Hang Solo

Lose your partner in a stage race, and you’re discriminated against. That can’t be right.

- Aaron Borrill

RACING A MOUNTAIN-BIKE STAGE RACE ASA TEAM CREATES A UNIQUE DYNAMIC, AS RIDERS BATTLE IT OUT TOGETHER AGAINST RIVALS AND MOTHER NATURE. I’ve participated in myriad team stage races, with both men and women, and they’ve mostly gone well. When things go right, it feels amazing; you barrel through single track, and instinctively power up climbs, together on an almost telepathic level.

But when things go wrong, they go south very quickly. And here’s a quandary: while the professionals can tailor their performances by cherry-picking a partner, in the amateur realm this is often not the case.

With amateurs, the hammer and the nail almost never swop roles. This can be quite testing and taxing, on both mind and body. If you’re the stronger rider, suddenly you have a dual role to perform – you’re riding for two, and expending loads more energy as a result.

And when it comes to mixed teams, there’s always going to a pretty large chasm in terms of ability. Men naturally produce more testosterone than women, and are more physically competitive as a consequence. Women, on the other hand, know how to suffer, and are usually (I’m speaking from experience here) better suited to endurance, and at managing their energy outputs. And egos.