What would you like to know?

[velogirl]

snowtulip! thank you for your great comments.

[salsabike]

Then let me continue the rambling a little. I'm a moderately seriously recreational rider, 2000-3000 miles a year, started up about 4 years ago. Before that I hadn't been on a bike for a million years. I have other friends my age who shyly express interest but have no idea how to use a bike with gears, since when they were kids their bikes didn't have any. I've read notes from what I think was one of your Velogirls basic skills clinics and this would be the perfect thing to offer relatively new riders. In fact, I had to fight off for several days the urge to answer your question with, "I would like to know how we can convince you to move up here."

As far as I know, in this region, there is not much to make the beginning, as in haven't-ridden-since-childhood, female rider feel comfortable. I don't want to debate with anyone about whether they SHOULD feel OK in a mixed ride or clinic. Some of them don't and won't. There's a great untapped riding market here.

Loved the cigarette comment.

[velogirl]

Salsa, I bet if you poked around a little you could find a coach or a LAB Instructor who would be interested/willing in putting on a woman's clinic for you.

Beginners are definitely an untapped audience. Which reminds me (totally off topic) . One of missed opportunities at most bike shops is that they send brand new riders out for test rides all by themselves! Bike shops would do customers a great service and sell more bikes if they had a dedicated sales staff who would test ride with customers, teaching them how to brake and shift and giving them small tips about form and technique.

[shootingstar]

I seem to hardly talk about my cycling...I get off topic.

But part of my past that has been silent until now:

Am just a lifestyle cyclist, with no car in my life for past 1/2 century. Average about 3000-7000 kms. annually in past 14 years after returning to cycling at 31.

I was part of a core group of organizers for a women's cycling group, Women on Wheels, for the Greater Toronto Area...for 5 years. In addition to my partner who is a rabid cycling advocate and heavy cyclist himself, this women's group did shoot up my passion for cycling.

We did organized rides, organized conferences ever 2 years and had workshops about 5-8 running simultaneously...on bike maintenance, touring, nutrition, etc. We did attract newbies, racers and bike couriers...all women. We did have some veterans...ie. the lst Canadian woman who raced competively. She was a distant "mother", role model to us all...

It was a heady 5 years. But with heavy hearts, we had to fold our group, because we couldn't find other fresh new volunteers to carry on the torch faithfully. Our non-profit organization had enough money in bank to run the organization.

So these are my thoughts:

* how to cultivate cooperative leadership among seasoned female cyclists to run low-budget cycling organization...that blends both competent cycling skills plus ...long term lifestyle approach to cycling.

*outreach to young girls and teenage girls exposing them to cycling (and boosting their self-confidence and having fun)....this was always in the back of our minds but all of us had fulltime daytime jobs

*outreach to women who do not fit the majority, mainstream of regular cyclists but who could benefit from the independence of cheap travel

*options for regular cycling mentorship or developing partnerships with other related cycling groups...ie. a group that is working on/advocating for new cycling routes.... I suspect alot of newbies are just afraid of cycling...because they don't know good, reasonably safe routes and are afraid stuck unprepared near the highway interchange or similar.

I agree abit of socializing at the end or during a rest stop, is helpful to keep the vibe dynamic of women's cycling group running.

It would be kind of neat ...one day...if there was a mega cycling convergence ride..you know several women's cycling group rides converging from several cities to 1 meeting point. Such a display of cycling power...

[Geonz]

Hmmm.... a gathering, somewhere accessible to Portland and Vancouver....

[Eden]

Hmmm.... a gathering, somewhere accessible to Portland and Vancouver....

Sounds like Seattle to me

Shooting Star has a great point - how do you get teenage girls involved. Our junior women fields around here are pretty bad... same two or three girls in every race, though the junior boys have pretty good turn out.
When I was a teenager I don't think I knew anyone who rode like me.... (boys or girls for that matter) The people I went to high school with thought I was crazy and mostly just asked "what's the matter with your hands..." because of my glove tan lines.

It's interesting. I've never been one to be much bothered by co-ed events. Most of my friends have always been guys, so it just doesn't even come into my head to be concerned about it, though I did end up on a women only team. Cascade runs some great programs around here for non racers, but as far as I know they don't do anything that is not co-ed. There are however a great many women who are working in the club. I went and did some volunteering at one of their bike fixing parties recently (they have a fleet of bikes for teaching kids to ride) and the women out numbered the men in the room by at least 2 to 1.

[RoadRaven]

I think part of a womens programme could include some clear explaination/teaching around how women's metabolisms are so different to men;
- how the muscle/fat ratio affects us and our power output
- how more muscle means it is easier to burn fat (which is why men find it easier to drop weight than women)
- how women will never develop the same/equivilent muscle mass to men and therefore will never to the same times/speeds at the top level as men

I think from discussions with women, these basic facts about how our bodies respond to exercise are oftne unknown or misunderstood.

I also want to agree with the others - specific training for women
- developing confidence in bike handling
- skills in riding with others (my partner says some of the men he rides with prefer not to ride with women in training rides or racing because they are unpredicatble and cant hold their lines)
- women's only training rides (I will never ride with my partner on his Sunday morning training ride because the guys there just go too fast - 35kph is a moderate pace for them - for me its race pace... I just wouldn't go the distance)

Excellent thing to be asked to do VeloGirl
All the best

[sundial]

It's too bad Little Rock is so far away. Are there any shops a bit closer to you?

Yes, one is an hour away. They do all my work on my bike and I'm tinkering more on my own. Hey, maybe you could create a women's guide to bike mechanic series--with lots of pictures. Maybe a video too!

[mtbdarby]

Hi Lorri,
Great topic and here's my take on it.

I live "up nort". We have smaller towns that are 30-60 miles apart. There is a cycling group in the larger town but I've struggled with them. Wanna know why? In central WI people are very cliquey. It's HARD to "break into" an existing group. I was the first new member they'd had in many years. So here are some questions I would ask myself:

-how do I hit a female "target" market given the geographical challanges?

- there's only 2 bike shops around and they don't seem to take me seriously as a biker but it does depend on the day. How do you get their support for a program?

- what kind of training programs or rides would be effective for women starting to bike so they aren't intimidated and will stick with it through the seasons?

- knowing you would get a diverse group of abilities how do you do rides together while pushing those that want it and providing social interaction for all? (I highly doubt you would get a lot of people to join at first).

- what types of city/town committees, organizations, etc. would you approach for any help funding, advertising, support etc.?

- how do you start raising funds just to get started?

I have the passion but tend to get bogged down in details like this. If you could put a "How to get a womens cycling group together manual" and make it available to the masses I think it would be a great tool for those of us who don't have the time for the learning curve of getting it going. Of course, that could just be me