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If There Are Records…

3 weeks ago 7

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As the Tour Divide unfolds, a deeper conversation about record recognition and inclusion has come to the forefront, sparked by Mel Webb’s powerful reflection on Austin Killips’ missing women’s record dot. With shifting precedents and unexplained changes to Trackleaders’ pace dots, it’s time to ask: who gets to decide which records count, and why?

Main photo of the late Mike Hall by Eddie Clark

Borrowing the parlance from Eszter’s day 11 report, there’s been an elephant in the room during this year’s Tour Divide. She was referring to the fact that Robin Gemperle’s stellar effort may not be slated into the proverbial record books because of the forced fire reroute in New Mexico, a detour that dictated his ride not use the “official route” near Silver City, which makes it a “non-record year” for this unofficial event. Confusing, right? But that’s not the only record—or set of records—that have had our team befuddled as we do our best to cover this storied event.

We came across Mel Webb’s Instagram post yesterday, which eloquently raised a point that we’ve been discussing over the past week and a half as the race unfolds: Why was Lael’s 2015 women’s record “pace dot” displayed on Trackleaders this year? And, six days in, why was it removed replaced with two other dots—Meaghan Hackinen’s grand depart record and Austin Killips’ ITT record—which, as far as we’re concerned, is the women’s record, as we reported here. We’re not archivists, so we leave record keeping up to race organizers—and we assumed the pace dots had to do with rules, the differences in ITTs and Grand Departs, or a combination thereof—but as Mel summed it up, there should be a precedent and some consistency with how these records are displayed if indeed there are records:

By Mel Web (from this Instagram)
While this post centers on the Tour Divide, the conversation goes far beyond it. Last summer, Austin Killips broke the women’s record during an ITT. When this year’s map went live, the women’s record dot was set to Lael’s 2015 ITT. Austin’s record wasn’t shown on the map. A few people spoke up, Lael among them, saying publicly that Austin holds the women’s record. I know some also sent emails to the folks behind the race, but by and large, there has been very little public discourse about this. And what little public conversation is happening has been deeply discouraging—comment sections filled with hateful rhetoric, and far fewer voices standing up for inclusion. Silence protects the status quo. If we care about making this sport inclusive, we need to have these conversations, especially when they’re uncomfortable.

The Tour Divide is regarded as one of the biggest—if not the—pinnacle events in bikepack racing. And while there’s no official race organizer and it’s technically an “unofficial” event, it has long set precedents that ripple across the rest of the sport.

Six days into the race, the dots were updated. But instead of recognizing Austin’s ride, the women’s record dot was switched to Meaghan Hackinen’s Grand Depart time from last year. A dot was added to the map for Austin’s ride and labelled as fastest ITT.

The Tour Divide has maintained, for years, the precedent that “the time is the time”—with no distinction between ITTs and Grand Depart rides. That is, until a trans woman set a new fastest women’s time.

Changing the rules only in this case sends a clear message: that this record isn’t being recognized in the same way others have been. Some may say this is a way to keep both parties happy… but what it does is tell trans athletes very clearly that their accomplishments will be treated differently.

Some will also say that this situation is not black and white. But when it comes to inclusion, it is black and white. You either make space for all women, or you don’t. You can’t halfway include someone… once one exception is made, the flood gates are open for more. If we want more women in this sport, we have to include all women. No exceptions.

I’d love to see more people speaking up, taking action, and engaging in these conversations. Especially in a world already full of hate and division, we need to be able to come together and push for something better.

In light of the curious shifting record dots in this year’s Tour Divide, without placing blame or being quick to point fingers—something there’s already too much of in our niche corner of the cycling world—we think it’s time to begin an open dialogue on how bikepacking race records are kept, categorized, and displayed in a way that’s equal and transparent for all riders across all years.