by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: April 04, 2010

Cycling is such a great sport that it is a real shame so few women decide to ride their bikes on a regular basis. Of course, there are always a few women who will brave the wind and rain just to clock up some miles, but they seem to be few and far between. Cycling should appeal to both men and women equally, really, but as is the situation with most sports – it is men who dominate it. Whenever you watch cycling on the television it isn’t a woman you’re cheering for, but usually a man.

For ordinary, non-professional cyclists, cycling is a great way to keep fit and explore the surrounding area, while for really committed individuals there are always clubs to join and races to compete in. It doesn’t matter if you’re not super-fit or you’re carrying a bit of extra weight because cycling isn’t a weight-bearing activity and so you won’t be subjecting your joints to extreme force whenever you move. As a result you can cycle for long periods of time without experiencing the pain and discomfort you would if you were running, thus giving you an opportunity to build up your fitness.

However, perhaps this is one reason why women don’t cycle more. An excuse that women often use to get out of doing exercise is that they haven’t got the time because they have to work long hours, look after the children, cook and clean. When you’re out cycling it’s quite easy to spend a couple of hours in the saddle without even thinking about it, but if you have certain commitments it can be a struggle to fit everything in.

Yet, if women were prepared to leave their cars at home and ride a bike to work instead, they could quite easily get a few miles’ worth of cycling in. There are those women who are more concerned about the way they look than their fitness, though, so that they’re worried about turning up at work all hot and sweaty or with ‘helmet hair’. This seems rather a ridiculous reason not to cycle when there are so many benefits associated with cycling.

Another reason why some women choose not to cycle is because they’re fearful of cycling on the road and perhaps their fears are somewhat justified, especially given that a disproportionate number of bike accidents involve women. However, risk is something that everybody encounters in some form or another and so women shouldn’t allow fear to overwhelm their lives.

There are a variety of reasons why women don’t cycle more, from the fact that cycling is perceived as a masculine activity to the dangers of riding on the road. Yet, if more women took up cycling they’d soon realise that these issues pale in comparison to how good you feel after a ride.

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