Giro Donne - SPOILER

[false_Aest]

Originally Posted by T.J.

i am a supporter of womens racing. problem is women arent supporters of womens racing. i'm a cat2 as is my wife. my races will run between 50~100 deep. Hers are lucky to break double digits. she bailed and now does tri's because of it

TJ you're right but a big part of women not supporting women's cycling is that men do a really effin good job of pushing them away from the sport before they even get to the racing part.

I've seen more than a few Friday rides turn into ego rides. When my GF first started riding she and another girl went on ride with some dudes who decided to show off by riding hard...and dropping them. How many threads mention Liz Hatch's assets or the Assos girl? How many male LBS clerks take the time to understand women's fit issues? How many LBS managers try to find female employees to address these issues? Carly has more than a dozen dedicated customers simply because she's a she and they feel comfortable talking to her.

When dudes make the sport more accessible and stop behaving like douche-dudes women will start building their own community. I've seen it happen in Pittsburgh, Chicago and the LBS is working on it here in LA.

[firerescuefin]

Originally Posted by r_mutt

the issue with women's sports in general is that there's no coverage. imho, women's cycling would grow if they raced at the same events the men did- much like tennis. look at the coverage women's tennis gets at the grand slam events- they get just as much coverage as the men. thats where the UCI could start.

Men's racing receives fringe coverage at best. Watch the Tour of California, where an NHL pregame show takes out the last 2k of a stage. Networks aren't lining up (especially in the US) to show pro tour racing. The US men's NC this year was amongsts the most pathetic coverage I have ever seen.

How's the WNBA working out. They get plenty of coverage. It's been hemoraging money since it's inceptions and it's numbers aren't getting any better.

As a spectator, some women's sports translate better than others IMO. With some sports, they just look like less athletic men. It's almost like MLS (Men)...compared to the Premiership. I find MLS unwatchable.

For me, events like Tennis or Women's World Cup are riveting....other sports, not so much....YMMV

I don't think people need to apologize for not finding women's cycling exciting to watch....or for thinking it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The local groups I have been a part of, the women have been looked after.....other than the resident @sshole (which we all ride with) have they haven't been mistreated. Face it, there's no shortage of jerks participating in the "sport" of cycling. I find very few people I have raced with living in the gray areas. I either really like them or fantasize about putting them over the barriers. Women find the same barriers to entry that men do, they just seem less tolerant of the BS.

[tannhauser]

Originally Posted by false_Aest

Nothing is wrong with admiring beauty. But all too often women are described as "talented and beautiful" whereas men are just "talented." Speaking directly about one's talent places the weight fully and firmly in one place. Addressing looks de-emphasizes the talent... addressing looks means that the "hottie" gets more press.

Compare Liz Hatch with Emma Pooley. I'd wager that Liz is more of a household name than Emma even though she's got far less palmares. If Emma had Liz's (lack of...comparatively speaking) wins she'd be 100% ignored.

Whatever.

Yeah, agree. Liz did "all that" to herself and got herself pretty far for her talent level, so she chose the objectification route, not guys.

Pooley's bobbing style bugs me, but there's no denying her talent.