Just keep soaking the hole around the roots as you dig. Don't hack at the roots with the shovel like I did this spring--you can end up with real injuries. My vision is still cluttered with flocks of sparrows from that ordeal.
Some roses form thick tree-like roots. . I took pictures of some of the trunks I dug out this year but I can't find them right now. I've had to removed 8 roses so far from Rose Rosette Disease, and it seems like every one of those 8 had monster sized roots. i don't think that has anything to do with the RRD, though. I know I wasn't able to removed all the roots because they went too deep, so now I have to remember not to plant any roses in that spot.
As far as your question, 'can a woman do this?', I have to laugh. If I ask my husband to do something that I perceive to take more strength than I have, he'll go get a piece of equipment that makes the work easy. I'll think, I could have done that. It's all in tools and technique. Get a sharp shovel, soak the area, take your time. You can do it!
(humming...Anything you can do, I can do better.....)
