Women's Masters Series

2/2/2018

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

1 Comment

Robert Dupuy link

2/24/2018 04:12:49 pm

Well I think it's great, always nice to add additional categories.

I think you've pointed out one area, Women's masters series, where there was a real gap, and its good to address it.

Still, it's also good to not simply focus on disadvantage but to discuss advantages as well. That's the only way to get a complete picture of the cycling landscape.

A race with 6 people in it, and 3 receiving payouts, your odds of being in the money is huge - it's 50%. Compare that to a race with 60 people and only the same 3 payouts. Now, if only going by the numbers, your odds are at 5%. 1/10th that of the first example.

In short, an individual beginner in the men's masters group - his payout will be zero. That's the reality of it. His odd's of ever getting a payout - it just isn't realistic for most.

Honestly payouts are no concern of mine, I will only get zero dollars at every race, I'm not that good. There is no reason to change that either. I don't expect it should be different. I'm discussing this simply to share experience - not as complaint.

Women racers have another superior opportunity not often afforded to men - in my observation of local racers, the women are allowed to race.

They pay the same amount to enter the race, but they get a full race, rarely being pulled. Compare this to my experience at Cedar Hill - I paid full price, but was only allowed to race one lap.

This was due to my fitness level last year, I could only average 20MPH on the course, so didn't stay with the peleton. And it's due to crowding, and desire to keep the course safe for those in contention. And it's about attitude, no desire to find another solution exists.

Now I love Cedar Hill, we live in such a political world, that sharing your real world experiences is a shock.

But, I do it for a purpose - this experience is just the truth. It's not being modified to fit in with anyone's agenda and therefore is a bit more useful.

When you have a real world gap, like missing women's master series - I'm glad its being addressed.

However, I've also experienced the excesses, where men were denied access to training being replaced by 'women only' classes...and the reason for denying men was 'costs'. If you have a class of 8-10 people and instead have 10-15, what's the additional cost? Well usually its none. Cost is an excuse to hide a desire to separate.

Races will likely always have to be separated by gender - at least that is the consensus today. However, other things, such as training classes, they really should strive to be inclusive in my opinion.

New racers, well they aren't as fast sometimes. Charging them full price and pulling them after a lap is a discouragement. It's an age old problem, but one solved at most women's races today. So I say, learn from that. If men's races are different thanks to crowding, well logically that's the thing to solve - crowding. It shouldn't be solved by ejecting beginners - obviously because that is a severe discouragement. So whether by scheduling on the same day as another event across town, or by having a two day event, or finding someway to fit more into a single day., solve crowding don't solve by reducing participation..these are creative ideas, but I think its worth thinking about.

Anyway, so 5 people read the blog, and you get this post, ha. I am busy looking for races and am still considering Cedar Hill, because despite the fiasco and discouragement of being pulled after a lap, I love being there and the event of it all, and who knows I've been racing a year now, maybe I'll make it 3 laps. ;-)

Women's Masters Series

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