Every single woman who finished the race and put their name in the hat got a coin.
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Woman qualifier here. The total numbers that i find on the results page show 190 starters. 16 were women. So, yes there were coins for all and the extras actually went to the men. This actually quite a bit below the average percentage for women participation in endurance sports.
I said I didnt want to head back to Leadville unless I earned a coin. Well here I am with a shiny coin and a winner’s plaque so I guess its back to CO next year.
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I wonder what the numbers were like at Little Sugar?
Probably a few reasons the numbers were low. 1. Its getting pretty late in the season….i know i wanted to do the race, but im pretty cooked. 2. There was another marathon mtb race the same day (5 points 50) only 2 hrs away. Not sure who got on the schedule first, but really promoters, yall got to stop scheduling on top of eachother when your that close.
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I can’t speak for Little Sugar, but they had a lottery for Unbound spots at Big Sugar and all the ladies who put their number in the hat got a spot (<10 of them I believe). And I’d estimate that 25-30% of the guys got a spot as well, so pretty decent odds. I was the 3rd number pulled, a nice way to end the day after being a little bummed that the race was shortened due to weather. Unbound spots aren’t nearly as tough to get as Leadville spots, but I was still surprised there weren’t more people (men and women) who were trying for them. Very different than what I see at the Rattler every year with hundreds of people holding out hope for a a small number of leadville spots. It was a stormy day in Bentonville and maybe people wanted to get dry/clean and head home.
Congratulations!!! I was surprised at the low number of women in the race. Met a lot of local cyclists and there are a lot of regional enthusiastic women cyclists, but I believe they were all volunteering in some capacity to help the race. I wish the word would get out about how all the women who wanted a lottery spot were able to get a lottery spot so (hopefully) it encourages more women to show up…….of course that would then make the odds of getting a spot less but still good to see more riders.
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I saw one lady who got a coin at Little Sugar on social media but with the discussion here it made me wonder about overall numbers. Also, and I have no idea, but the events aren’t that far apart, could more women have ridden the first race and that affected numbers in Alabama?
One of the other volunteers (a local) told me they were hoping to have between 400-500 people signed up for all events in this inaugural year. Ends up, I believe it was over 600 so they were happy. Not sure how many actually showed up and raced. It’s a great race, with a really fun course, so I think more people will sign up next year
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I’m sure it effected at least a few. I was in Bentonville with 3 other endurance MTb racers. (i did big sugar, however i did not go to the gravel rave so no unbound coin for me. I hate being cold and wet so I came home after lunch and spent the evening in sweats) No one else was going to coldwater, and they specifically listed the time frame as the reason. (2 of them did both of the sugars)
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Because I too am interested here we go:
total racers (100k) 409
total women: 25 interestingly, 1st place woman was the same for both. she was 30 minutes faster at coldwater, also she accepted the coin at coldwater so im curious about that.
that equals approximately 6% of starters.
And for further context: Leadville starters: 1769
women: 258 so about 15%
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A little late to the recap, been busy.
I did the 100k MTB course. I flatted THREE times, ended up walking miles 33-39 before DNF’ing. In hindsight a Specialized Air Trak was NOT the rear tire for this course. The sidewall just couldn’t hold up to how rocky this course was. I wish I had realized this before race day. I had never been out to Anniston before.
I was hoping to get a coin and because of my DNF I wasn’t allowed to be in the lottery. This was my first ever XC race. I have ridden a MTB a fair amount at home but never raced. I live in a flat area and I was not prepared for the speed of actual mountain descents. I need some time on trails like this to gain confidence. I had a blast up until I started flatting and I think there is a high chance I’ll do this race again next year. I will definitely use some tougher tires next year though.
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I’m right there with you. I do have hills where I’m at I just need time on the trails to get maneuvering on faster descents and cornering smoothly without fear of sending myself over a berm or plowing into a tree
Yeah the loose rocky make up of the ground on those descents really threw me. I live in Eastern Georgia and it’s all soft dirt and tree roots. I’ve never ridden on loose rocks before.
I’m around Atlanta so lots of roots and rocks and short punchy climbs but not that much loose rocks which I wouldn’t be a fan of.
Sounds like it was more like Little Sugar, minus the razor blades. Might have to put it on the list for next year.
I didn’t find the course all that bad from a conditions perspective, other than just the challenge of dealing with singletrack all day and the rare real rock garden or slow speed bigger rocks (rare) really it was more of a non-issue and nothing like what I’ve heard about Little Sugar. Granted, I went up to a trail tire to be safe not knowing the conditions when I made the choice (Trinotal Race Grip) but I don’t think I felt like I was slipping around at all all day long with the exception of maybe one corner I got out onto one of those dry beds of pine needles. And, yes it was rocky, but I wouldn’t call it overly so. A lot of hard packed dirt with what I’d call normal rocks that get kicked up.
I was running inserts and felt like I did hit one rock at speed where that might have saved me, but at the same time I was there with a friend who was running Dubnital’s and didn’t have any issue, although he’s pretty light.
I did the 50k run, not the bike……….the looseness of the rocks had a big impact on my ankle/toes by half way through the race. A lot of foot sliding around. I imagine on the bike, it could create moments of unsteadiness as well.
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We had a conversation on this in our group as two guys ran and 3 of us rode.
The general consensus was it was really hard on the runners - feet, ankles, all the little ups and downs. But, there was a lot of those little ups and downs on the bike where you could keep your speed up and use your momentum to where you could clear them without a lot extra, and having tires and suspension is a big big deal.
I don’t want to say it was “easy”, but I don’t feel it was that much of an issue on the bike.
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