Northern California women's series announced

Bay Area Women’s Cycling has announced its seventh annual Northern California Women's Racing Series. It includes a team competition in addition to an individual competition, in an effort to promote teamwork in racing.

The racing series is a points series for female road bicycle racers in categories 4 and 3 (beginner and intermediate). It runs from March to September, with prizes awarded to the top 10 individuals and top 3 teams - after the midpoint and final races. BAWC adds extra prizes to the purse at each race. All seven of the races on the 2008 schedule have separate races and/or placings for the Category 4 and 3 women and girls.

"BAWC is thrilled to sponsor a road cycling series again this year," said Brooke Kuhn, founder of BAWC. "We have seen the team competition spark more interest in teamwork among beginner and intermediate racers, which is really exciting to see. There has been a dramatic increase in women and girls participating in our racing series – more than doubling the number of female racers from 2001 to 2007. Our Racing Series helps women and girls measure their progress against competitors. Plus, the number of women and girls that the Racing Series brings to the races encourages promoters to separate the race categories at the races, which the racers like."

Racers can visit www.ncnca.org/road for more information on the races and www.BAWcycling.com to check their standings throughout the series.

2008 series schedule:
March 8 (Tri-Flow Menlo Park Grand Prix, Menlo Park)
April 26 (Wente Vineyards Road Race, Livermore)
May 17 (Kern County Stage Race, Bakersfield)
May 31 (ICCC Dash for Cash, Pleasanton)
August 3 (Timpani Criterium, Santa Clara)
August 9 (Carrera de San Rafael, San Rafael)
September 1 (Giro di San Francisco, San Francisco)