I didn’t watch the race (it doesnt inspire me to ride and it all gets a bit too repetitve for me) but was told about Rach’s victory and I’ve gotta say I was surprised, to take such a big gap/motherhood/injuries and come back and win doesn’t seem to paint the rest of the field in a good light. I think we’ve all heard the anecdote before that you need to ride with better riders in order for your own riding to improve so maybe her return will signal the others to push harder to try to compete. People say to me all the time ‘oh you should race’ but at the end of the day when you may be the only competitor at a race is there really any point? As has been said before you only need to complete the course as a woman in order to generally win, I’ve got tonnes of QOMs but there’s far less women completing the segments so is it really anything to write home about?
I’m not sure what the solution is to getting more women into racing but I dont think the approach should be that just because you’re a woman you owe it to your ‘species’ to race which is very much the sentiment I get as a female rider when people talk to me about the fact I should race. Similarly it annoys me when I meet up with women for a ride who tell me they race and by the end of the ride I’m wondering why, just because your female?!
