Female Cycling Numbers

['Dale]

Lekka to hear women's perspectives.????????????????????????

 

Here on Durbanville, an absolute cycling heaven, 99.994633% of female cyclists I come across are on mountain bikes

[Gen]

Lekka to hear women's perspectives.????????????????????????

 

Here on Durbanville, an absolute cycling heaven, 99.994633% of female cyclists I come across are on mountain bikes

Here there are more ladies on road bike's.. but more girls on mtb... lots of teens out on the dirt see..

 

For obvious reasons....it is flat and we have 1 koppie and a little bike park of about 5km of track worth riding (great for skills development) and one place where the kids go play, the quad and motocross track.. I have found the ladies don't seem to like that . Don't know why it's good fun... but there is a good stretch of road they use to train on the RB and the road they use is well known for cycling training.. if you want more dirt you have to go find it, and the ladies won't feel safe going bundu bashing between the mine dumps.

 

Of course the game Reserve is another option for dirt .. but you have to be out of the reserve by 8am.. so you'd need to get there really early.

[SpecialK]

I have been extremely lucky to have found some really patient riding partners. When I started out, I seemed to have a homing button for every ditch in a 5km radius. If it was there, so was I, normally getting comfortable lying in it. 5 years later and my skills have improved, but my riding partner is still in a completely different league, both in speed and skill level. Sometimes I don't know why he keeps putting up with me.

 

He has the patience to stop, talk me through an obstacle that I walked, and to wait for me to try it numerous times so that I can get my confidence up. He encourages me when I struggle, and seems to know my skills level much better than I do. I think that without his help, I would have gotten frustrated long ago and given up. 

 

By now we have a nice group of friends together from all different fitness and skills levels. We try to meet up for a ride once in a while. The stronger guys will take the route at their place, but then stop and wait for us slowpokes when it's convenient. 

 

The biggest problem I have is the safety factor. I will seldom ride on my own, especially on the MTB. I have no problems doing a road ride in the cradle as there are plenty of cyclists around. But riding solo on the spruit, or BRB, or other bike parks - i sometimes struggle to convince myself to ride on my own as I feel that I am more of a target for bike jacking, and potentially other traumatizing events such as rape. This means my rides are often determined by my riding partner and/or the riding group.

 

I would consider joining a ladies only group, but it would mainly depend on whether we get along. 

 

Reegan - we're in Pretoria reasonably often, if you would like to join us one day. Plus my super-star cycling mom lives there (she managed a 4:50 94.7 on a 26" dual-sus). I can put you in touch if you're keen. They ride from a bike shop in Pretoria East every weekend, and they are great looking after less experienced riders. They don't do the most technical of routes, but if it helps you get on the bike, it will be worthwhile. 

[alleyne]

I do mostly road riding in CT and there are definitely more women riding alone or with friends/partners now than I can remember in previous years.

[GaryvdM]

...snip...

 

The biggest problem I have is the safety factor. I will seldom ride on my own, especially on the MTB. I have no problems doing a road ride in the cradle as there are plenty of cyclists around. But riding solo on the spruit, or BRB, or other bike parks - i sometimes struggle to convince myself to ride on my own as I feel that I am more of a target for bike jacking, and potentially other traumatizing events such as rape. This means my rides are often determined by my riding partner and/or the riding group.

 

...snip...

 

 

Question: do you feel safe at a closed off, paid access MTB venue, such as Northern Farms?

[SpecialK]

Question: do you feel safe at a closed off, paid access MTB venue, such as Northern Farms?

It depends on the venue and how often I've cycled there (and also a bit on the reputation).

BRB - definitely, but only on the barn side of the river

Rosemary Hill - yes

Northerns - nope

Van Gaalens - nope, but that's because it's not properly closed with lots of public access

Buffelsdrift and Wolwespruit - probably, depending how brave I feel that day

[GaryvdM]

It depends on the venue and how often I've cycled there (and also a bit on the reputation).

BRB - definitely, but only on the barn side of the river

Rosemary Hill - yes

Northerns - nope

Van Gaalens - nope, but that's because it's not properly closed with lots of public access

Buffelsdrift and Wolwespruit - probably, depending how brave I feel that day

 

Thanks. Asking cause I have a lady friend who has never done a ride on her own (only been cycling for 4 months though), and I want to suggest where it would be good for her to go.

 

Excuse my ignorance, what/where is BRB?

[Special-K]

Thought I’d add my 10c cents as a lady cyclist.

 

 

 

I’ve been riding for a couple of years. M

Thought I’d add my 10c cents as a lady cyclist.

 

I’ve been riding for a couple of years. My training buddies are mostly men but only because there’s more of them available. I do however choose them carefully as they always start racing at some point, which is what I do in races and not on training rides. Training rides should not turn into a race all the time. Riding with girls I’ve never had that.  

 

I get what she said about men screaming behind her on single track, it happens all the time. I was pleasantly surprised this past weekend at the Sanlam Invitational mtb bike race, I’ve never had so many patient and polite male rides on single track with me. I never felt rushed for a second. They were really supportive. Kudo’s to all of them!

 

Above might be one of the reasons why I enjoy road cycling more. Most woman are just more careful on downhill's/single-track than men, its natural. On the road I don’t get that, we are all equal. I sis my first DC in a ladies team last year, loved every second of the race and all training rides leading up to it. No hormones, no gossiping and not half-wheeling. Just loads of fun, hard racing and sharing a communal passion for riding.

 

I don’t prefer riding with men or female. I just want to get in good training, be able to have good laughs and great coffee. Having friends who forces you to go back and do the switchback where you unclipped is a bonus.  Let’s leave the racing for the day you have a number on your bike J

 

It’s a pity Bestmed is the only ladies cycling team….

 

[SpecialK]

Thanks. Asking cause I have a lady friend who has never done a ride on her own (only been cycling for 4 months though), and I want to suggest where it would be good for her to go.

 

Excuse my ignorance, what/where is BRB?

 

It's Big Red Barn in Irene, just off Botha Avenue. It has enough riders that I feel ok to go and feel safe, even if I would fall. It's got quite a small footprint so it's also easy to cut a ride short and head back to the barn if need be. There is a green easy route through the trees, about 12km long. For more experienced riders, there is a bit more play stuff around (bumps, berms and quick single track).

 

In Pretoria area I would definitely otherwise recommend Rosemary Hill. 

[NelAndre]

My partner and I ride together (MTB only) at least one day in the weekend to manage the babysitting duties. We rode almost all of the Trailseekers and Ashburton events in 2014 and 2015 but in 2016 we have decided to be a lot more selective with events driven by cost and time constraints. The fact that we are not doing events does not mean that we cycle less. Maybe social riding numbers is still growing but less races gets done?