[NCNCA] Giro di San Francisco

[Bruce Johnson]

 Thanks to all who provided feedback on the Giro category decisions
 that we announced. It is good to have an active and intelligent
 dialogue and the Juniors racers who wrote in made some very strong
 points. I feel that this dialogue is important and don't want to leave
 it open-ended.
 
 We announced the addition separate Women's Cat 3 and Cat 4 races at
 the Giro di San Francisco. We discussed this with the race promoter
 and obviously had to suggest to eliminate a field. Frankly, I did not
 want to see Juniors racing diminished and so we volunteered to give up
 the M35+ 4/5 race. In the end, we leave the decision up to the race
 promoter because we realize that there is a balance that must be
 achieved between special category requests and the finances of the
 race. Our priority for this race this year is to put action behind our
 words: Our team has taken an aggressive stance to promote women in
 sports and provide equitable opportunities. Separate women's category
 racing is a goal that our team and Bay Area Women's Cycling Racing
 Series have been making progress to achieve. It has been a problem
 that our own race doesn't qualify for the Series because of the
 combined fields. This is something we have wanted to change for some
 time in order to further promote this effort. I think we can all agree
 that this is a positive effort in terms of women's cycling.
 
 The unfortunate impact of this decision is the removal of the Juniors
 race from the Giro. While we  express our regret for this, and would
 encourage reconsideration, we also understand the basis for this
 decision is a business one, and that it was a tough call for the promoter.
 
 Finally, our team has a long-term commitment to improving the cycling
 community (this is our 11th season now), and we believe that we, along
 with other teams and organizations, are making an impact on women's
 cycling, and that we are beginning to make a positive impact on
 Juniors cycling through our partnership with the Oakland High School
 Mountain Bike Team, and the benefit that our team held to raise funds
 for the NorCal Mountain Bike League on June 27 at Parkway Theater.
 While this is not specifically road cycling, we recognize that many
 Juniors racers begin by mountain biking and then make the transition
 to road. We encourage all teams to take an active part in improving
 the cycling community and to contribute to the future of cycling
 through Juniors development.
 
 Regards,
 Bruce Johnson
 Metromint Cycling

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