April 22/05 2:24 am - Women's Novice Bicycle Racing Program in BC

Posted by Editoress on 04/22/05
 

Women's Novice Bicycle Racing Program

There is a grassroots initiative in BC called the Women's Novice Bicycle Racing Program that has teamed up with Cycling BC, to encourage women to come out and race. As most cyclists are aware, turnout for women's races is typically quite low, resulting in a mixed field of all the categories, elite to beginner. This creates a discouraging atmosphere because most novice women never get to experience the thrill of bicycle racing with people at a similar skill level.

The Women's Novice Bicycle Racing program aims to provide separate races for category 3 and 4 women to let them experience what racing is all about! We would appriciate Canadian Cyclist's help in promoting the series by posting the following notice on the Daily News page.

Thanks in advance for your support, BC Women's Novice Bicycle Racing Coordinators Attention BC Category 3 and 4 Women Cyclists - A race series just for you!

From Cycling BC
Cycling BC and the Women's Novice Bicycle Racing program have teamed up to create the 2005 Novice Women's Race Series, which itself is continuing into its third year! The aim of the Program is to introduce the sport of bicycle racing to women, and to enhance the racing experience for category 3 & 4 women racers. This Series includes a group of Cycling BC sanctioned events, in addition to club races that will allow female racers to compete against other Cat 3/ 4 racers. Points will run five deep for each event within the Series, with a separate Category 3 and Category 4 Women's Point Series Champion being named at the end of the Series.

The 2005 Novice Women's Race Series events are:
May
1 - Warp Speed Time Trial
10 - Tuesday Night Championship
19 - Coastal Thursday Night Challenge
24 - EV Tuesday Nighter

June
5 - Race the Ridge Town Crit
11* - Brockton Criterium
12* - Atomic Road Race
29 - Yaletown Grand Prix

July
7 - Coastal Thursday Evening Challenge
12 - EV Tuesday Nighter
17 - Tour de Delta Road Race
28 - Coastal Thursday Night Challenge

August
6 - BC Time Trial Champs
9 - EV Tuesday Nighter
14 - BC Criterium Champs
18 - Coastal Thursday Night Challenge
23 - Awards Ceremony

Club Races (Cat 4 Race Series only)
Cycling BC sanctioned

*On June 11th and 12th, we will be having our first Cat 3 / 4 Stage Race.
Points will be tallied for both individual races as well as the General Classification.

On August 23, an awards ceremony will be held to honour the top women in the Series for both Category 3 and Category 4.

In order to hold a separate Cat 3 / 4 women's race during sanctioned events, a minimum registration of 10 women is required 2 weeks prior to the race. We urge you to register for these sanctioned events as soon as possible to help make the Points Series possible. Information about these races is available on the Cycling BC website (www.cycling.bc.ca) as well as the Women's Novice Bicycle Racing website (members.shaw.ca/wnbr).

We look forward to a great season of racing!

To learn more about the Series, the events, or about taking part in the Series, please contact the Women's Novice Bicycle Racing Program Coordinators, at wnbr@shaw.ca