What goes into setting up a Mountain Bike Enduro Race Series and what do you do to encourage more women to sign up? With Richard Bunton of Western Bike Events.

Girls on wheels

Pod intro

Today I talk with Rich from Western Bike Events, a new MTB enduro series set in South Wales for 2023.

We talk about how he set up this series and get an insight into the amount of work that goes into it.

Rich wants to get more women to sign up to his enduro and we have an open chat about the barriers women can experience when thinking about entering races and all the awesome things Rich is doing to combat them.

We also discuss the complete lack of representation from people of colour in the sport. This is a conversation I will be having in a lot more depth in future episodes, led by the wonderful Janine.

We get Rich’s perspective on the constraints a race organiser experiences in implementing the solutions we think would be really easy and he removes a lot of blind spots.

It is a longer episode than usual however it is bursting with value so well worth a listen.

If you are a race or event organiser, have a female in your life who rides bikes, or work for a MTB brand and want to reach more people of colour and female riders with your marketing then this episode is for you. I learnt so much from it.

Check out the written Q&A and the end of the show notes. Rich gave in depth answers to the audience questions that were submitted on social media. Absolute GOLD.

The Guest:

Richard is a mountain bike enduro event organiser who’s responsible for Western Bike Events Ltd, a company which he owns equally with his wife, Sara. For his first year he’s focussed on delivering an enduro series across South Wales, the Valleys Enduro Series. The VES is a mixed series where the women’s categories are the same as the mens categories equally. He plans to grow the series and diversify his events.Originally from Cumbria where his love of mountains and interest in the outdoors was sparked from an early age. He’s owned a mountain bike in one form or another for most of his life; however, it wasn't until 2006 that the mtb bug finally bit hard. He’s married to Sara and has two children.

You can follow him: Richard 's Facebook group , Richard 's Facebook page , @Western-bike-events on Instagram.

Take away's from the episode:

• “You can not be what you can not see”. There are barely any ‘everyday’ female rider photographs to use in promo for racing and even less representing people of colour. Rich is open to chats with anyone who would like to provide some decent action bike photos from these underrepresented groups.

• Although we think the solutions to the barriers we discuss are straightforward, there is more to it when making things a reality; practical, logistical and financial constraints all play a part. It is always worth considering this.

• Rich spoke about barely seeing any women come forward for dig days. He would love to see this change.

• We love bikes.

Useful Links:

Check out Rich’s race series https://www.western-bike-events.wales/

If you fancy joining in some races to get connected and try something new you can check out British Cycling events page for upcoming mountain bike races https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?zuv_bc_discipline_filter_id=7 and also check out Si entries https://www.sientries.co.uk/

If you want to get out on your bike and need some riding buddies then check out some local mountain bike groups. They create opportunities for connection, a sense of belonging and friendships.

MTB Chix and Trails are really active on facebook https://m.facebook.com/groups/370678596444806/

Trail birds, a midlands based group with members all over https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/trailbirds/about/.

Cycle sistas are based in Essex https://www.instagram.com/the_cycle_sistas/?hl=en

Girls Alive are a community aimed at getting women outdoors and hold regular mtb rides in Surrey- https://www.facebook.com/girlsaliveuk/?locale=en_GB

Get following GOW podcast at https://www.instagram.com/girlsonwheelspodcast/ or https://www.facebook.com/girlsonwheelspodcast/ and Shawnee https://www.instagram.com/_shredlikeagirl/ for news on group rides and social events.

The Pod:

Don’t forget to head on over to the GOW website https://www.girlsonwheelspodcast.co.uk/ and subscribe to the newsletter, you’ll be updated on upcoming guests and episodes and get a chance to get involved, either by suggesting topics, guests, coming on to share your story, or joining the panel for random episodes.

If you liked what you heard please rate the pod and leave me a review on podchaser https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/girls-on-wheels-4953647 and the app you listen on. It will help the show to grow and make me do a happy dance.

Don’t forget to hit subscribe on your favourite podcast app too so you don’t miss the next episode.

Huge thanks to the pods number one supporter Shawnee at Shred Like a Girl. Go check out her awesome women's MTB clothing and join the community https://shredgirl.com/

Girls on wheels coming at yaaaaaaaaaa.

Q&A answered by Rich

LAND / STARTING IT UP

How did you get the private land to hold races on?

I had no network or contacts to start with. This resulted in loads of mind mapping and brainstorming. Regularly trying out search terms on google and following up leads. Weighing up pros and cons using a weighted scoring matrix: is it accessible? Easy to get to? NRW land or no? Council land or no? Price?. We then arranged these into a priority list and followed up.

What happens to the trails once the series is over? Are they permanent trails or only for the Enduro?

Some trails cannot be used outside of an event. Walters Arena is a dangerous place where high speed rally car testing happens through the week and regular off road events happen on the weekend, this would need booking to arrange. On the other hand, the farmer at Taff Buggy is open minded and will allow access if people get in touch with him first.

The two races at Afan are trail centre only, you can ride these at any time of the year, just check with NRW if there are any diversions.

What was the biggest challenge getting started when you had the land?

Remaining disciplined to keep building. I’ve spent every weekend and some weeks trail building long after my motivation had gone. So, keeping the vision and staying disciplined in keeping on track with the build.

How did you manage the difficult stage of paying for planning vs getting funding, (classic chicken and egg scenario) you often can’t do one without the other, how did you overcome this?

Walking a delicate line of funding. This year we have had no financial sponsorship. We’re always watching entries vs purchases vs operating costs. Don’t underestimate how much it costs to travel!

What made you want to start it?

I just want to get more people racing and enjoying the thrill of being between the tape. Racing is good because it makes us train, we form social groups and can be a great mental health release. Plus, I want to offer kids racing for free in the future and offer ambassador opportunities.

What is your favourite thing / worst thing about running it?

Hearing how stoked people are to ride / honestly, I am scared that people are going to turn their noses up and not race anymore.

What tips would you give others that are thinking of starting their own MTB race series?

Get in touch with a British Enduro Mountain Bike Association (BEMBA) affiliated organiser (like me). Shadow the organiser at a couple of events, learn how much admin and planning in the background is needed. Understand how to write a risk assessment and what forms your operating envelope. Understand your duty of care.

The racing / business

How are you planning to run it? As a club, CIC, anything else?

We’re set up as a registered company in England and Wales. Company registration number 14399528.

Accessibility

What are your plans for truly making it accessible to all? What do you think that entails and how will that actually benefit all?

I think it comes down to Equality and Diversity, the law.

Equality means we make reasonable adjustments to include people with protected characteristics. Inherently, cycling is a middle class white passtime and this needs to change. I am aware we need more people of colour in our promo but hard to find photo’s on roots and rain. I’m open to working with people of colour so please get in touch.

You cannot be what you cannot see! I see diversity as using promo material and inclusive language to make women feel more included. Plus, I think this falls on the previous point about people of colour in cycling, we need more basically. How do we do that? Admittedly it is easy to find a willing white volunteer willing to dig; I now understand it’s going to need me and Sara reaching out to a more diverse audience.

For example, we’ve made reasonable adjustments with equal categories to women and men. Which means a woman in her 60’s can compete against other women in a similar age bracket. Same goes for prizes, if I get a category sponsor I tell them we’re doing things equally so the same prizes for men and women. Although money is not a protected characteristic, we’ve also run an extensive early bird offer for the last 6 months with some really cheap entry rates, to allow people from low income backgrounds the opportunity to take part.

For disabled racing we need to sit down with disabled athletes and get them in to test our tracks. If it works then hell yeh, lets get more disabled folk in.

What is your intention with social media and marketing? Are you conscious of who is going in your promo material? Women, ages, People of colour?

We try to keep it 50/50 however trying to find pictures of your everyday woman on a mtb at a race is tricky. We’re hopeful this will change after round 1 where we have 37 women signed up. Going through previous photos on roots and rain, kinda reflects the low participation in past history, which is a shame. Not just for women by the way but also people of colour.

What are you doing to encourage more women to enter? Have you considered how you will get more people of colour to enter?

This podcast! We’re using open and inclusive language for example; not referring to a vest or sleeveless top as wife beater. We hold back entries for women, so if we do sell out we can offer entries. Women only portaloo. A stretch goal is to offer free racing for children in the future.

People of colour, we need more of you racing so I can use your wonderful photos in my promo. If you want to help promote then get in touch

What is the female to male ratio in race entries so far?

Really low, R1 10% R2 2% R3 1% the rest according to the stats have no women signed up

Do you have appropriate age categories for females U18, or are they going in one big group? As this is unfair on younger riders and puts off girls from entering.

We’ve split this one up, there's no way a 11 yo girl is the same biologically as a 17yo, right?

Will there be female only toilets?

Going by the ratios we will have 1 specifically for women accessible with a combination lock. We also have a disabled and baby changer porta loo.

What steps are you taking to be inclusive to all women, younger riders, people of colour, what makes you different in comparison to other race organisers?

Equal cats, sensitive to language, female only toilet on event hq, roughly 50/50 split of women in promo, tried to get events close to places where perhaps the non riding partner can visit.

Could we do better, always, are we thinking about doing more? Absolutely.

Counter intuitive but there are other well established organisers doing a lot more for women. Southern Enduro and PMBA both do a great job. Also tweedlove are making changes.

Would you be willing to have a feedback form after events asking what went well, what didn’t go well together views and be proactive? This has never happened before and people usually get told to email in.

100% feedback is a gift.

Have you considered having an inclusivity policy and a women's rep, people of colour rep to share the views?

There’s two directors in Western Bike Events, Sara my wife is in the background doing all the heavy lifting with logistics. So, we both bounce ideas off of each other and discuss what is reasonable and what's unreasonable.

We both come from the Army Sara had 15 years experience as a Combat Medical Technician and I’m an engineering manager. We’re both in tune with D&I however, let's hear from other viewpoints, let's make sure we’re not forming biases.

THE EVENT

How can people get involved and volunteer?

Email on us [e-mail] or check out our website.

Where is south wales is it?

We have 6 events across South Wales, for a quick reference we have a map at the bottom of our website homepage.

Can you offer suggestions of campsites and accommodation for those travelling from afar?

We have free camping at all of our events. Because things like air bnb and pitch up are so good, we will leave that to participants to search for their requirements.

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