Women and ultra-endurance events

[Floating Bombus]

Well yeah, I'd also say give some of the audax events a try - there are plenty starting from Bristol and nearby - they can be great fun and are a good way of discovering new routes, seeing how far you can go, etc, all in a fairly controlled environment yet with an ethos of self-sufficiency; no one's going to mend your punctures or hand up gels, you can mend them yourself and find a cafe. But some people do take them mighty seriously!

Not that serious is necessarily bad, but it's meant to be fun (even if only in retrospect when it's a wet January on the Mendips). Some people get a bit obsessive and forget there are other ways to ride a bike. Doesn't sound like that's the case here though.

 

[Floating Bombus]

Men do not need to consume carbohydrates hourly. Don't know where you got that idea from.

Yeah, that struck me as exaggerated too. But I'm not exactly riding at that level (neither the ultra-distance nor the competitiveness and speed) so maybe, at the pointy and shiny end, they really are sucking up those carbs at that level.

 

[steveindenmark]

Rivers. There are a lot of good women Ultra distance riders in the UK and further afield. The TCR is trying hard to get more involved by giving them automatic entry into the TCR if they apply.

Are they better endurance athletes than men? Some are, obviously

Fiona is a bit of an anomily more due to her age. Good endurance athletes are usually much older than 24.

But its great to see Fiona win. It can only be good for womens ultra cycling.

Maybe you would be interested in the Adventure Syndicate?

 

[mudsticks]

Its fairly obvious that womens physiology hasn't really changed much in the last few centuries.

But now we are getting more women participating in, and winning these events - or at least its certainly reported more.

So the bigger change must be in womens time, and resources, and confidence to train for, and to fully participate in these events.

And that must be down to social changes, and attitudes yes? Not because women have suddenly taken some evolutionary physical leap forward.

A shame its taken so long for these opportunities to come to pass, but better late than never i suppose.

 

[Floating Bombus]

Everyone's physiology has changed to some extent thanks to diet, medicines and probably other environmental factors. Whether this has affected women in different ways than men, I do not know. Nevertheless, I agree that social changes must be by far the largest factors here.

 

[GuyBoden]

Let's not forget Amanda Coker with her 237 mile per day year and 100,000 miles in 423 days.


That was a direct quote from the Outside magazine article. And yes, it's wrong.

Let's not forget Beryl Burton.
One of the best British riders ever.........

"In 1967, she set a new 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles– a mark that surpassed the men’s record of the time by 0.73 miles and was not superseded by a man until 1969.While setting the record she caught and passed Mike McNamara who was on his way to setting the men's record at 276.52 miles and winning that year's men's British Best All-Rounder. She is reputed to have given him a liquorice allsort as she passed him.Apparently, McNamara ate the sweet. "

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Let's not forget Beryl Burton.

View attachment 479808

"In 1967, she set a new 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles– a mark that surpassed the men’s record of the time by 0.73 miles and was not superseded by a man until 1969.While setting the record she caught and passed Mike McNamara who was on his way to setting the men's record at 276.52 miles and winning that year's men's British Best All-Rounder. She is reputed to have given him a liquorice allsort as she passed him.Apparently, McNamara ate the sweet. "

Massive chain ring and super strong and fast legs

 

[mudsticks]

There's a small but keen and growing community of women involved in that end of cycling in Bristol, including at least one TCR entrant (last year) and 3 out of the only 4 women who finished the last Mille Cymru. No less a figure than Emily Chappell was also considering a move to Bristol, though I'm not sure what happened with that. You could check out Audax Club Bristol for like-minded women.

Edit: I shouldn't assume that just cos you're interested in ultra-endurance cycling, you'll know who Emily Chappell is. She's a member of the Adventure Syndicate http://theadventuresyndicate.com/emily-chappell ex-London courier and I believe was 4th(?) overall in TCR in ~2016.

Thanks for the heads up on this.
Just so happens I'm reading 'The Carbon Cycle' by Kate Rawles.

Who is on the Adventure Syndicate website.
Texas to Alaska.. 4553 miles and enquiring of peoples attitudes to climate change along the way.

A good read.

Sounds like hard work though.

Not least the cycling, but even more so getting recognition of the problem with fossil fuels.

Definitely worth a read.

Makes me feel OK about my tendency to change plans on a whim when touring too.

Its a good account of the psychological ups and downs of solo long distance.