Cycling films

I went to a showing of 'Half the Road' yesterday at Look Mum Mare Street. Also in attendance were moog, velogance, ms.chris, and pootsmanuva. It was pretty funny, with some very good jokes, but also serious.

I didn't realise that there existed an age discrimination rule in women's pro cycling. Apparently, 60% of riders have to be under/up to 28? Also some truly bizarre stuff, like Hein Verbruggen allegedly at one point contemplating the introduction of a rule prohibiting women from racing while menstruating. Brian Cookson came across as a disappointment in this respect, claiming that women were not physically capable of racing distances as long as those raced by men (but at least he did give what seemed like a lengthy interview to Kathryn Bertine, the filmmaker). The overriding impression was that he was trying to protect some kind of hidden agenda.

There seems to be a vicious circle going on in that women's cycling development is held back by too few races and too few opportunities, plus a fair amount of discrimination, and then people like Cookson complain that there aren't the racers to contest, say, a race parallel to the Tour.

I'd always wondered why women's races were so short, and this film gave some of the answers. There were some great examples of women who had busted into previously all-male worlds, e.g. at the Boston Marathon or in triathlon.

Very worth watching, I thought.