During the Ronde von Vlaanderen, we of the 2012 Keeper’s Spring Classic Tour were right on the Oude Kwaremont climb as the women big-ringed it up the cobbles. Kristin Armstrong (US Women’s Team) was burying herself to get on Judith Arndt’s (Greenedge) wheel. It looked like the winning break was going right in front of our eyes. Seeing professional cyclists in action is always a humbling experience and seeing these women was no exception. Damn, these women looked great: fit, strong, awesome and crushing the Oude Kwaremont in the Ronde. They must have been jazzed too, anyone who gets to race these fabled climbs must get a buzz storming up, urged on by the massive throng of beer infused Belgian fans.
They will be doing it again on the Mur de Huy on Wednesday. Will they be as psyched to crush that climb? Perhaps the winner will but everyone else might find it a bit too steep the second time around. This year’s course is 123km, 13.5km longer than last year’s with two ascents of the Mur de Huy. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) was sick for the Ronde but she is the heavy favorite having won Fléche Wallonne Femmes only the last four times. Stay on her wheel until the final 30 meters and pop by for the win. How hard can that be? Bloody impossible judging from her previous record yet betting against Armstrong, Arndt or Pooley seems foolhardy.
It’s cheating to look at Cyclop’s picks. He obviously sold his soul to the devil, that might be cheating, I’m not sure. The betting office window closes early Wednesday morning so do your worst. Here is the start list.
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There is a good interview with Evelyn Stevens on Velo News here. Before I open myself up to potential scorn and public floggings I want to lay a few things down. I think woman cyclists and woman racers, in particular, are awesome. I mean come on, is there anything cooler that to see a woman lay down the V and put the hurt on some Fred full of testosterone out on the road? I was on a ride last year on a long climb and a woman that recently started riding with us couldn't get her chain to drop down in the little ring so she just rode away from me in the big ring. Awesome! The CAT 3 that I train with was at a time trial in Boise, ID recently and he was telling me how he was turning himself inside out when Kristen Armstrong goes blowing by him like he was standing still. Awesome!
Here is where I want to look into something that has been vexing me recently. When it comes to cycling, and racing in particular, I'm a hard core idolater. There is a stack of about 20 magazines - everything from Rouleur to Peloton to Pro Cycling to Cycle Sport, etc. on my nightstand and I have noticed a recent trend in women lamenting the lack of support they receive from sponsors, the UCI, etc. Liz Hatch stated in an interview that she is retiring because there is no support for women's racing and she can't make a living at it. In another magazine a reader wrote in congratulating the editors for recognizing that the best cyclist in the world is a woman - Marianne Vos. This is where the vexation comes in for me. There are millions of men across the face of the globe that will never see the light of a CAT 3 peloton let alone a pro peloton. They train long, hard hours. They are committed to the sport. They pour their hard earned paychecks for their 40 hour a week jobs into going to race but the level of those at the highest level is so high that all they can hope for is free set of tires here and there. Yet a cursory glance at the bulk of interviews and rider's bios from the women of the sport usually have a statement that goes along the lines of something like this - "I started riding six months ago and decided to turn pro..." Really? It's that easy for a woman to hit the "highest level" in our sport? Evelyn Stevens was sitting at a desk on Wall Street a couple of years ago and now she's beating Marianne Vos and probably going to the Olympics.
Women deserve recognition for their achievements. But what level they deserve is commensurate with the interest they generate in their sport and the return on investment to their sponsors. Our society's entitlement mentality seems to be pushing women to expect more than they deserve. If I demanded a 10k pay out and all kinds of perks from a sponsor for my CAT 5 State Championship win last year I would be told "Dude, the only person at the race interested in your success was your wife." But I don't race for the money. I race because I love it. I'm sure that the women that race love it too but love should be unconditional.
I think that Mario Cipollini's recent remarks about the state of cycling, i.e. his disgust at how the first loser - this means you Andy - is all obsequious to the guy that just handed him his ass is very telling. If I'm going to pony up a bunch of money to go to the bike races I want to see speed, BIG SPEED. I want to see big hurt put on people. I want to see a spectacle worthy of the money behind it. I don't want to see a bunch of guys acting like women.
End of rant.
Please send all hate mail to Cyclops@blowme.com
@Oli
Hey, can I get a pair of "Massive Generalization Goggles" in 'scratch proof' Irridium?
@Cyclops
Wow, I am drunk as hell off of Grand Marnier and i have no idea what you th fuck yu just said but i like it. Are you in fAvor of women's cycling or juzt ranting in general? Sorry, a bit confusd and I am not sure wheter to chock it up to the lovely alcohol your rant?
@Chris
Lets not forget Roche. Mechanic on a farm. Win or go home. And I'm going to go ahead and completely disagree with @Oli. I don't think that there is proof either way about the social status of where pro cyclists come from. What we see on TV and in the magazines is fully sponsored, super fit über athletes that are now getting paid by by (sometimes) lucrative sponsors.
Would it help, and does it happen, that some of the pros have the means to do that? Sure. But just in the small community of racers that I hang out with, many of which have tried their hand at going to the 'big show', none of them had any more help than living in near squalor, working shit jobs at shit hours, saving every dime to take the chance.
All pros have 'means'? Bullshit.
Let's look at a couple examples shall we: Big Mig; got a second hand bike at 11 that was stolen. Had to work in the fields with his father to earn a replacement.
Lance; His mom worked two, sometimes three jobs. He got there with his mom's emotional support, certainly not finical.
Joop Zoetemelk; father was a farmer, and Joop worked as a carpenter.
Jan Janssen: Dug foundations.
Gimondi: Single mother was a postal carrier.
Do I need to go on?
@scaler911
While correctly disagreeing with me, you've also kind of proved my point; the level of poverty and struggle vary so much, and it's all so relative, that to have a prejudice against a rider who comes from a more privileged background seems odd to me. I wasn't trying to say that no riders come from poor backgrounds, just that cycling hasn't on the whole been a working class sport for decades.
And just out of curiosity, how long did Jan Janssen spend as an actual foundations digger? How long did Joop work as a carpenter? Who owned the farms that he and Indurain worked on? Sometimes the myth of a poor upbringing is just an exaggeration of circumstances - I struggle financially from time to time and would have difficulty just buying my son a racing bike if he needed one, but I still wouldn't describe myself as "poor" when I have seen people who are.
It's all relative...
@Cyclops
Hey Cyclops just thought I'd point out, that email address doesn't seem to be working right now, server might be down or something, just a heads up.
@Buck Rogers
Also awesome and deserves repeating...
But lets not put women's cycling in the same basket as a lot of other areas of areas where we automatically dismiss it just because of it's category. Lets treat the riders and their races on their merits rather than comparing them to the performances of their male counterparts.
@Oli
We were just discussing this in parallel. No one ever does this truly "alone." and if you put in the work and deliver, it has its own merit. Having overcome obstacles certainly adds to the story, but not having that element of the story does not make one a lesser or non- champion.
So much for stolen bikes! A Canadian podium, with my former club mate Tara Whitten on the top! (And the future Mrs. Dan_R in third...)
@Dan_R