Upcoming 2016 events for female cyclists in NSW

I’m a member of Cycling NSW’s Women’s Commission which I joined earlier this year. By way of background, the Women’s Commission (like a committee) works “across the sport of cycling in NSW to ensure the development of policies and initiatives which promote participation amongst women and girls of all ages into the sport and recreation of cycling”.

I must admit that I wasn’t sure if volunteering for this role would be a complete waste of time and we’d just sit around ‘shooting the breeze’, but I’m pleased to report that the focus is on action and getting events happening. Here’s a brief summary of the main initiatives for 2016.

# Five100 Challenge

The #Five100 Challenge is a series of women’s only 100 km rides to encourage women who are already keen recreational road cyclists to step up and challenge themselves by completing five 100 km rides.

There are 15 women’s 100 km rides being organised by cycling clubs across Sydney, the Central Coast, Hunter Valley and Central Tablelands.

I’m actually organising two of the rides under the banner of my cycling club – Lidcombe-Auburn Cycle Club (LACC) which are on Sunday, 3 April and Sunday, 5 June.

You can register via the Cycling NSW website by following this link.

Women’s Come ‘n’ Try racing

Cycling NSW ran its first ‘Come ‘n’ Try’ racing series last year and decided to run it again in 2016 to encourage female road cyclists to try racing in a nurturing, educational environment.

We hope to attract current Cycling Australia licence holders, both racing and recreational who haven’t tried racing much before, and other female cyclists over the age of 18 who ride a road bike, but are not members of a club.

Here’s the events we have planned.

Date	Club	Venue	Format
Sunday, 7 February	Southern Cross Cycling Club	Waratah Park, Sutherland	Criterium – 20 mins plus two laps
Sunday, 21 February	SuVelo	Heffron Park	Criterium – 20 mins plus two laps
Sunday, 28 February	Waratah Master CC	Lansdowne Park	Criterium – 20 mins plus two laps
Sunday, 6 March	ATTA	Calga ITT course	25 km individual time trial
Sunday, 17 April	Northern Sydney Cycling Club	Beaumont Road	Criterium – 20 mins plus two laps

You’ll be able to find out more on Cycling NSW’s website shortly.

Women’s Race Series

This series has been run by Cycling NSW for the past few years and is gaining in popularity. It gives female racers from elite to slower riders the chance to race against women of a similar level. They’ll be four grades – A, B, C and D for each event with a cumulative points tally.

The scheduled races for 2016 include (a few of them are yet to be confirmed):

Date	Club	Venue	Format
Sunday, 6 March	ATTA	Calga ITT course	25 km individual time trial
Saturday, 19 March	Bathurst Cycling Club	Bathurst	Criterium
Saturday, 19 March	Bathurst Cycling Club	Bathurst	Individual time trial
Sunday, 20 March	Bathurst Cycling Club	Bathurst	Road race
Sunday, 17 April	SU Velo	Heffron Park	Criterium
Saturday, 7 May	Elite Energy	Penrith Regatta Centre	Road race
Saturday, 21 May	Illawarra CC	Illawarra TBC	Road race
Saturday, 4 June	Penrith CC	Penrith Regetta Centre	Road race (part of Sydney Road Titles)
July TBC	Lidcombe Auburn CC	Dunc Gray crit track	Criterium
Sunday, 21 August	Northern Sydney Cycling Club	Beaumont Road	Criterium
Saturday, 17 September	Hunter Clubs	Newcastle TBC	Road race
Sunday, 18 September	Hunter Clubs	Newcastle TBC	Criterium
October TBC	Orange CC	Orange TBC	Road race & individual time trial

You’ll be able to find out more on Cycling NSW’s website shortly.