4th June 2022
North London ThunderCats Black Metal Bicycle Club are proud to host an event – ThunderCrit – that welcomes all people to race bikes. We are aware that there are comments online from people that were not present at our event and who had never even heard about the race prior to yesterday’s result.
Yesterday, we celebrated all of our winners and participants during a fun day of racing. We won’t allow the opinions of those who weren’t present at the event or part of our cycling community to overshadow what was an incredibly positive and successful event.
Our race is popular and has been attended by athletes across the world since its inception in 2016. We are a small community-based event using our platform to promote inclusivity within the wider cycling community. We are proud to be an entry point for many into bicycle racing.
We took the decision last year to create a more gender neutral categorisation system that allowed trans and gender-noncomforming athletes, who often feel that there is no safe space for them in the sport, to be embraced and made to feel welcome. Since these new categories were introduced we have had many trans and gender-noncomforming entrants in both our Thunder and Lightning categories, who have competed well within their respective categories. The format will continue to evolve in a way that delivers inclusivity and fair racing for all athletes.
We will not be commenting further, especially to the media, or anyone who wishes to use our welcoming and inclusive race to push their narrative.
ThunderCrit 