Women Who Race
Goal: Create pathways to participation in racing & demonstrate that a competitive life is achievable regardless of age
Whilst 4F embraces and promotes the benefits of an active lifestyle in all its forms, recognizing the achievements of our members who courageously pin on a number is one of the best ways we can show that WOMEN of ANY AGE have a place on the start line.
There was a flurry of State & National Championships as the winter season closed out, and since August, spring has arrived with occasionally better weather, along with a cracking array of exciting cycling events. Please join us in congratulating the achievements of our members gleaned from the results sheets - top 10s in roughly chronological order…
AusCycling WA Cyclocross State Championships
Elite Women - 2nd Tracey Chapman, 5th Vanessa Johnson
AusCycling Cyclocross National Championships
MAS4 Women - 4th Mel Raybould
MAS6 Women - 1st Vanessa Johnson
Vanessa: AusCycling Cyclocross National Champs. Just enough rain to make the corners treacherous. A dropped chain at the start. Three up & downs on the 'mount' each lap - plenty of clambering and ugly remounts and clip-in fails. Prissying my way through the mud. Going hard on the straight bits. Fantastic sideline support from the WA crew
2025 AusCycling WA XCO State Series
Female A - 2nd Tracey Chapman, 7th Rhianna Farrell
AusCycling WA Gravel State Championships
F45-49 - 1st Rhianna Farrell, 2nd Tracey Chapman, 4th Claire Sibbel
F50-54 - 1st Allie Cormack, 3rd Cathy Bush, 5th Turi Innes-Manning
F55-59 - 2nd Vanessa Johnson, 4th Jo Starlight, 5th Terri Quinlan
F60-65 - 4th Sue Broughton
M55-59 - 3rd Adam Ralph
Vanessa: Did someone say wind? A super fast start on some superb gravel. Forming bunches, trying to breakaway, more bunches, clambering up Ward’s Wall to find myself in an all-out solo effort to bridge across to the remnants of my bunch. Sheltering on a couple of friendly wheels with 10km, into the headwind and crawling over the rollers. Wanted to throw my bike in a bush, but managed to find enough to get home.
Dwellingup 100
100km Boomer F40-49 - 2nd Rhianna Farrell
60km Boxer - 1st Allie Cormack
AusCycling WA Road State Championships
• WMAS4 - 1st Rhianna Farrell, 2nd Rebecca Kelly, 3rd Monika Murcha
• WMAS5 - 1st Yael Gardner
UCI Gran Fondo World Championships
• Time Trial
• F55-59 - 3rd Anne Elliott
• Road Race
• F45-49: 10th Rebecca Kelly
• F60-64: 2nd Deb Latouf
UCI Gravel Series - Bolero Legacy Gravel
• F55-59 - 2nd Vanessa Johnson (Q provisional)
Vanessa: Legacy Gravel in Leuven was a tough course. Although it was pretty flat, about half was on chunky & exposed farm roads & track, and many of the ups were cobbled, which made for rough going. A quick start with plenty of Belgian chop chop in the first 30min, then a small group, then mostly two-up from 31-75km, finally pushing on solo through to the 96km finish. Some desperate pedalling to stay ahead of men's elite before a pinch point with a risk of being stood aside - phew!
Cape to Cape MTB
• Pairs Masters Women - Allie Cormack (& Sharon Walton)
• Elite Women - 5th Sarah McLachlan, 6th Rhianna Farrell, 8th Tracey Chapman
UCI Gravel Series - Gravelista
• F50-54 - 4th Yael Gardner
• F55-59 - 10th Jo Starlight
• F60-64 - 1st Deb Latouf (Q provisional)
Jo: After waiting in trepidation to see if the weather gods would work in favour of the event, we all received the email advising ‘good to go’. Was cool, no wind, with a foreboding sky… if only I had read the tea leaves this morning!! Pre race prep awesome, felt good, bike mint, rockin some new 4F kit, raced well and then at 50 ks hit the deepest pothole and unseated my tyre from the rim… damn it! Couldn’t get it to reseat, it was pretty munted, so started the walk of shame as I didn’t have a spare tube and had used all my CO2 canisters! Fortunately I must have looked forlorn,desperate, cold, soaked to the bone (get the idea!!) and someone saw my lonely form in the torrential rain and offered me a tube (after I had walked 1.7 ks!). After destroying another CO2 canister and my hand pump I eventually got back on the bike, 40 ks later in another bog hole - pop! Needed another tube, by this time I knew I wasn’t going to make it back to watch presentations. Another chap gave me another tube… I owe a few peeps a beer! And I was able to finish the final 4 ks, no way on this earth was i going to be a DNF. It was wet, it was sandy, it was muddy, cold, thundery, visibility (what visibility). Wickets Hill… meh, come to to Nannup and do some real hills people
The summer season promises more HOT racing: the final Tour of Margaret River kicks off this weekend, then criterium season with 4F’s own Twilight Criterium for Women on 22 November (and a summer-long points series), and AusCycling Road Nationals in Perth. Watch the 4F socials for more on how to participate!
Words by Vanessa Johnson, pics by Vanessa, Tony Lendrum, Jo Wilson Starlight, Sportograf, WACX
