October’s Charm City CX and Helen Wyman are teaming up to offer the chance for U23 women to get free race entry for the weekend’s C1 race on October 6. The race is also raffling off some unique Wyman swag, with the proceeds supporting young woman cyclocrossers. Learn more about both in this release.
Charm City CX in Baltimore, Maryland has been pushing the boundaries for international race promotion in North America for 13 years and this season’s weekend of C1 and C2 racing will be no different. Alongside their desire to progress cyclocross in the USA, the promoters have a history of pushing for equality in the sport and furthering the opportunities for women racers around the world.
This year’s Charm City CX, held on October 6 and 7, is offering two unique opportunities to support young women cyclocrossers.
Charm City CX is providing an opportunity for U23 Women to race for free in 2018. 2017 Charm City Cross Day 1 © M. Colton / Cyclocross Magazine
Free Entries for U23 Women Riders
This year’s promotion will provide a special opportunity for a minimum of five U23 riders to receive free race entries.
“Linked to our support of Helen Wyman and her work to advance women’s cyclocross, we want to offer five young riders the chance to race our C1 event without an entry fee. Helen sadly can’t be with us this season, but we feel that this opportunity will ensure the spirit of what Helen has been pushing for over the past years will be alive at the race” said Race Director Kristopher Auer.
Women U23 riders wishing to apply for a free entry can apply via the event website, and any rider successfully accepted who has already entered the race will receive a refund of their entry fee.
Please enclose a resumé (in the “message” section at the link below) outlining your recent results and demonstrating why you wish to race Charm City.
Raffle to Support U23 Women
Charm City CX has also launched a race raffle via bikereg, where an opportunity to win some Helen Wyman swag has been posted. The swag includes a signed, one-off, blue ‘Xypex-Verge skinsuit, as used at the UK National Championships, where Helen won her 10th Elite Nationals title.
A blue Helen Wyman Xypex-Verge skinsuit is one of the items being auctioned off in the Charm City CX raffle. © Andy Whitehouse / Cyclocross Magazine
Tickets are $5 and packages of 5 tickets are available for $20. There are 200 tickets, and if all are sold, another 5 free places will be offered in the U23 women’s C1 race held on Saturday, October 6th.
“We want to make sure every season we are doing something extra for women’s racing until such a time as the sport has parity,” Auer said. “We’ve seen progress over the past few years, and we like to think part of the kickstart towards equality has come on the back of our sponsorship and equalization of the women’s Koppenbergcross. We will continue to back the sport and Helen as it’s something we feel very passionately about.”
Raffle prizes include five Verge Sport swag items, Challenge Tires, race day bags and signed rider cards.
You can purchase raffle tickets and register for the race at bikereg.com/charmcitycross. You do not need to be present to win the raffle.
Pre-reg is open through October 3.
Wyman hopes to be back racing at Charm City CX in the future. Helen Wyman Xypex – Verge Sport announcement. © K. Ramon
“Sadly I can’t be at Charm City CX this season, but I will be back,” Helen Wyman said. “Hopefully this opportunity will help ensure that a good number of strong U23 riders will be fighting it out in the race. It’s such a great event, at a versatile venue, I’ll definitely miss it. This summer I’ve been struggling with issues linked to Vertigo, and I’ll be headed back to Europe after the first two World Cups events to continue my work on getting rid of this issue. It feels good that even in my absence, event directors Kristopher Auer and Jay Lazar continue pushing boundaries for women.”
