Northwest Women's Cycling (NWWC) is committed to improving the quality of
women's bike racing in the Pacific Northwest. Our first method of operation was
to increase the number of women in road racing. Due to lack of women's
participation, race organizers were grouping all women together in one field
regardless of experience. But those with less experience were getting dropped
from the pack and ended up riding on their own. This problem robbed
beginning-level participants of a true racing experience, of learning how to
ride and corner in a pack, to react to the pack's ebbs and flows, to conclude
in a sprint finish. This provided a major disincentive to racing, and women's
participation suffered accordingly. In an effort to solve this problem and
attract women to the sport, we put together the region's first category 4 race
series. It's been a huge success, and have therefore introduced
a seperate Cat 3 series in addition to the Cat4 one in 2004! The Northwest
Women's Race Series allowed beginning-level racers to race in their own field.
As a result, it has brought many (and I mean MANY) new women to the sport of
racing.
NWWC PROGRAMS
Northwest Women’s Cycling (www.nwwc.org) has offered an annual Women’s Race
Series, a Monday Night training ride, racing skills clinics and club rides
since 1999 in the Puget Sound. Founded in 1999 by Heather Johnston, Wendy Wahl,
and a small group of new racers, NWWC has introduced hundreds of women to the
joys of cycling. Our participants have gone on to everything from top level
bike racing to winning triathlons to international adventure racing. Skye
Brothers, our current Program Director, is one of those riders. She came to
bike racing by way of swimming and triathlon, placing high in the 2001 Series
as well as garnering the coveted Great Sport award. She has taken on leadership
of NWWC with great energy, despite keeping up a rigorous swimming and cycling
schedule, holding down a tech job, and still keeping her life going. Skye is
eager to see the Series and its related programs grow in scope and visibility
in the coming seasons. We also developed and implemented several other programs
to encourage women's participation in bike racing. The programs include:
-
Northwest Women's Race Series -This series of 13 races from March to
August involves fields solely devoted for category 3/4 women racers. This
Series encourages more women to start racing, without the intimidation factor
of having to race against women with far more experience, and with more
opportunity to learn pack skills.
-
Post-race Coaching Clinics - Clinics are held after one Series race per
month and feature a number of former regional and national champions as
coaches.
-
Intro to Road Racing Clinics - This multiweekend-long clinic takes place
in the fall. The first clinic focuses on basic pack riding and bike handling
skills including bumping drills and pacelining. The second clinic coveres more
technical race skills including sprinting, cornering drills, and a practice
criterium race. The first round took place in the fall of 1999 and bred many of
the women who raced and succeeded in the Series. The second round last
September drew nearly 60 new racers who intend to participate in the 2004
Series.
-
Spring Road Racing Clinic - This weekend-long clinic takes place in the
spring and features many of the local women racers as coaches. It involves
training on bike fit, cornering, sprinting, time trial starts, etc.
-
Weekly Rides - Monday rides will start for 2004 on April 5th and will
leave Gasworks Park every Monday night (rain or shine!) at 6 pm sharp. More
information can be found on the Clinics and Rides links on this
website.
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid
plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves
too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have
occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one's
favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance
which no [wo]man could have dreamed would have come [her] way. Whatever you can
do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Begin It Now.
- Goethe
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