In my latest RBR article about the Rough Road 100, I highlighted BMC’s role in sponsoring 120 entries to encourage women to come out and race. During my race packet pickup, I met the local BMC rep. We talked about their sponsorship role and, through that encounter, was introduced to BMC’s North American Marketing Manager, Joan Hanscom. I had the opportunity to ask Joan a few questions, delving deeper into their initiative to get more women on bikes.
SHERI: What motivated BMC to sponsor entries for women to race Rough Road 100 gravel?
JOAN: Throughout my whole career in the bike industry I have tried to encourage more women to engage in the sport – whether that was in CX, road or on the track. At BMC, I am fortunate to work for a brand that shares the belief that cycling should be for everyone and that more women participating is great for the sport. With the understanding that we have two incredible ambassadors in Chicagoland who have both done SO much to get more women involved in the sport, and an event organizer who seems to care deeply about being inclusive as well – we seemed to have all the pieces of the puzzle to make it a success. Having lived and raced in Chicagoland for many years myself, I understand what an incredible community there is there and this was our way of contributing to all the other great work that is already being done.
SHERI: I believe BMC sponsored 120 entries. How was the response?
JOAN: Stunning. Every spot taken and then some! The coolest part was when women who had taken a free spot couldn’t make it, they let the promoter know and he was able to pass that on to the next in line.
SHERI: Apart from the Rough Road 100 entries, what other initiatives is the BMC undertaking to encourage more women to participate in racing?
JOAN: To highlight just a couple of things – we work with Starla Teddergreen who created her own amazing initiative, “Distance to Empty,” that is supporting a good number of women in Colorodo in their pursuit of some pretty exicting goals via bicycle. I love that program and believe that the idea of finding ones distance to empty is for everyone. It challenges you to find the edges. And I like that. Plus Starla is incredible. What she just did at the Cape Epic was incredibly inspiring, So if we can help her help her people – awesome!
We were also really quick to jump on board with the Gone Graveling Festival for the first two years it happened (and hopefully it returns to the calendar) I thought the idea of an inclusive gathering on bikes was amazing and it was really fun. We brought in an incredible female mechanic named Casey Wytaske to demystify working on your bike and how to keep it running in an event and that was a really empowering and popular workshop.
SHERI: In your opinion, what are the reasons behind the lower participation of women in bike racing and riding?
JOAN: I think there are a lot of reasons. In some cases it can be because women’s fields are an after-thought for the promoters. Things like what time slots the women race etc. But let’s be honest, it can be an intimidating sport. The bikes are expensive, there’s a dress code of sorts. There is a bit of “inside baseball” at all times to understand the rules of engagement. And so helping people crack that code by making the sport approachable and understandable helps a lot. I have seen time and time again, if you welcome everyone’s participation and make it clear, approachable and help remove some of the barriers to entry the women show up. It can also be as simple as – gosh that event is far away and I don’t know if I want to go if I am going to be the only woman participating. The social and fun element is important even when you’re racing full gas. There is so much more to this question – I could write a book!
SHERI: Can you explain the role of BMC ambassadors, like Katie Cavuto and Leah Sanda, in promoting women’s cycling?
JOAN: I was fortunate enough to be teammates with them both and had so much fun racing with them over the years. But how I met them and became friends with them at first – I was driving up from Louisville KY to do a lot of races in the Chicago area and week after week, they were just so nice, so encouraging. I watched them welcome me and hosts of others into the community. And they are both RACERS. Katie rides so she can race, she will tell you that openly. But she wants to share that enthusiasm with as many other people as possible. Leah is very much the same. Two hard core competitors that really want MORE people having a great time on bikes. I’ve watched them lead rides, chat up complete strangers, organize events, teams, cheerlead, hold camps and clinics. That’s a long way of saying that they are both the kind of people that embody the best kind of rider to have associated with BMC. So their role for me is to just keep being themselves, doing what they always have done and ideally as they have a positive experience on our bikes that they share that in a very honest and genuine way with the people they meet.
SHERI: What is BMC doing to engage and encourage women not interested in racing, such as new or club riders, to participate in cycling activities?
JOAN: I think the answer is really found in all of the above. We aren’t just being active in gravel, this year we are also supporting both the Gran Fondo National Series and GFNY events. These are perfect events for anybody and everybody interested in participating in events in some really great environments. You can go hard and race for the win or you can just go have a great day on the bike and enjoy every rest stop along the way.
I think it’s important to keep in mind that BMC’s heritage is as manufacturer of high performance bikes. But high-performance does not necessarily just mean racing bikes though we are very good at that. Our endurance bike – the Roadmachine- is every bit a high performance bike as well but designed for a wider range of road surfaces, event participation and ride style. So BMC supports people participating in all types of cycling just by making the right high performance bike for however and wherever you choose to participate.
Sheri Rosenbaum regularly contributes articles and reviews products for RBR. She’s an avid recreational roadie who lives in the Chicago area and a major advocate for women’s cycling, serving on the board of directors and volunteering with the Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club. Click to read Sheri’s full bio or visit her web site sunflowersandpedals.com.
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