I really do need your help with this… women and men.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments and I do think we can make this better for everyone. We want and need more women on bike to get the fun, joy, fitness, confidence that cycling can give you. I definitely did for me!
xx
// Cycling eBook: https://www.ilikemountains.cc/s-h-o-p
// Instagram: http://instagram.com/katiekookaburra1/
// Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/3352833
// My Zwift Club: https://tinyurl.com/4wusdwxp
// Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/katiekookaburra
Super happy to have the following brands support me and my ol’ cycling adventures. So you will see some of their products I choose to use in my content 🙂
https://www.garmin.com/
https://www.zwift.com/uk
https://exposurelights.com/
Shokz: £10 off using KATIEK https://shokz.cc/KatieK
20 Comments
The ride you went on sounds like a dream! I asked about local riding groups at a bike shop – as the bike I have is for commuting they took one look and made it clear that I wouldn't be welcome on them as they were all about speed and performance. There no groups for socialising, sightseeing or just wanting to explore the local area and not having to be afraid of getting lost. The only 'friendly' groups are women-only – I wish there were inclusive clubs that let anybody ride, not just those who can go at a fast pace for hours on end.
I wish there were beginner friendly group rides where I live. There are only a few group rides here anyway and they are all too fast for me. I can’t hold a 30 km/h average for 80+ km.
I also have a mild heart condition so I can’t always push to my limits. I would really love to find a cycling buddy to enjoy rides with and get better together. And I think group rides are a great opportunity to make those kinds of connections😊
But I really get what you mean. It would be great if there were more mixed rides for every level!
You could check out pStyle, a female urination device. I couldn't be without mine for hiking etc. It's a rigid plastic and should work with cycling knicks…
I rode the (Australian) Peaks Challenge last week (235km, 5,000m climbing, 13 hours or less). It was the weekend of international women’s day and we had female cyclists in every time group. I personally rode with 3 different solo cyclist women for segments, and all 3 were stronger and faster than me. Most of the wave leaders had elite women’s riders. It was a huge weekend for female cycling. You should come next year, it’s a beautiful challenge.
Here in St Albans there is an amazing group called Beat Bikes. It's a women's only group that go out 2 to 3 times per week as well as doing their own spin classes. It's been great for my wife. She goes on cycling trips with the group/club to Lanzarote every year and last year even went to The Pyrenees where they climbed The Tourmalet! Amazing inspiring bunch of women lead by the founder of the club, Sian Brice who is an ex Olympian herself. I know they would love you to join them for a ride if you were ever down this way.
Hey here's an idea: why don't you actually organize the type of ride you're complaining about that there aren't enough of.
I'm in Plymouth, Devon and we have lots of different Breeze rides (women only rides led by British Cycing volunteers). We have lots of varied rides going on for all different abilities and fitness. On Wednesday there is a choice of 3!
Men like to hang out with other men so they can be men without judgement. Women should absolutely feel comfortable being with your women friends for the same reasons.
i love cycling but my wife will not cycle as she feels unsafe on our UK roads. I even bought her a mid range carbon road bike, but after one ride she said it was too fast and she felt out of control on our busy roads. She does marathon running so its not fitness. its just having the confidence on the road. i would love her to cycle so we could do cycling holidays together but its not looking good at the moment. May be more women only groups would help.
The most important thing is to get as many women on bikes as possible. As a society, we need this. That also means offering group rides for different skill levels, as more women start cycling and progress in their fitness.
Hey Katie! I haven't watched your channel in a while but I assume you are still doing the Audax rides? In September a club I ride with is hosting a women's 200k. It's been going on for a number of years now and I can't believe I forgot while listening to your thoughts and agreeing about how hard it is to get new women to come out. It's been really amazing riding with women for that distance. We are not in the UK and I hesitate to post more information in a public comment. Message me if you want to know more! I was thinking of putting together a training plan for this year to help women who don't know where to start.
Sisterhood Cycling Collective are doing an AMAZING job in south manchester representative women’s cycling. Newbies for intro to group riding, Steady for those with more confidence and stamina, and Fast for those speedy experienced girls. Steady has been running all winter!! Over 200 women now engaged with our community and joining regular rides. New people of all speeds always welcome. 😍
#sisterhoodcyclingcollective
I'm a man, so take this with a grain of salt, plus I generally either ride alone or with one male friend, never group rides or races, although I used to do the occasional event ride, like a tour of one of NYC's boroughs, which I greatly enjoyed.
But what I think you're saying is that you wish there were more (or really any) women-only rides, at your fitness and preferred difficulty and speed level, in terms of distance, terrain, climbs, etc. Not just because men tend to ride faster, harder and on more difficult routes than you'd prefer, making it hard for you to keep up and enjoy yourself.
But also because men tend to be more competitive and show off, in terms of their bikes and gear, skills, accomplishments, etc., and also maybe engage in "guy talk" about jobs, career, women, cars, etc., in ways that you might not connect with. Plus, you're likely to get hit on sometimes, which isn't always (or really usually, if ever) welcome.
I mean based on your videos you obviously have no problem riding with men, or mostly men, and clearly don't dislike men. But I can see where sometimes you might feel a bit uncomfortable and out of place, and wish there would be more women on rides. It's just a matter of where you feel most comfortable, not disliking riding with men.
It's sort of like, if you're an immigrant, but still well-integrated into your new country, and get along just fine with native-born people, you might still prefer to hang out with people from your home country now and then, because they speak your language, know all the cultural references, jokes, stories, etc. Nothing wrong or unusual with that.
Have you tried organizing such events near you? I'm sure that it would succeed.
My wife was in her early 50's and had never ridden a bike as cycling isn't a thing where we live in Azerbaijan. I bought two new Bromptons on a whim when I was in the UK I spent a week teaching her to ride.
We then headed off on them and ended up riding from Azerbaijan to Cyprus over the Caucuses and Trabzon mountains.
As for group rides I have always had the same issues and I find them a little intimidating.
I can totally understand why a bike shop offering a guided ride would offer a beginner ride as they wont want to exclude or scare people away. There will be other groups for other levels but possibly not a big group ride. I run a womens only group – find us on Strava at Basellandvelofrauen – and there are plenty of other groups in Switzerland supported by Swiss Cycling. I saw a video of yours years ago where you said if there wasnt a group near you , organise it yourself – and I think this is the only way. I was involved in another group but it was 25km each way to the start for me so I created my own. We do local rides and adventures in the mountains in the summer. I write a blog story for each one so others can see what we do and where we go, how fast/slow we are etc – then they know what they are getting into. I am 60 so am not fast but I cycle plenty and love everything about it – I build/repair my own bikes, I plan the routes – have a database of public toilets!!!!, make my own food and really like encouraging other women to be more independant.
At 162 cm – the average UK female height and bike sizing is still a nightmare. Too many female riders start on frames that are too big and quit because they’re uncomfortable. I can find 4–5 brands that make road bikes in my size, but anyone shorter is basically limited to Specialized, Trek, or Pinarello (for a road bike), and only if they produce the smallest frame in that model. It’s absurd. I spent a year testing gravel bikes and nearly gave up because everything within my budget was bigger than I normally ride, or not stocked in the UK.
Your whole mindset is set up to ruin the sport, it will make the sport you love less. I guess it’s a balance, you don’t want to make things easy that anyone can come in, you want people to pay a price. U want people to be uncomfortable, to suffer to an extent, but love the sport enough to stay. What I see happening w sports and women, we are “forcing”, or tricking or shaming women into sports they naturally wouldn’t care for, that’s probably why they quit all of the sudden.
As for going to the bathroom, get a big poncho and squat behind a tree. Look up South American sierra ladies, Andes living, I don’t know what they’re called. But they have a system how to do their business in the outside world.
I feel the same about women‘s rides being mostly beginner oriented and advanced women‘s rides being missing. The best thing to do is maybe go to women‘s beginner rides anyway and get to know other women who want to do advanced rides – and then organize those yourself. As a competitive cyclist I find it really nice to do women‘s beginner rides every now and then. It‘s so special how not so experienced riders ask 1000 questions about my racing and training and how I got there – it‘s definitely up to us more experienced female riders to inspire other women and pass on our experiences.
Isn't this a general problem in most sports, except some sports like gymnastics/cheerleading/dancing/etc? As a guy, always fun to have women joining and do our best to be supportive and encouraging. Tough nut to crack
Women cyclists are brave and stunning. So brave. FIGHT THE MAN!