Devoted to helping female customers make the most of winter riding, the first in the series of women specific shopping events was held last night at Evans Cycles’ central London Store on Mortimer Street.
Arriving promptly at 6pm in the hope of gaining a free goody-bag packed with cycling essentials, I was greeted by 50 other girls with the same intention – the last bag handed to the girl in front of me – bugger, this event is popular! It wasn’t the end of the world though. As my Brompton was whisked from me to be stored safely in the workshop, a glass of Prosecco filled my now empty hand as I was guided through the store to join the introduction.
Aiming to cater for new and experienced riders alike, the ‘One for the Girls!’ events held across the country over the coming month, will provide women with a private shopping and Q&A session.
Michelle Arthurs, Social Media Specialist at Evans Cycles, explains “We’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of women buying bikes and we are really excited to see so many more women out cycling.”
One for theGirls! product demo
“We know that British Cycling are doing a lot to encourage female participation in the sport, and we are keen to do everything we can to cater for this growing audience.”
A cyclist herself, Michelle says:
“I’m aware that there are times when the sport can seem very male dominated, these events are a chance for women who ride to get together, meet each other, and even plan rides if they want to. We hosted a similar series of One for the Girls events over the summer in London, Cardiff and Manchester, and they were a great success – if these go well, we would like to look at rolling them out to more stores.”
I got chatting to a couple of other ladies on arrival, one of whom had only started cycling 3 weeks prior after purchasing a hybrid following a brief stint living in cycling-fuelled Finland and keen to ask some questions about her new hobby. Whilst another, a keen road cyclist looked for a bargain, wishing to use her 20% off accessories offer for the night.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hear much of the intro or the first talk – crammed into one of the smallest parts of this very large store, the small voice of the manager was swallowed by those who’d gathered around her to absorb her knowledge on performance wear.
Everyone else busy with the talk or shopping, I decided to grab another member of staff and ask what women’s specific road bikes they had in store. Not once, but twice I was told to ‘look online’ in answer to my queries… I can’t tell you how much this frustrates me considering I was stood in front of the sales person, in the store!
Shopping for bikes is never easy for me, especially at a pint sized 5’2”. However, I was hoping this event would prove that experience different. I proceeded to ask the sales guy to show me what bikes I could possibly try for size that evening, coming up short (no pun intended) with x1 carbon frame (of a low end brand and entry model) in a suitable size. ‘You could try the larger size’ he claims… ‘erm, somehow I think I’d be wasting my time’ I responded, a little miffed at the lack of knowledge. Although, to be fair, he was only doing the best he could in light of the lack of products to play with. I guess I’ll just have to ‘look online’.
Different definition to ‘stacking it!’
On paper, what sounds like a great event and clearly draws the crowds, fell short in a number of places for me. Maybe I had high expectations, but after chatting to some other attendees I wasn’t alone.
The women’s bikes were packed tight, were limited in brand and size (apparently Evans only stock ‘popular’ brands – although I’m not sure I’d count Jamis as one of those, yet that was the only brand available in my size that evening). They weren’t easily accessible to look at (chained to the stand), to find out more about or even try.
Their women’s specific brand section was small in comparison to the store (let’s say 1/10th) and there was no effort to demonstrate further the products. I was baffled as to why they hadn’t ordered in additional stock or brands for the evening; after all, this was a women’s specific shopping event.
The product talk was orientated at the performance cyclist, and it appeared to be the only talk of its kind at the very start of the evening. There also didn’t seem to be much opportunity seized on the community aspect of 60+ female cyclists gathered in one central place.
I’m a tough customer, I know that – I know what I want, and I know my size, but I was also expecting a lot more of a women’s specific cyling event. However, as Michelle had earlier pointed out, this is a step in the right direction, and hopefully they can only get better.
One for the Girls! will be at the following stores over the next coming weeks – let us know how you get on if you attend:
Riding since Feb 2011 Hayley is a 30 year old female who loves adventures. If she’s not on one of her many bikes or in the water on a bodyboard/surfboard, then Hayley is probably out looking for something new to keep the adrenaline pumping! Website: www.hjdonline.co.uk
Back in July, British Cycling announced their initiative to inspire one million more women to get on their bikes. The Rider Development Sessions for Women and Girls from Go-Ride, aim to build confidence and teach new cycling techniques in a relaxed and informal setting, in closed road venues. Sessions include track, CX, BMX, and road. And over the past 2 weekends I’ve had the opportunity to attend 2 of them….
Last Sunday, the weather a little stormy, I headed over to Burgess Park BMX Track in London, with 10 other fearless ladies for an afternoon of BMXing. As a teen, I had no interest in my brother’s BMX bike, but it seems I wasn’t the only one who’d found a new want to try something different. And different it was!
The session, aimed at women familiar to cycling (most of us road and track cyclists), started with an introduction to ‘what’ a BMX bike is, the difference in handling to our typical 700c bikes and an hour of getting used to being on our toes and using our bodies to control these small rental bikes. Even before we’d put on the smelly helmets, we were all itching to get on the pump-track; and it wasn’t long before we were let loose on sections, slowly building our confidence, speed and pumping action to complete full runs of the track, including use of the start gate and mini races of 3 riders towards the end. We went from being complete novices to race-ready in 2 hours. Not bad going I say!
Today, 50 lady cyclists of different ages and abilities gathered for the first of 4, 4-hour road specific development sessions in the South region. Rather different to an introduction to something completely new, today’s session was with the aim of growing bike handling skills for road cyclists and the main goal of racing; with a Go-Ride race in the final session in December.
Riding round a rather soggy and windy track at Kempton Park, we progressed from group riding, chain-ganging, speedy cornering to finishing with an elimination race, or survival of those with speed and good bike handling skills! (Yes, you read that right. And you’re guessing right too – a questionable decision for road racing with a group of ladies only just getting used to the idea of being bumped and squeezed in a group!). It was great to see so many eager ladies keen to learn and determined not to let the weather ruin it. For me, it wasn’t as fun or exciting as giving something new a go (cycling around a 1 mile course 40 times gets a little tiring), but with intention of racing next season, I hope to build on some skills and if anything, check out what I’m up against.
Having spent the past 2 weekends at two very different events, I can highly recommend giving it a go – whether it’s something completely new, or something you wish to build on. Well done British Cycling for investing the time and money – I’ll be sure to renew my membership next year.
Hayley Davies
Writer
Riding since Feb 2011 Hayley is a 30 year old female who loves adventures. If she’s not on one of her many bikes or in the water on a bodyboard/surfboard, then Hayley is probably out looking for something new to keep the adrenaline pumping! Website: www.hjdonline.co.uk
The SWWRS Race 2 went off with a bang, or a metaphorical bang of speed if you like. There was no messing around today!
The race was the first crit in the series, held in the sunshine at Merryfield Airfield near Ilton; it’s a cracking little 5km circuit and there’s not a hill in sight, but the wind up there does plenty to make for an interesting race. We had a good turn out with 17 riders signing on from far and wide, with a bit of team representation from VC St Raphael and Exeter Wheelers, both with four riders. The race was 40 mins plus lap, which worked out as 6 laps at an average speed of 35 km/h. And have I mentioned- the sun was out (intermittently)!
17 of us rolling out from the start- Katie Curtis (far right) is not hanging around.
So there we were riding like bats out of hell when what should happen- the lead girls took the wrong turn! I hate to say it, but you know…I told you so! Everything calmed down a bit while everyone got back together, but that didn’t last long. Soon enough the attacks started going off the front, with the VC St Raphael riders invariably involved. There was also a strong showing from Vittoria Bossi (Zippi’s Ladies) , Katie Curtis, Adele Martin (Hope Factory) and Louise Benn (Exeter Wheelers).
Jenny Hudson and Katie Curtis on the attack.
However whilst some of these attacks looked like they could be trouble, none of them stuck for more than a lap, with various people doing the work to chase them down. By our 4th or 5th lap Ayse Vahiboglu (Exeter Wheelers) was driving the pace up and stringing out the field. This stopped the attacks going for a short while, which was a nice relief. The field was now getting pretty twitchy and nervous coming into the bell lap.
In the final lap Marianne Britten (VC St Raphael) went on the attack, with Katie Curtis bridging across to her about a third of the way round. These girls looked for all the world like they might stay away- gaining 200m or so on the main field. However there seemed to be enough people in the group who wanted it to come down to a sprint. With about half a lap to go the main field started to put the hammer down, and with about 400m to go and going into the final corner a last ditched push from Claire Elworthy (Exeter Wheelers) all but closed the gap.
By this point the sprinters were all moving up the group, myself included. The sprint started straight out of the final corner, with about 250m to the line. I could pretend I knew what happened, but I wont! All I know is Adele Martin came past at some point, and there a was a bunch of four just behind me so I had to keep the foot down!
The finish- Adele Martin takes the win, myself in 2nd, Laura Clode 3rd and Katie Curtis in 4th.
So there we have it, the 2nd race of the series finished with Adele Martin (Hope Factory) taking the line honours, myself (Elena Bremer – Exeter Wheelers) in 2nd and Laura Clode (VC St Raphael) in 3rd.
The next series event is the Div Champs on 19th May, hopefully see you there! See the bottom of the post for full results- if you spot an error please do correct me!
Being British I might start with the weather; it was foul! Driving down there the wind was buffeting cars around the road so it was a bit concerning the effect it might have on a mere bike racer! It was raining too, just to add to the charm. But on the positive side it was quite warm, reading 12 degrees on my garmin.
The race course was a triangular layout, the start and finish were on the first leg, half way up a significant but not too steep hill. To add to the fun there was the wind, which seemed to have chosen to blow as hard as it could down said hill! The second leg was downhill with a couple of short sharp undulations. And the final leg was a pretty flat run in to the bottom of the hill.
Unsurprisingly at sign on it became clear that we would be racing with a smaller field than anticipated, due no doubt to the horrible conditions, but still 11 women signed on and lined up for the race. Heading out onto the course the rain began and we all settled down for what we hoped would be an uneventful, but challenging race.
The race started on the hill on the A39, the hill combined with the 49 mph gusts in our faces did slow things down a bit! People were unsurprisingly not that keen to ride on the front, but we did eventually get to the left hand turn where things started to pick up. For a start we had a tail wind and it was downhill!
Mathilde Pauls (Exeter Wheelers CC) chose this point to attack and got clear of the bunch by a good few hundred meters by the second left turn. However things went a little amiss here when the Race Car took the wrong turn. Mathilde and the lead car proceeded to take a wiggly route through various country lanes back to the course – Mathilde at this point oblivious to the fact they were lost! Meanwhile the majority of the rest of the women’s field carried on along the wrong road, heading down wind and down hill. Having ridden 3.5km in the wrong direction our commisaire in the following car eventually managed to get our attention to stop us, turn us round and take us back to the course!
By this point Mathilde and her lost lead car were back on the A39. The call was made to stop Mathilde while the rest of us got ourselves going back in the right direction. So Mathilde, still pretty perplexed about what was going on, was ushered into the lead car to keep warm while they waited for us.
Back with the main group we had just reached the corner where we had taken the wrong turn initially, and were about to get racing again. However this wasn’t to be! On the corner a wet drain wiped out one bike, taking down a few others and stopping most of the field. Cath Newton (Newquay Velo CC), Claire Elworthy (Exeter Wheelers CC) and myself (EWCC) were all that remained of the main group. Following some deliberation we decided to carry on racing. Mathilde was restarted as we approached up the hill, and waited to join our group.
This was the final lap, with this in mind me and Mathilde put in a couple of attacks on the second leg, both of which were chased down. It was then Cath’s turn to take a dig, attacking on the second small climb she split the group, only Mathilde could hold her wheel. Claire closed the gap before the second turn, where Cath and Claire took the correct turn, but Mathilde and her friend in the lead car tried to go AWOL again! Mathilde did the quickest U-turn witness by man and was soon back with Cath and Claire.
It all started getting tactical now. With two Exeter Wheelers in the group, and one just off the back, Cath was left to do most of the work along the final leg. On reaching the bottom of the hill to the finish Mathilde launched another attack. This attack split the group again with the biting headwind making the job of getting up the hill even trickier. The three leaders proceeded to “crawl” up the hill in a gripping, but pretty slow moving finale of an eventful race!
So Mathilde Pauls (EWCC) took the win, closely followed by Cath Newton (NVCC) and Claire Elworthy (EWCC). The rest of the splintered field rolled individually, each fighting the cruellest wind possible up the hill to the finish. Louise Benn (EWCC) came back, having hit the deck in the earlier crash to finish in 5th, not far behind myself (EWCC), I never recovered from Cath’s attack. A hard day’s racing for all I think!
After the finish we all headed back race HQ to get dry and warm with a cuppa and some delicious cakes. The prize giving took place before the men’s 2/3/4 race briefing so there was a good crowd to support us; I think the chaps were marvelling at our brilliant prizes!
Thanks to the Bike Shed for providing Bontranger R2, R3 and R4 tyres for 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Also to Greens of Devon who made up a beautiful bunch of flowers for the winner and gave out 3 Chef’s Garnish boxes. And last but not least thanks to Alpha Vae Solar who gave us some SIS Sports products for the prize stash!
Thanks also to the event organisers Newquay Velo, and all who help out in proper nasty conditions! Also thanks to Primal for providing the QOM prize – won by Mathilde after her jolly through the lanes!
I lost track of who got what on the prizes front in the end but everyone looked very happy despite the drama of our race and that is the importat thing. At least things can only get better for the Series!
The next event is Ilton Crit on Sunday 21st April at Ilton’s Merryfield airbase, It is a great course for novices but has plenty of opportunity for more experienced racer to make it interesting too! Open to Men E1/2/3, Women and Juniors For more information click here to be taken to the British Cycling entry page. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/91956/South-West-Regional-Road-Race-Championships#entry
Top International riders competing at the historic Good Friday meeting this year are Sprinter Robert Forstemann, Six Day riders Christian Grasmann, Marcel Kalz, Leif Lampater, Nico Hesslich (all Germany) & Manuel Cazzaro (Italy).
Andy Tennant (Madison Genesis) is the leading British rider supported by Dominic Jelfs.
Team Raleigh have a strong presence with Evan Oliphant, Tom Scully and Sam Witmitz. Peter Mitchell, winner of the Open Sprint for the last two years is hoping to make it three in a row.
Live commentary will be provided by David Harmon. Paralympic stars Jody Cundy and Jon-Allan Butterworth are also competing and newly crowned World Sprint and World Keirin Champion Becky James will be making a guest appearance, but will not be racing on this occasion.
The Triumph Thunderbird motorbikes will again take to the track. Two British riders, James Holland-Leader and Symon Lewis will compete against riders from Holland, Belgium, France and Germany in the seven man 40 laps Motor paced race.
There are five races for women this year; women’s specific are the Sprint, Keirin and Scratch, and women will take on the men in the 5 Mile and Devil.
The usual SCCU Good Friday favourite races include the White Hope Sprint for up and coming riders, the International Open Sprint with top riders from home and abroad and the Meeting will end with the now classic Golden Wheel 20 k scratch, which boasts a fantastic £1000 for the winner and a further £1000 for the runners up. Last year’s winner, Marcel Kalz from Germany is returning to defend his trophy against a 125 strong field.
Apart from the usual ‘cycle jumble’ stalls there will be Bike Bling and bike related stalls around the Velodrome, plus a Real Ale Bar, proper coffee and hot food outlets. Gates open at 9.30 for spectators. Preliminary races start at 10.30 and the Finals start at 1pm, all being well it should be done by 5.30.
Good Friday By Numbers:
11: The number of countries that riders come from this year (France, Belgium, GB, Holland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia),
22: The number of women competing in 2013
57: Hotel beds booked for the Meeting
148: The number of riders in this year’s Meeting
£675: Total Prize money for the Womens events
£1000: First prize for the Golden Wheel 20k Scratch
1903: Year the first meeting was held
£4610: Total Prize money for the Meeting
Admission is £12 for adults, £6 for 12-16s and free for under 12s. Tickets can be purchased in advance via the website or on the day. There is no onsite car parking for spectators; please arrive by train to Herne Hill station (8 minutes walk) or bike, as there will be plenty of bike parking. Spectators needing disabled parking should contact the organisers in advance.
Knog Muddy Hell earns it’s name. Nick Craig dominates in tough conditions.
Finally, after three years with dry conditions Knog Muddy Hell truely was a mud-fest. Plenty of rain leading up to the event, plus downpours on the night and the action of over 700 wheels, churning up the course created difficult conditions for competitors but great entertainment for spectators.
Course designer Phil Glowinski, created a smooth, flowing course, whilst maintaining the popular features of wall-ride, bridge, whoops, muddy corner and hurdles but it was the conditions which had the greatest effect on the results. A confident Nick Craig knew that his years of experience at top level off-road riding would stand him in good stead. Fresh from his recent win at the (slighly warmer) Mountain Bike Tour of Langkawi Nick indeed provided a master class in technique, though he was distanced in the sprint from the start, his superior bike handling soon saw him opening up a big gap with National Junior champion Hugo Robinson chasing. Hugo however suffered a mechanical as did many others, Ed McParland made a valiant effort to catch the veteran, but it was never going to happen and Nick took the £400 from Knog with a huge gap.
Three previous winners of the Women’s event took to the line, and Louise Mahe took her second Knog Muddy Hell title with Claire Beaumont second, National track champion Corinne Hall did not repeat her podium finish instead Leona Kadir took third spot.
Supported by Vulpine cycle clothing the vets category saw a very competitive field, multiple Knog Muddy Hell winner Mick Bell could not repeat his usual top spot due to mud-induced mechanical issues and relinquished the top step of the podium to Kevin Knox of Vicious Velo.
Racing at the same time as the women and vets, 2012 saw the largest junior field in the history of the event with Chris McGovern the clear winner finishing up amongst the first few vets.
The ever popular Novice race had over 100 entries, the best fancy dress, two tandems (one pantomime horse) and the worst weather, this is when the rain hit and there were more than a few retirements. James Flury was best male and Lise Sorenson best female, both taking prizes from Cycelab.
The youth categories saw record levels of entries, organisers Rollapaluza claim that over 70 entry enquiries were received for the U12 event alone, because of the high level of interest they will look to accomodate more youngsters in 2013. In all over 350 racers took part with, despite the rain, hundreds of cheering spectators enjoying the racing, atmosphere, food, mulled cider, “Off-Road” Rollapaluza competition and bike polo skills try out.
Seniors:
1. Nick Craig
2. Ed McParland
3. Darren Barclay
4. Chris Metcalfe
5. William Thomson
6. Bruce Dalton
7. Richard Mardle
8. Jack Finch
9. Will Fooks
10. Uldis Karklins
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