London-based clothing brand, Rapha, are taking some impressive steps to grow the international women’s cycling community. While reviewing some of their high-end (and highly functional, highly styling) women’s shell-wear for Bike Radar I had the opportunity to join a group of 60 odd women for an organised morning ride in Sydney.
I was a little uncertain as to what to expect from the ride. Sometimes women’s cycling activities are really motivating and uplifting. Sometimes they’re a doddle. This one was the first type.
I’m not sure whether it was my frothing upliftedness, or the fact that it’s handy to have a writer come along on a ride like this, but I was later invited to write a story on the ride for the Rapha website. You can read it here.
The insider perspective of the guest blog fits the Rapha writing style. A separate opinion piece, this time written for SBS Cycling Central, looks at it from a broader perspective – one on growing women’s participation in cycling, as a case study of getting it right.