Tag: elite women’s cycling

UCI Women’s Cycling Week 20-27 July 2014

UCI-logo1Ahead of this month’s historic La Course by Le Tour de France, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is joining forces with key partners including Tour de France organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and UCI Women Road World Cup sponsor The Sufferfest, to launch the Women’s Cycling Week (WCW), from 20 to 27 July 2014. The goal of the Women’s Cycling Week is to grow the profile of women’s cycling at every level via a series of events that will take place throughout the month of July to get more girls and women riding. (more…)

Team spirit – that magical thing

team spiritTeam spirit is a magical thing. Without it, many of us wouldn’t be half the people we are today. The nice thing about being part of a team is that you always have others on your side.

Today myself and my two little ones, I, 7 and S, 3 have been on a family bike ride. It was only a couple of miles around a lake, because at three, and only a month into riding his bike stabiliser-free that’s pretty much all S could manage. The wind started to build and the rain started to fall mid way through our ride and S was all set for giving up. ‘I can’t do it, mummy!” he shouted through tears. I had a huge surge of pride as I heard my daughter shout back to her brother: ‘You can do it! I know you can! I’ll wait right here and I’ll give you a big hug if you can make it a little bit further to me.” That was something very special right there. There was that magical thing. Team spirit. (more…)

Why we need more women’s cycling on TV

Why we need more women's cycling on TV
Image: Chuck Coker via Flickr

I’ve heard a lot of arguments lately about why we need more women’s cycling on mainstream TV. I watched The Women’s Tour and loved it, but it wasn’t accessible to everyone…it wasn’t on any of the main four tv channels and it was on later in the evening than I would have liked to have seen.

My daughter is six. Very nearly seven. Up until just over two weeks ago she couldn’t ride her bike. Regular readers will have grasped my frustration at her apparent lack of interest. We’ve tried to encourage her to learn on a number of occasions –  shiny new bike was delivered for her birthday last year and she just wasn’t all that interested. Fear seemed to set in and she refused to go anywhere near her bike. In recent months, the mere mention of giving it a go has sent her into a trembling mess, which was really sad to see. I was about to give up trying to encourage her altogether and was ready (reluctantly) to accept that maybe cycling wasn’t ever going to be something she would want to do. But then a wonderful thing happened… (more…)