 Super Bowl LII - amazing game! Halftime show w/Justin Timberlake - whaaaaa? LIT! Justin Timberlake selfie w/kid on phone - ummm, ok. Kid google search - #LordsofSprint??? YEAAAYUH! ….ok ok, we'll stop, just had to - keep reading. lol  Introducing the 2018 Women's Masters series! 5 questions with the vanguard, TWCP's Marsha Williams.  Marsha Williams, Tennessee Women's Cycling Project Congrats on getting this going - tell the 5 people who read this blog how you started working on this. "Thank you! The series came together quickly once we came up with a plan, but we’ve been working on this for years. I think it was 2011 when the conversations started about masters-aged racing. Women racers from various teams across the state believe there’s a gap in women’s racing that isn’t being met: We want to be able to race with our age-group peers, like the guys can--for road, they have four age-group series competitions. We’ve crunched the numbers, we’ve sent surveys, and we believe that we can attract women who are new to road racing. We also think we can help retain women who would otherwise leave for disciplines or sports that have age-group competitions. We have made great strides over the years: In 2015, a women’s masters state championship time trial jersey was awarded through our local USA Cycling association. And in 2017, road race and criterium jerseys were added. This year, the BF actually had the idea of just starting our own series. He suggested we use existing races, like Ryan Trebon did with USCUP. That got me thinking about the SEW Series from several years back. It may very well have been the catalyst for women getting separate category races, instead of all racing together. So I came up with a plan, asked a few friends for help, and here we are! This series definitely would not have been possible without their help and without title sponsorship from Empower Electric." (Trebon story: http://www.velonews.com/2017/06/news/ryan-trebon-launches-new-national-cx-series-sho-air_440236). Very nice initial lineup - how’d you decide on these? "I mostly asked promoters who were already highly supportive of women’s racing: either they had offered women’s masters races at their event or events last year or they provided equal payout. Cedar Hill offers equal payout and equal race time to the women’s category fields. Plus we always tell our teammates that Cedar Hill is a great first crit experience, because of the wide roads, not to mention that it’s a very well-managed event. Plus beer." Massage Envy and Kendra Scott? What’s the connection? "Massage Envy has been a sponsor of our team since our first year! They’ve provided us with massage gift cards to give out as prizes at the races and clinics we have promoted. For the Empower Her series, we have massage primes for each race! Kendra Scott is a more recent sponsor of the team. You’ll often see TWCP gals adorned with their jewelry, if you catch us off the bike. For the series, Kendra Scott is offering jewelry pieces as primes!" Next steps for this - long-term vision, maybe a Watopia Masters? "Have you done a Watopia race yet? They are hard! And I got DQ’d from the only one I did—leave it to me to get DQ’d from a virtual race! We hope that this series is wildly successful and that we can grow it each year. Perhaps adding an omnium or some road races to the list of crits. We’d also love to grow our sponsorship to do things like adding age group bonuses to each race and have more age groups in the overall series." Favorite beer & brewery in Nashville? "Jackalope, of course! They are a new sponsor for us in 2018! It’s a good time of year for a Snowman Stout. But Little Harpeth Brewery is a close second, what, with me having German blood and all. Love their High Water. Prost! " We'd like to thank Marsha and others, for continuing to be a driving force for equality in sport. For more details on the Women's Masters Series click thru any of the links listed here! https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerHerRacing/ https://tnwomenscycling.com/empower-her-masters-series/ https://www.empower-electric.com/ Cedar Hill Criterium has always been an #Equal event so it really made sense to us to support this cool initiative that Marsha and other women have been asking for. We look forward to seeing everyone at Cedar Hill on Sunday, May 6th!
#CedarHillCrit #LordsofSprint #Equal #HallmarkVWofCoolSprings #HattieB's #HattieBsRacing #RBsCyclery #Shimano #LilHarpethBrewing #BikersChoice
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Hattie B's RacingWe take pride in promoting a good times bike race within our communities, it's good for the hood and, oh, after we drop the hammer on you, we'll drink all your beer. Archives
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