Now, I’m not going to bang on about how women receive so little coverage in cycling (we all know that is true – for whatever reasons) but what I am going to bang on about why I think it is that way and what could be done about it.

Have you heard of the expression “the fish stinks from the head”? I never did, until I came to Switzerland. Ironically that is where the UCI is located too, in Lausanne. The UCI and the media don’t do women’s road racing justice. Back in 1924 Alfonsina Strada rode in the Giro d’Italia. I believe she got more coverage than the current women’s peloton get on television these days. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen the female peloton on television (outside of the Olympics and the World Road Championships).

Alfonsina Strada, women’s cycling pioneer

Of course, the UCI are not the sole culprits. Clubs and national federations are also to blame. There just isn’t enough being done at the club level to encourage young women to get out there and cycle bikes. Without an increase in the number of women riding at a young age, the landscape will never change. Young girls will always be turned off riding in a club full of older men so the clubs need to start recruiting young teenagers and planning fun events to encourage them to participate. When I asked some local Swiss club riders if they had any young female talent in their clubs, and why weren’t they racing, they replied that the clubs are mainly for people to get together and train, but not for teaching them how to race. But surely, I ask, isn’t that also the purpose and duty of the clubs? To develop young riders? To teach them all about the art of cycling? To present them with the opportunity to race? Most teenagers love socializing and rarely need an excuse to get together – presenting them with one that is as much fun as riding around the countryside and forests together would surely be really successful!

Lack of Race Categorization and Standardization

Another problem I see exists, at least in Switzerland, is that event organizers don’t categorize their races effectively. In Ireland, as far as I know, there are 4 categories - everyone can get a slice of the cake. In Switzerland however, there are just elite races with 2 categories for women if you are lucky (Femmes Elite (FE) and Femmes B (Femmes B)) or Jedermann/Granfondo races (for non-licensed riders these events are similiar to Sportives but timed) The majority of the participants in the elite races are at quite a high level, they are mostly pro or semi-pro’s -therefore it is very discouraging for amateur riders to take part as they have little to no chance to keep up with the bunch. How hard would it be, for a governing body, to develop some better rules about the categorization of events? If anything it would make the events more commercially viable and attractive to a more cyclists with a wider range of abilities.

It reminded me of the many conversations I have had recently with my friends about people riding their bikes in cities, namely Zurich. So I’d like to dedicate this special share to the guy who passed me on his bike this morning while I was on the way to my German class (at 7.30am). He nearly knocked me off of my bike, broke every single red light, almost knocked another ride off of their bike by crossing his path, and in the end – he arrived about 5 seconds before me to the bridge we both had to cross and…wait for the traffic lights to turn green in order to cross.

I just don’t get it. I hear so many cyclists complaining about how dangerous driver’s are, yet I would say the ratio of drivers I see crossing red lights to cyclists crossing red lights on a daily basis is about 0:10

Another thing Dan talks about is this silly obsession about weight among amateur low Cat. riders. When I used to be a lightweight rower and stand on a weighing scales that needed to show that I was under 57.0 kg in order to be allowed to start – weight was a very important issue. But Amateur cyclists obsessing about weight? Not healthy and downright silly. For many of the Pro.’s, who depend on performance to make a living, it is already a fine line between being strong and losing power due to weight loss. There is no need for Amateur’s to walk that line – nevermind introduce a culture of bad manners and judgement based on weight and appearance!

Enjoy the read -

Musings from a one-time “proper” cyclist

For me, the competition was not against the other women in the end as the turnout was very poor, so it was against myself, my demons and the men. For that is what Granfondo is all about, everyone together in one big mish-mash of elbowing and fun racing.

Stage 1 – Saturday – 10km Time Trial

I rode my first ever time trial yesterday – 10km at ‘voll gas’ as they say in Switzerland. My goal was to maintain an average of 40 kilometres per hour, and I achieved it! Even better – at 41.15kmph. My finishing time was 14.58 and, because I didn’t have a time trial bike, aero helmet, and wheels – I could take advantage of a 30 second bonus which brought me in at 14.28 and the winner by well over a minute.

The TT on Strava

TT Results

Stage 2 – Sunday – Road Race

Today then was Stage 2. 4 laps of 14.7 km with a steep, big hill in each one of those rounds. I was nervous coming into the event because it has been raining a lot, the roads are really narrow and it could have been mayhem. Luckily they were dry for us, and the peloton broke up pretty early in the event so I rode in the 2nd group with about 20 riders for most of the way.

My legs were in really great shape and I never really felt uncomfortable, like I sometimes did in Brütten in March. I was one of the first up each of them climbs and far from getting dropped, I actually controlled a lot at the front of the bunch. That however got a bit frustrating towards the end as the bunch slowed down and really lacked some aggressive riders to push the pace on. I’ve seen this happen before and it is frustrating! More reason for me to try to stay in the first group instead of working for the second…
I had great help from teammate Geri Pachinger and my mate Markus Tollert – also from a mysterious rider from Bündnerland in a green jersey – thanks whoever you are!

Finally, the Steiner Team triumphed again, André Seiler took the road race win with Reto Wälchli coming in second and Oleksiy and Bojan working really hard to help make this possible!

The Road Race on Strava

Final Road Race Results

The event was very well organised! It is clear that christian Heule has a lot of friends in the cycling scene as he pulled together some great support for the whole event, there should be some good photos and video coverage released in the next week and yeah – I would definitely recommend it! But I only wish there were more women stepping up to race. It is a shame and makes me worried about the development of the sport in Switzerland.

Schwarze Rakete zu verkaufen. Kaum gefahren. Ab Mitte März lieferbar, da vorher in den Ferien.

Specialized Allez Race, 2013

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KASSETTE: New, Shimano, 10-speed, 12-28t
SCHALTHEBEL: Shimano DuraAce
SCHALTWERK: Shimano Ultegra
UMWERFER: Shimano 105
KETTE: Shimano 105

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LENKER: New, Specialized CX, 6061 alloy, shallow bend
VORBAU: New, Specialized Comp-Set, 3D forged alloy, 4-position adjustable, 4-bolt, 31.8mm
LENKERBAND: New, Specialized

WHEELS: Hinten: Shimano 105, Vorne: Shimano
TIRES: Specialized All Condition, 700x25c, völlig pannenresistent
INNERTUBES: Specialized Super Light Turbo, 60mm, presta

SATTEL: New, Specialized Body Geometry Phenom Comp, Cr-Mo rails, 143mm
PEDALS: Nylon flat test ride

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KONTAKT: Philipp, 079 352 92 64, abholen in Zürich City, Bezahlung in bar oder im Voraus

Preis: 2000

There was a great atmosphere among the team before the race began. Jeannette and Mario Covi were out with cameras and we got some amazing photos.

Warm-Up

The Race

The women started in the same block with a 1.15 minute lead over the Amateurs and Elite men. The first few laps were good. It started off at an ok pace but straight from the beginning I noticed that the juniors were really nervous and giddy. There was a lot of senseless sprinting at the front of the pack and solo break aways. Jutta was in one of these breakaways and I chased her down with the help of Geri Pachinger one of our Vet teammates. Although I tried to ignore the jittery bike handling of the juniors as much as possible it wasn’t always that easy.

After 2.5 laps, our group got caught by the Elites and Amateurs. That meant a bunch of about 60 or more riders swallowed us up. My goal this race was to be better positioned in the peloton and to play a more active role in the women’s race. That meant working harder at the front and being prepared to chase breakaways if they happened. I made sure I was positioned at the edge of the peloton and with Sabrina and Jutta in contact so when that big gang came along I wouldn’t be stuck in the inside of the Peloton where its much harder to get out.

Everything was going great. I felt good and I had strong legs. On the fourth lap Yves rode next to me and gave me some words of encouragement. He said I was going very strong and to keep it up.

Disaster Strikes

Literally, within 5 seconds after Yves had spoken, the rider to my right rode straight into me – at full speed! I have no clue why other than perhaps he was pushed into me by the rider on his right. We were averaging about 40kmph and there was no way I could hold my line. I went down, in the middle of the pack and about 5 riders also came down with me (and on top of me), one of them was fellow team rider Oleksiy Mischchenko, and Markus Tollert a mate of mine. It took me a good few minutes to recover, then check my injuries. I felt really dizzy and I realized that the entire left side of my winter bib tights around my bum had been torn off, skin and all. Left knee, hip, chin, hand, and right little finger are all the worse for wear and I completely broke my 3T carbon handlebars.

Grrr!

Team Wins

On a much brighter note, Yves Covi triumphed again. After a really unfair 2nd race with some questionable handicapping of riders by the organization, the ST18 boys rode with vengeance to win the overall series. Yves on the podium and Reto Wälchli in 3rd place. Go guys!

Here is a pic of Yves just pipping Jan Keller over the finish line. To see more photos of the team in action check out our Facebook gallery.

Onwards and Upwards

So. Instead of licking my wounds. I’m going to race in the 3rd Frühlungs Cup in Brugg next Saturday with a couple of teammates. Maybe that will help the frustration I feel over Saturday’s race!

]]> http://fiolafoley.com/2013/03/18/crash-shock-frustration-and-pain/feed/ 0 fiolafoley DSC_5667 DSC_5674 DSC_5632 DSC_5680 DSC_5676 DSC_5688 DSC_5675 DSC_5677 DSC_5691 DSC_5774 DSC_5775 DSC_5776 DSC_5808 DSC_5809 DSC_5810 DSC_5811 download (2) download (1) 582002_509593599086503_1423258125_n http://fiolafoley.com/2013/03/13/a-winter-break-in-mallorca/ http://fiolafoley.com/2013/03/13/a-winter-break-in-mallorca/#comments Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:16:58 +0000 Fiola Foley http://fiolafoley.com/?p=2166 Continue reading →]]> I am just back from one of the best holidays I have ever had!

A 9 day break in Mallorca. Lots of sleep, time on the bike great food and lots of laughs. Although my legs are pretty smashed today…I’m sitting here in Zurich with a big smile on my face thinking of the great times we had on that beautiful island.

Although the actual volume of riding in terms of kilometres wasn’t huge, we did a hell of a lot of climbing. We covered about 14,261 height metres over 649.7 kms during 8 days of riding. I never imagined that Mallorca could be so hilly! It seems like every time I left the house it was unavoidable to return without racking up less than 1,000 metres of climbing.

I could write so much about this trip but as usual – I don’t have much time. Back to work tomorrow and I have to build some IKEA furniture, do some food shopping and get my brain into the mindset of a return to reality!

The week went something like this:

It was the first cycle specific training block I have ever done. I was a little apprehensive going into it regarding how I would cope with ‘just’ cycling, but with Philipp it was so great! We had a lot of laughs and we pushed each other a lot on the climbs and it was so great to have him there. On the last big ride I fell on a slippery tight switchback on Coll de Soller and he scraped me off the ground. Luckily it was my pride that suffered more than my bike and body.

It was also interesting to compare how I climb with the internationals that are present on Strava. I didn’t fare too badly. I picked up a couple of QOMs and on the major climbs I was at least in the top 10. But I didn’t see any big names there in the mix except for Katie Colclough Specialized Lululemon rider.

Happy Holidaymakers

Route Planning

Summits (lots of them)

Beautiful Views

Coffee Stops

Valldemossa

Relaxation

Next Up – RMVZOL 2. Rennen Brütten

Before I left for Mallorca I competed in my first criterium race in Brütten. I really enjoyed it and it was very exciting. Although I came 5th, I was pretty happy with that as I only rode about 500km in January and March so I had no clue what my form was like, I had a new bike, and the the depth of talent among the women was huge. Emma Pooley came in second place, Swiss international Jutta Steinen in 1st with Jane Nüssli in 3rd. I almost caught the fourth place girl and overtook Sabrina Baumgartner in the sprint to the line. This Sunday I’ll give it another go. Lets see how my legs will have recovered by then!

Maybe Ill look a little like this famous Irishman after the race:

Feeling Unprepared is also Good Experience

Its impossible to plan everything, but I usually manage to control one thing; being physically ready for a race. This time though, I don’t feel too ready! I am lacking miles in my legs (on the bike) and also on my new bike. It has barely been broken in! Since I got it a few weeks ago, it has been snowing in Zurich making it practically impossible to ride in the evenings and on the weekends I was ski touring or in the case of last weekend – at a wedding. Then I felt sick on Monday – chest congestion and headache. I managed to keep it at bay and it hasnt gotten worse but that meant I couldnt train either on Monday or Tuesday! To make matters worse, my bike is currently with my mechanic (http://www.velo-elsener.ch/) to sort out a problem with the bottom bracket!

So – tomorrow will be a good, hard training session. I will do everything I can to get Cait in a good position to the line to have ST18 on the women’s podium. 

Holiday on the Horizon

But, the good news is – I will leave for Mallorca on Sunday. We will spend 9 days there where all I need to take care of is spinning wheels (lots), eating right, and turning the pages of lots of books I intend to finally devour. I will disconnect. No phone or internet. Heaven!

After a freezing cold start we walked through one of the most beautiful glaciated valley’s I have been in, to climb up to a berghutte with a priceless view. This is us three on the walk up:

If you look closely, you can see us traversing through the rocks underneath the ridge to get to the spot we wanted to drop in…

Yves on the descent:

More of Yves – high speed

Messing up Yves beautiful lines – but considering my novice skills Im pretty happy with it!

Chris on the descent:

Thanks to Jean Gabriel Balet for the amazing photos!

I got up super early to make the trip to Lucerne before work so I could pick my new companion up from her temporary residence at CUAG in Lucerne. Argon18 representative Primin Adler wanted to take a look at me on the bike so I even got a quick bike-fitting too! It feels quite different but it should be better than how I was set up before.

Pirmin checking the set up

A happy lady!

So whats on it?

Frame: Argon18 Gallium Pro

Groupset: SRAM Red

Crank: ROTOR 3D

Stem and Handlebars: 3T

Saddle: Fizik Arionne Duonna

I’ve been using Speedplay pedals for the last 4 months and I really love them! There is no comparison in terms of feeling to the pedals and cleats I had been using before. But they took a little while to get used to clipping in (out was no real problem)

Wheels – I will probably switch back to my carbon tubulars, ITM Pathoms, for racing but until the season gets underway Ill keep my training wheels on it!

So I guess all I have to do now is concentrate on getting some form and miles into the legs. But the year is long and my target races are still at least 6 months away! Happy days! More time to bond with my new racing partner!

Thanks to all the above brands for their support of our team Steiner Argon18 http://www.stct.ch/