What’s happened to the Bikefix folks??

No, but I don't suppose that Denise's motivation to undertake her truly heroic* efforts to get to races by means of public transport and/or riding there have been helped by the fact that a Ratracer doesn't seem to be a match for a bagged-up Kingcycle.

Given the number of women that we have racing these days, some faired and some not, maybe the time has come for them to have Open and Unfaired divisions.  This is something that needs to be sorted out before we host the Europeans - the continental approach that appears to assume that women most of the time exist only in the unfaired form seems a bit, well, unfair...

*My Ratty normally sees the public highway only on a carefully-reconnoitred training route.  Having ridden it, to hair-raising effect, on the undulating and somewhat bumpy country lanes of Oxfordshire on Sunday and Monday, my respect for Denise's efforts is redoubled.

I understand Sacha was injured during the early season (Castle Combe 1, etc.).  I also heard that he'd sold the Ratracer that he bought from Neil, so maybe he's lost interest.

Slightly off subject, but something I have alwasys wondered about.  When you make your bike fully faired, you normally drop out of your earlier class.  e.g. If I put a front fairing on my bike then I drop out of multitrack.  So why is it that laides can do it and still remain in the ladies class.  It does seem slightly unfair that someone potentially in a streamliner can be competing with someone on a shopping bike as their 'lowest' qualifying class (by lowest I have used it to be the one they dhould be able to come highest in).  I am definitely not being derogitory to women - just wanted to clear thatone up immediately (phew!)

KevinJ wrote: Slightly off subject, but something I have alwasys wondered about.  When you make your bike fully faired, you normally drop out of your earlier class.  e.g. If I put a front fairing on my bike then I drop out of multitrack.  So why is it that laides can do it and still remain in the ladies class.

Because, like Sports, Multitrack (rightly or not) is a sub-division of Unfaired, whereas Ladies is a sub-division of Open.  Which seems a tad unfair on women who go unfaired, because they're struggling to have any class at all in which they can be competitive.  Including this year (in which, if I've got my calculations right, it is already settled) the Ladies championship has been won by an unfaired competitor only once in five years.  This is with riders deploying tail and nose fairings, with or without a bag.  Should a halfway-capable female rider get her hands on a proper streamliner, everyone else really would be riding for second place.

KevinJ wrote: (I still think that most women would have a problem beating claire in any case!

Not to mention most of us blokes as well!!