Tour Inspirations

Photo by Piper Williams

I entered a contest recently where the objective was to send in a picture of how Le Tour de France has inspired you. The winners would receive London Duathlon tech shirts. I gave the contest and the Tour some thought and came up with these two pictures with the help my husband. I entered the lower picture into the contest, but the great thing about a blog is that I do not have to choose between two pictures, so I can show you both considerations. I will spoil the ending now, I was not selected, (all three winners were male), however this contest did get me thinking:

"How can I be inspired by an event that is only open to male athletes?"

Women have come a long way in the field of athletics and women's cycling is a growing field. Women are showing themselves to be true competitors, in all areas of cycling. In this year's Odin's Revenge, an intense 180 mile gravel race, the over all winner was a woman. Yet, at present there is no women's cycling race that holds the same prestige as the Tour. Yes, it is true that this year, on the last day of the Tour there was a one day women's race, but this is not good enough. To make matters worse, professional female cyclists often do not get the same amount of prize money as their male counterparts. This occurs despite the fact that female cyclists race with the same intensity as male cyclists. It is time for things to change. There are several incredible professional women cyclist fighting for this change, but there are small ways that amateur female racers can add to the fight.

The first woman to run to the Boston marathon happen in 1967 and some officials tried to remove her from the race. Now, less than 50 years later, the Boston marathon participation is split nearly evenly between the two genders (45/55). These changes have come about by professional female racers who have challenged the standards of racing and fought to enter bigger races. However, I would argue that this is only part of the story. Over the course of past fifty years, women's track at the high school and college level has grown and is now a thriving part of school athletics. Fun runs, 5k's, 10k's, etc, have become a regular part of community activities and women of all ages and skill levels are entering. Seeing women running and competing is normal sight and has been a normal sight for decades. The participation in running at the amateur levels has certainly aided in paving the way for women to compete in the same type of races as men.

My brief study of the history of running is what lead me to my conclusion on how I could be inspired by Le Tour de France. I could be inspired to train harder and to race more, no matter where I place or how fast I ride. In my own small ways, I can increase female participation in competitive cycling. I will likely never qualify to compete in the Tour, when it is open to female participants, but I can be a part of the movement to make that happen. By participating in competitive cycling events, I can increase the visibility of female racers on the amateur level. I can train harder and become a fiercer competitor. I do race as often as my pocketbook allows.

So here is my encouragement to other female cyclists, consider racing. This could be an effective and incredibly fun way to make a difference. Female participation is amateur racing events is still rather low. Last year, when I competed in the London Summer Cross series, each race had an average of 3 women on the field and about 50 men. Some races fair better. Thanks to the outreach of Sheclismo, the Star City CX races in Nebraska had large women's fields.  Participating in competitive events in cycling will not only challenge you to improve your own cycling fitness, but it will show that women have an interest in competitive cycling. This could help lead to the changes that the sport needs to see at the professional level. The world of women's cycling will be moving in positive directions and those of with bikes can all be part of changing this sport.

So let us all train harder for the day that women cyclists get the same recognition as men. On that note, I encourage all of you to post your own pictures of your training with your own motivation.

Photo by Piper Williams