by Sara Covich
Feature

Many Opportunities Await Women Racers

Women’s competitive and recreational cycling in the Pacific Northwest has grown noticeably in recent years. A handful of teams have sprung up in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, making riding accessible and welcoming for female cyclists of all ages and abilities. The Willamette Valley Women’s Cycling Team, also known as the Poplollies, is based in Eugene, Oregon, and supports about 15 competitive riders a year. In Vancouver, BC, the Chicks Cycling Club offers recreational and racing opportunities for women under the tutelage of former Canadian national team member Judy Latoski.

The governing bodies of cycling in both the U.S. and Canada (USA Cycling and the Canadian Cycling Association) have pre-defined racing categories. Category 4 riders (“Cat 4s”) are beginners, having never competed. Cat 4s accumulate finish points to move up to Cat 3, a field of more experienced competitors. Cat 1s and Cat 2s are considered professional or top level cyclists; many Cat 1s train full-time and travel on the national and world racing circuits. These classifications exist to keep racing fields even, although race organizers often group several categories together (but score them separately) to condense the number of fields on the road.

Jill Howe of Eugene, OR, a Poplollie since 2006, started racing as a Cat 4, but upgraded to Cat 3 by 2007—she also won the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association’s (OBRA) Best All-Around Rider Competition in the Cat 4 group. Howe raced on the East Coast in high school and college, but put her cycling on hold for almost 20 years after graduation. “I had other priorities in my life,” she says, such as moving across the country and starting a new job.

However, she felt the pull of her saddle, and started riding again in 2005 not to race, but to train for Cycle Oregon, a scenic 500-mile tour. After completing the ride, Howe says she “really enjoyed being on the bike,” and pondered trying a race. She discovered the Poplollies in a newspaper article, and recalls it being “a huge leap to contact them,” knowing the team was competitive. Howe wanted other women to ride with—she would probably make some friends in the process, but racing seemed “a little scary” after being away from it for so long. She overcame her anxiety and signed up to ride with the Poplollies, which she calls “one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.”

Howe is quick to give credit to the Poplollies for getting her onto the racecourse: “I wouldn’t be racing without them.” She says her team always encourages race participants to do their best to finish, not necessarily to win. “Winning is nice,” says Howe, “but [for me] it’s more about being out there, trying hard and having fun.”

Although Leah Padaca of Boise, ID started as a novice earlier in the decade, tagging along with her friends and future husband on rides, she ended up on Team Dobbiaco, which is a mixed-gender group of cyclists, runners and triathletes. Formed in 2002, Team Dobbiaco started as mostly men. However, Padaca is almost single-handedly responsible for getting more women to join: she needed riding partners with similar ability, and the grapevine responded.

Women who want to cycle need somewhere to start, and a group training ride or class is the first step, according to Martha Walsh, a prominent figure in the Seattle cycling scene and organizer of the Team First Rate Mortgage women’s group. “Beginners should take advantage of all the resources in their area,” she says. Cycling clubs such as Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle and Cycle University offer training rides geared toward novices who need to learn the basics of paceline, technique and obeying the rules of the road.

The next step for a rider who has mastered the basics is finding an appropriate race. While the region caters some races to elite cyclists, many opportunities exist for Cat 3s and 4s. This spring, the Washington State Bicycle Association (WSBA) will offer a series of nine races only for Cat 3 cyclists. The purpose of this new change is to give Cat 3s the opportunity to race with their peers. “It’s an exciting time for women’s racing,” says Walsh, who also notes the Pacific Northwest as being only the third region in the country to introduce such a series.

For younger female riders interested in the sport, the Northwest boasts several junior teams, such as Rad Racing in Olympia and the Boise Young Rider Development Squad (BYRDS). WSBA also organizes the Seattle Lance Armstrong Junior Olympics Road Series (LAJORS), consisting of five races throughout the year. From these groups, many riders transition to adult cycling smoothly, and with racing experience.

Although Howe says women’s cycling has grown “steadily but slowly,” she and her fellow riders are excited about future prospects for the sport in the Pacific Northwest. Walsh points out, “Nationally, the average percentage of women racers in a region is about 10 to 15 percent [of the total number of competitors], but in ours it’s more like 20 or 30 percent.” She credits women’s teams like the Poplollies and Washington’s Group Health for giving women’s racing a kick-start. “Group Health in particular has really supported Cat 4 riders,” says Walsh. “They started a Cat 4-only series, and just encouraged women to get out there and race.”

However, while moving forward in women’s cycling, there are some small growing pains. The Mount Hood Cycling Classic, a six-day stage race held every summer in Oregon, recently eliminated several categories, including women’s Cat 3 and Cat 4 (along with men’s Cat 4) due to scheduling and staffing limitations. Observing the flurry of messages from angry Cat 3s on the OBRA online forum, Walsh cites the organizer’s desire to bring elite cycling to Oregon, as the women’s Cat 1/2 race will be the only UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body for international cycling events) stage race in the U.S. in 2008. In itself, it represents another form of development, but at the upper end, it provides a rare but excellent opportunity for many local Cat 1/2s to measure themselves against the elite of the sport.

Along with road and mountain bike racing, track (velodrome) and cyclo-cross (a road biking/steeplechase hybrid) are also gaining popularity among women. Howe describes her first cyclo-cross race as “fun but challenging,” and hopes to do more in the upcoming season. Portland, Seattle and BC already have velodromes (BC has two; one is indoor), and Boise’s new Idaho Velodrome and Cycling Park is scheduled to open in April. Track cycling and cyclo-cross are demanding in different ways than mountain or road, but are seeing more women participants each year.

Perhaps the area’s biggest challenge in the future will be getting more women who start racing as a Cat 4 to stick with the sport long enough to move up in the ranks and continue to compete. The formation of more women-only teams geared to all categories would also be beneficial, because as Howe notes, teams made up predominantly of men can be “a little intimidating, especially to the novice rider.”

Howe, Padaca and Walsh wish to encourage every woman who is interested in cycling to look into the opportunities available to them in their area. With new rides, classes and races sprouting up each season, there truly is something for all abilities. Women’s racing is certainly on the rise in the Pacific Northwest—how far it will go is anyone’s guess, but it will be interesting to watch.

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