From: F.Brown@massey.ac.nz (F.J. Brown)
Subject: Re: Women's Tour de France updates anyone?
Summary: Are women boring?   Is Keith Erskine boring?
Keywords: Women's racing, knuckleheads
Organization: Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
X-Reader: NETNEWS/PC Version 2c
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 21:00:12 GMT


Hi netters, this is Frith.   You asked for it this time.

>> I find the women's racing, at least here in America, to be as 
>> interesting, if not more so, than the men's competition.

Gosh, so do I.   I can't work out why, altho' I lie awake at nights 
wondering.   Is it because I spend most of my leisure time engrossed
in this sport that I like to read about its evolution in other parts of the 
world?   Say - perhaps that's why this newsgroup exists - so that enthusiasts 
can learn more about their sport, and then discuss the same?   Hey!

>I couldn't disagree more.  I hate to admit it, but I find women's
>road racing much less exciting than men's road racing.   Too many
>From ~1982-1987 Jeannie Longo dominated women's bicycle racing to such an 
>extent that it made women's  bicycle racing boring.  Longo 1st, Canins 2nd,
>in what, 5 Women's TdFs?  Who wants to watch a race for second place?
>It was analagous to watching the "Dream Team" in Olympic basketball 
>(or the 7-11 team in later years of the Coors Classic) - there was never 
>any question as to who would win each game. 

Gee, we all noticed that no-one was interested in watching the Dream Team
at the Olympics.   Did you even glance at rec.sport.basketball?   Oh, no,
none of the basketball enthusiasts there were even remotely interested
in the team.   No inspiration from them, no awe; same with the top women, 
mate, none of us **ever** enjoy watching them.   WAKE UP!

>I'm really going to provoke a flame fest here:

You got it (expletive barely deleted).   Not for not enjoying women's
racing (plenty of people in the world don't even enjoy bicycling, that's their
problem) but for being small-minded enough to blurt on about it.

>I find women's racing less interesting because the women are *SO*
>much slower than the men.  Compare any district ITT times, the women
>are 20-30% slower than the men.  

Actually 12% is the usual ratio (LSC, are you out there?)
However, to the point.

>At a Norba National series MTB race
>this weekend (King of the Rockies), I placed 24th in men's sport category 
>with a time that would have put me in 8th place in the women's PRO category.  
>In men's PRO category, I would have been 3rd from last out of 60 racers.
>Rishi Grewal beat my time of 2:20 by 33 minutes!!!!!, at 1:47 for 30 miles.
>A large part of the excitement for me in watching men's pro racing is
>a sense of awe at just how incredibly fast these guys can go.  When I
>can ride almost as fast as the best women racers I don't experience
>that same sense of awe in watching them.

Yeah, and I get so bored watching the guys I race with in the bunch every 
weekend.   They're just so **slow** (must be to be riding with a women).
If I can't race for some reason, I **never** go along to watch them, they're 
just so **boring**.   Those piddly little legs trying to break away, and
they just never make it.   Must be lacking aggression.

The top women never provoke a sense of awe?   And your placing would've
got your 8th in the women's division?   Gee, you must've been proud of
that!!   Just think, if you had been born with the capacity to produce
just a **little** bit more testosterone, you might've beaten **all**
those women, and then you wouldn't have been boring either!

>John Tomac blew up *badly* in 
>Saturday's race and lost almost 10 minutes! 

Boring, we're not interseted in slow-pokes and losers, remember?

>Keith Erskine

Boring

This will be my one and only post on this subject, I'd rather be riding bike
than talking to knuckleheads (expletive not deleted).   Keep your prejudices
to yourself and leave the airspace free for race results and bike discussions.

Frith
-- 
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Frith Brown                     E-mail:  F.Brown@massey.ac.nz
Agronomy Department             Phone:   +64 06 356 9099 ext. 8800
Massey University               Fax:     +64 06 350 5614
Palmerston North
New Zealand                     Do you Du it too?
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