in one go – I’ve done about 150 in total on it so far – which isn’t a huge amount. But so far, I’ve been getting off my bike barely feeling like I’ve been on it. As soon as I can afford it, I’m buying another one to replace the Brooks on my touring bike.

It’s not the lightest in the world at 290g, but for comfort it’s the best I’ve used yet. RRP is £70, but it’s a bit cheaper on Parker etc.

UCI wants more women’s track events at 2012

UCI have announced their support for gender parity with track events at the 2012 Olympics. Currently there are 7 men’s track events and only 3 women’s. UCI Chief Pat McQuaid says they’ve requested new women’s track events; the International Olympics Committee have said this is possible but only at the cost of men’s events. UCI won’t have any say in what men’s events are scrapped.

Chief of cycling David Brailsford has said that he will support any decision that means fairness between the sexes, which is excellent news. Of course no-one wants to lose men’s events but the situation as it stands is completely unfair and goes against the IOC’s claims that it wants to increase women’s participation.

The final decision on what events will be included should be made in December.

Eddy Merckx launches women specific bikes for 2010

No info on prices or geometry as yet but WOW.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/article/eurobike-merckx-launches-womens-line-23195?img=4&pn=eurobike-merckx-launches-womens-line&mlc=news%2Farticle

September 23, 2009: Road World Championships Results – Elite Women’s Time Trial: Mendrisio, Switzerland (27 km ITT)

Congratulations to Kristin Armstrong who won the women’s individual time trial at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships with a time of 00:35:26 (the course is 16.65 miles). Awesome.

Look out for her on Saturday – the women’s road race will be the last race of her professional cycling career.

Training and coaching sessions at Hillingdon cycle circuit for women riders

Training and coaching sessions at Hillingdon cycle circuit for women riders:

* who compete in triathlons (and want to improve their cycling skills)

* who currently race   (all categories of licence)

* who plan to race next year (and so wish to train well this winter)

* who planned to race this summer just gone (but somehow missed out on making a start)

* juniors

and

* youth (U16 and U14)

session 1 – Sunday 11 October 2009

session 2 – Sunday 22 November 2009

Hillingdon is a car-free circuit with a smooth tarmac surface and is about 0.9 of a mile round. These sessions are a continuation of the nine previous sessions run over the past three winters by Power Pack Coaching/Surrey Cycle Racing League.

They all had a common purpose of looking to get women riders fit and ready for racing with a combination of individual bike handling skills, group riding and a couple of exercises (in effect mock racing) containing elements of “flat out” effort.
Bookings made in advance:

Price: £12 each session (or £21 for both)   Places: 30

Bookings on the day:

Price: £22

Contact: John Leitch, coach, Power Pack/Starter Pack

johnleitch65@googlemail.com

07963 377 249  or at home on 01737 84 36 01