Sign up for The Women’s Ride on 12 April around Victoria
A couple of weeks ago Melanie from Cycling Victoria made contact with me and asked if I’d like to write about an event she’s organising called The Women’s Ride. I was intrigued to know more about it so I happily agreed to publish a post about this great event.
The Women’s Ride is a single day celebration of women’s riding. It’s Victoria’s first mass participation riding event designed especially for women, where individuals, organisations, clubs, social riding groups, bike shops or groups of friends are invited to submit a ride or event taking place on Sunday, 12 April 2015.
I was impressed to see the Melanie is the Women and Girl’s Development Officer at Cycling Victoria. It’s great that Cycling Victoria has someone in that role. I was also pleased to see that the name of the event incorporates the word ‘Women’ rather than ‘Ladies’ and that the logo is not pink (or at least only a little pink). Well done Cycling Victoria.
Q: Where did the idea for The Women’s Ride come from?
A: The concept for The Women’s Ride came from the idea to draw all of the existing female lead bunches together and celebrate women’s cycling on one specific day.
Only 8.6% of the female population of Australia cycle, compared to that of 16.9% of males. This is where we saw the issue and have gotten involved, with a range of other female cycling programs we decided we needed a day of unification of women in cycling. This is what The Women’s Ride is about. Where women from all over Victoria can all ride together and celebrate women in cycling.
Q: Are you just aiming at novice riders or are you hoping to involve riders of different experience levels?
A: We are hoping to get all riders from all levels of experience. We would like to just get as many women, whether regular riders, women getting back on their bike or getting on the bike for the very first time!
Q: How many rides have you got signed up so far?
A: So far we have 40 rides and five events, with 731 participants! The difference between a ride and an event is that a ride, is as it sounds, a ride where we can get out and stretch our legs and see what cycling is all about, whilst exploring what Victoria has to offer. An event is a hub where cyclists from around the area can all come together and chat, have a coffee and share their cycling experience.
Q: What sort of numbers are you expecting for your main ride?
A: We don’t have a main ride as such, but we do have a main event in Docklands (51 – 91 Docklands Park, Harbour Esplanade, Docklands 3008) which we are expecting about 1,000 people to come along to. This is our central hub on the day with live music, massage and all things women’s cycling!
Q:What’s the overall aim of the event?
A: The aim of the event is simple, to get more women riding bikes!
Q: What percentage of women are currently members of Cycling Victoria? Are you hoping to attract new members through this event?
A: We do expect a large amount of CV members, although we are looking to attract new members through this event. Hopefully we can encourage new people to join and see what we enjoy so much about cycling!
Q: Is this the first event of its kind in Victoria?
A: Sure is! We believe it is actually a world first! We decided that we needed a day of unification. And by creating an event where everyone creates their own rides within their own areas in can mean that everyone can get involved.
Q: Are you planning to roll it out nationally if it’s successful?
A: If there was national sponsors interested in our event then we would love to see it go national!
Q: How are you promoting the event?
A: We are promoting through our current programs, at other riding events that we are holding, local council websites and through Cycling Victoria. We are currently looking at ramping up our marketing this week so, keep an eye out for us!
Q: How can people sign up to participate in a ride or organise a ride?
A: To sign up all you need to do is go onto our website and scroll through the list of rides and events we have available on the day, choose one and register your details at the bottom of the page. Closer to the event you will be contacted by your ride leader to be given any instructions for the day itself.