24 Hour World Champion Urges Industry to Back Women's Racing
Davis, WV + Jari Kirkland, the adventure racer turned 24-hour mountain bike star, has
joined with Laird Knight of Granny Gear Productions in calling for sponsors to encourage
more women into high-level racing.
|
Knight and Kirkland will be at Interbike looking for sponsorship partners in this initiative.
"Every sponsorship dollar raised will go directly into growing the women's purse even further," said Knight. Who is looking for at least $4000.00 total and 15 women for the 2008 race, and 30 women for 2009.
"If the money is there, the women will come." said Kirkland, who explains that it can be difficult for a pro female rider to cover expenses and make enough to live on when the prize pool does not pay deep enough into the rankings.
This all started when Knight called Kirkland to ask if she would defend her 2007 Moab title. She explained her financial issues, and suggested that this is the reason more women aren't competing generally in cycling. "A pro needs to know that she can finish fifth and still get $500.00." said Kirkland.
Knight got the point, and wonders if others will too. "I support women in sport, and I really hope others will respond to this call to action. A relatively small amount of funding will really energize women's racing, and the knock-on effect from that can be huge," said Knight.
The Galactic Championships field is not short of quality. It pits the world's two strongest female 24-hour racers together for the first time this year. Kirkland, 32, will race the 28 year-old Hawaiian phenom. Pua Sawicki, who rides for Ellsworth and Infinit Nutrition.
Last year at Moab, had Kirkland competed in the Solo Men's field of 50 riders, she would have finished second only to Chris Eatough!
"Laird and I are on the same page, which is getting more women involved in the sport. Not only in 24-hour racing, but in general. With a little help from the industry as a whole, we will see a lot more women involved. I know, I talk to them. And this will be good for the whole industry, not only now but in the future, too, when these women raise families and encourage their kids to take up cycling." concludes Kirkland.
About Granny Gear Productions:
Granny Gear Productions, a sports marketing and event production company, has earned a reputation as mountain biking's most innovative and successful event organizer. With more than 26 years as a mountain bike race promoter, Granny Gear President and CEO, Laird Knight, created the 24-hour racing format in 1991. In 2001, Knight became West Virginia Tourism's Person-of-the-Year and in 2002, Knight was inducted into The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. In 2000, GGP created its unprecedented and unrivaled RealTime(tm) Scoring System, that tracks every rider and every lap, posting results for every team in real-time on the web. www.grannygear.com.
Press Contact:
Paul Skilbeck | Phone: 415-516-1444 | Email: pskilbeck@o2sm.com
