I read this blog post today after seeing a few complimentary Tweets about it. People said it was a great look at the experience of female racers and the author had this to say about it:
I’m a female cyclist and racer, and I couldn’t disagree more. Her writing is good, she comes across as warm, honest, and likable, and I don’t want to be unsupportive of any chick who is willing to be honest and open about her experiences. But I also don’t believe in women waving a white flag against their male riding counterparts and attributing it to being a woman:
“However, the rest of the time I’m training with men. Since I am a woman, this gives me an absolutely warped perception of my own fitness and ability simply because when I train with men I am constantly getting my butt decisively handed to me. Oftentimes I am dangling off the back, struggling to stay with the group, watching my friends, my male friends, chatting and pedaling with ease.”
“This is a phenomena that all female athletes in endurance sports have experienced at one point, and something that I just don’t think men understand. Suiting up for a ride with my male friends, a few of which are real-live pros (as opposed to dead pros) for me feels like preparing to go into battle. It is distinct from a race because in a race with your peers you know that there is a possibility that you will come out on top, whereas in riding with the boys I know that at some point a grenade will be thrown into my foxhole and I will not escape from it.”
I am a woman and when I am not training alone, I train with men. But the only time my gender even registers is when it takes me an extra minute or two on pee stops; the rest of the time, it doesn’t matter what I’ve got in my bibs. A ride is a ride and a rider is a rider and we’re all going up and down the same hills. I understand that physiologically men in general have an edge, but I don’t give two shits about that in practice and I don’t give it a single thought on a ride. My guess is that the men I ride with don’t either. I don’t ride like a man or a woman – I ride like a bike racer, suffer like dog, and get dropped and drop people like anybody else. I don’t want to be treated differently because I’m the girl in the group. I don’t want anybody to ever go easy on me; I want to get dropped hard when I crack and get the same respect as any other rider when I finish strong.
So Frances, here is how you should see yourself: You are strong, tough, and bold for putting yourself into hard rides and climbing into the hurt locker over and over. Don’t ever discredit that by seeing yourself as a woman amongst men and thus somehow less strong or capable of dishing out pain in return. I’m no radical feminist, but I do believe that when it comes to training and group rides, we are all just riders and some days that means kicking ass and some days that means getting your ass kicked. If I went out and trained with Marianne Vos and Giorgia Bronzini, they’d probably annihilate me. It’s not about sex, it’s about strength. You’ve got it. Don’t second-guess yourself. Don’t speak for female cyclists unless it’s to say, “Hi, I ride with strong people, sometimes it hurts like WHOA, and hell yeah I keep going back for more.”
it depends…. as an average women rider with average men you will very often find yourself in the position of hurting disproportionally and always being the one to be dropped first. You are comparing yourself as a pro, and as someone who came to road riding with a huge fitness benefit from mountain biking from the start…. not as an average female rider in a bunch of average male riders – which is where the testosterone gap opens up most visibly. Also, not all groups ride the same, and not all terrain is equally suited to even out the differences in strength. A very hilly route with male riders pushing it hard/sprinting up the hills and going easy down the hills is much less amenable to even out abilities (there is not much gain to be made from exploiting draft) than a more level ride with hills but also flatter sections. And some groups are simply better at keeping an even pace than others.
I’ve got to beg to differ. What’s different about Lindsay? Okay, so she came from a big base of mountain biking… which she started doing as an adult and had to train to achieve. It wasn’t gifted to her. Maybe she’s got a genetic benefit or two, but she works hard, treats her off the bike time as just as important as on the bike time, uses the resources available to her, and takes the sport seriously. She wasn’t dropped on the planet as a pro… behind everybody that inks that line is a lot of work.
Coming up with a list of reasons as to why some rides make things harder on some people than others is just a reason itself. I know that Lindsay won’t write off a ride because it seems insurmountable. Coming unhinged is just a reason to work harder. I doubt she’d appreciate being told she’s achieved what she has *in spite* of being a woman. And likewise, on the very special, very rare days that I can put the hurt on her, I’m going to be pretty ticked if somebody tries to tell me it’s because I’m a man. Because I know how much work those days take to get.
wait, I never meant anything about minimizing anybodies achievements! I just compared different situations – on average women will be dropped much more often if they ride with mostly male peers, even those women who are pretty fit. And not everybody has the time and drive to work hard and dedicated all the time on bike riding. That does not mean that dedication and talent is not appreciated – it is absolutely great. But it is not the situation most women find themselves in, just different scenarios. nothing else.
… and I am not asking for different treatment, or anything.
I wish there were more group rides with a significant amount of women so those who are not quite as strong or are very new to the sport wouldn’t get dropped over and over again and finally give up on the ride. However, just about a year ago, I was on my first road bike and got dropped often within the first mile of group rides. And each time that I came back, I made it further without getting dropped. These were group rides dominated by men. Men who taught me to ride my bike, race my bike, and keep going for it. I have no regrets of being raised on the bike bike by hard, male dominated rides. And I still train predominately with men and am glad that I have people around to push me when I need a bit more motivation and on the flip side to ride along side and know I’ll never have to actually race. Having said that, if one drops me on a climb, I do consider that he is a man and realize that it doesn’t mean a thing about how my climbing is in comparison to those I will be racing. Plus, on the group rides I go on, usually we regroup at the top and base of climbs so I can (and often do) choose to go as hard/easy as my training asks for that day.
I love that Frances is so open and I love that she has given so much of herself to cycling. I also know that when one person feels such emotions, tons more experience those same ones when in similar situations, so I sincerely hope that Frances finds a way to make what are now negatives into positives and shares such paths with others.
You say “not everybody has the time and drive to work hard and dedicated all the time on bike riding…” It just depends on what your goals are. Lindsay has a full-time M-F job,
but her dedication to the sport pushes her to do what she needs to do to get to “the next level.” Stick with it…push yourself…and don’t punish yourself for being a female bike rider.