This year has been a breakthrough year for women in ultra-distance cycling. The Trans Continental Race, The Trans Pyrenees Race and the Accursed Race all made a big push to get more women at their events resulting in record numbers of women entering and finishing.
From our early beginnings at a small training camp for women in Girona in 2016 we have had the pleasure of working with some amazing women, including Jenny Graham, who went on to take the round the world record in 2018, Karen Tostee, and Alli Holland.
Our personal experience is that women not only can do ultra distance cycling events; they are exceedingly good at it. So what’s stopping you?
So what stops women doing ultra events? In our recent interviews with many strong and capable women for our EBR Women’s Scholarship we noticed several trends. These barriers that women face in long distance cycling can be summarised by:
Many of the women we spoke to did not believe they could do an ultra-distance cycling or bikepacking event, often despite evidence from strong cycling performances which showed they were more than capable.
We all have a right to feel safe and free from harm as we go about our day to day lives. The reality is that we do not all experience it and women can feel this more acutely than men. This fear stops them from doing events which might take them alone into isolated places with no shelter in the middle of the night.
Traditionally training protocols were developed from tests done on collegiate men, women were often excluded from the studies as ‘outliers’ or simply because the hormonal cycle affected the data too much. Women can train hard and get extremely fit given the right stimulus.
For a long time cycling has been a ‘man’s world;’ women’s races were not televised, there were fewer of them and they were shorter ‘light’ versions of men’s races. This is changing as more and more women are doing amazing things on bikes with the good work of people like Tahnee Seagrave at Redbull Hardline and Kate Courtney with the She Sends Foundation, women’s races are developing and being televised in their own right.
Cycling is not cheap: the bike, the gear all cost money. Going on big adventures requires far more bravery when you don’t have the money to get a hotel if you need it. There is still a pay gap between men and women in many 1st world countries and in some other countries women simply don’t have access to their own funds.
Whilst the role of women as ‘stay at home’ is changing, time is definitely something that women quote as a problem for fitting in training and big multi-day events. Whether that’s because as a mum with young children it can be hard to leave them for long periods, or whether it’s just that training comes last after work, household tasks and being mum.
Confidence does not appear overnight, and it seems that cycling confidence for women is particularly difficult. However, there are steps you can take to build your confidence cycling both on and off the bike.
This is why we decided to launch our EBR Women’s Scholarship Programme, to give opportunities to women who might not otherwise have the courage and/or the means and why Tailfin, PEdALED, fi'zi:k, NeverSecond and Schwalbe have kindly come on board to make these adventures more accessible to our scholars.
What you say to yourself about your own capabilities will have a massive effect on how you engage with cycling. Common things we hear from the women we coach include:
“I’m too slow”
“I’m too old”
“I’m not an athlete”
Alli Holland, at 50, won the Dorset Divide off the back of two knee replacements. She did this by training consistently and most of all by believing that with the right treatment and training programme she could get back to being competitive on the bike. ‘I may not be the fastest but if I can keep going and hanging on people will think twice…they are often surprised by my age at the end.’
Karen Darke had a dream of going to the Paralympics in 2012; when she started she was coming last in all her road races but with the right training and an amazing attitude she got a Bronze and Silver medal in 2012 and went on to get a Gold Medal in Rio in 2016.
Both Alli and Karen surrounded themselves with people who said ‘yes,’ who engaged with their dreams and were 100% behind them. They believed in themselves, took themselves seriously and put in the time and training that it needed to realise their dreams. This is what cycling confidence for women looks like.
“I believe what I say when I hear myself speak it” What will you say to yourself which supports your cycling goals and dreams?
I remember as a young trainee probation officer doing a lot of research into risk and crime. Here’s what I learnt:
This does not mean that you do not have to behave sensibly, but it does seem that the fear of violence, especially for women, is far more excessive than the relative risk. This is often compounded by comments from both men and women when we undertake adventures like: ‘on your own?” “in the dark?” “is it safe?”
Taking a few simple steps can improve your safety and your enjoyment of a night time adventure:
Jenny Tough, who traversed mountain ranges on every continent solo on foot shared with us her story. When in Morocco she was confronted by a group of uniformed men who ordered her out of her tent in the middle of the night and demanded they take her back down to the town in their vehicle. Terrified she did as bidden; on reaching the town she was met by a local official who seemingly had noticed how public her adventure was (she was providing updates on facebook at the time). He then saw it as his personal mission to ensure she crossed the Atlas Mountains safely in order to preserve the good name of Morocco and encourage future tourism.
Whilst a frightening experience this story does show case how in the modern world we can always be seen and tracked and violence and intimidation are, for most of the part, secretive acts the protagonist wants to ‘get away with.’ Being connected creates safety.
In our article ‘Training for the Individual: Women are Not Small Men...But They are People Too’ John talks about how the right training is always individual, whether you were assigned male or female at birth and whether you identify as a man or a woman now.
If you have invested in some 1 to 1 coaching that coaching should be crafted for you, taking into account your own unique physiology, your goals and how training fits in with the rest of your life commitments.
For women in particular your plan should not only be women’s specific cycling training, but specific to your unique physiology. Training for ultra-distance cycling as a woman should account for your menstrual cycle if relevant and training goals. Training should be planned and completed around your life, not in spite of it.
Stacey Simms amongst others, is doing great work to create more research into women’s specific physiology and how we can take advantage and create strong, capable endurance female athletes throughout all stages of life by:
There is a lot of information about training out there, not all of it good and out of the good bits not all of it will work for you. Remember you are the expert on yourself so don’t be afraid to ditch popular ‘in vogue’ training methods if you have found a solution that works for you.
You can check out our e-book on developing your own training which will give you some guidance.
Women’s cycling culture is growing but it can feel very daunting at the start line of an event where you are in the minority. Ultimately the pressure of feeling that you have to ‘prove’ that you belong at the session can put on too much pressure. Many people will choose to ride alone rather than endure that constant stress, or worse still, give up.
Women have always cycled, even on the earliest iterations of the bike, despite the best efforts of a male dominated culture to exclude us. Not only that but we cycle rather well:
‘“Oh for God’s sake will you give it a rest!” My first instinct was to apologise but that was quickly replaced with indignation. Why the hell not?’
Lee Craigie, Joining the Dots, The Highland Trail 550, Lee Craigie and others, The Adventure Syndicate, pp68-9.
Traditionally men are stronger and faster, but women bring their own strengths into cycling which seem to be particularly show-cased over ultra distance. Lee continues:
‘They [the men] covered the ground faster than me but my stops were more efficient. I was conserving energy by genuinely loving the ride while it looked very much like they were in constant battle with the terrain they were moving through…While they put the power down to get somewhere they could replenish their depleted metabolism, I cruised steadily, enjoying the privilege of being there. Much of the time, running my fuel tank just above empty was when I was most alert and sharp on the bike, whereas for them, with their lower percentage of body fat, it must have felt like running the gauntlet between food and outlets.’
While the culture for women and cycling is changing, it takes courage to be part of that change. Here are a few ways you can learn to feel comfortable on the start line and in training:
One thing that women definitely bring to the cycling world is inclusivity and care. In 2018 John and I ran our first Training Camp in our new home in France and we actively decided to make it female only to avoid competitiveness and to foster a supportive environment. In general this is a role that women will readily take on; in fact the problem is sometimes getting them to be more competitive and selfish in races!
And perhaps as we integrate ourselves into this ‘man’s world’ and turn it upside down we can have an empathic thought for the men who may well be as shocked as us at how the tables can turn as we do not behave as expected and ‘give it a rest!’
Cycling is not cheap; this can make it hard for anyone on a tight budget. Ultra events in particular require entry fees, gear, clothes, tent, bivvy all of which need to be high quality and light, tyres, lights that will not fail you in the middle of the night and so much more. In addition to this you then need funds to be able to buy food along the way and, if needed book into a hotel to catch a couple of hours sleep, get warm and dry.
My own access to my first decent bike was through the cycle to work scheme which enabled me to get a nice tax free bike with the help of work funds; that was 13 years ago and I still use that bike today.
There are schemes out there which could help you so do your research: find women cycling scholarships, look for bike schemes, ambassador opportunities and be brave, ask for help, which costs nothing and may reward you!
Whilst you may have dreams should money be no object, you don’t have to travel to Kyrgyzstan to have an amazing adventure on your bike. Choose events that you can afford; there are ultra endurance events popping up practically everywhere so explore what’s on your doorstep, create your own FKT and find events you can get to on the train or, even better, on your bike!
We developed our EBR Clubs as a more affordable solution to structured training and coaching advice. We have now launched our Women's EBR Cycling Club, designed to provide you with support from both the community and from us as coaches as you use the club plan to achieve you ultra-distance cycling goals.
It’s always delightful to meet driven women with a purpose and goal and there are plenty of you about! That’s not to say that it’s easy, but more and more women are now having the courage to invest in themselves and seeing how it benefits not only themselves and their own happiness but that of their families. Sons who see their mothers active and investing in training and events grow up with a different idea of what ‘family’ might look like and what to expect from a future partner. Daughters who grow up with mums who get out and train and race won’t think twice about doing it themselves.
When you invest in yourself and your own happiness you become less emotionally reliant on others and you become more confident. When we are happy and confident we are better at all the things we do both in training, racing and in life:
“but little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as our own
that kept you company…” from The Journey by Mary Oliver
Creating and protecting training time can require some forethought and support from other family members but it builds a family of mutually supporting members who are behind each others goals and dreams.
Here are a few ways women can find time to train for cycling and balance family with their cycling training:
Training on the way to/from work if you can, on the way back from the school run or in your lunch break can avoid being delayed when you get home by household tasks.
This is time that you would be using anyway to get to work, so why not use it to train if you can? You could take the train/drive part way and ride the rest if it’s too far to do the whole thing. I used to drive to a carpark 8 miles (13km) from work and ride the rest of the way.
It can be easier to find 2 x 45 minutes than 1 x 1.5 hours; this might also fit better with your commute. The alternative is to do a very short easy morning session and then a bit longer more focussed speed in the evening.
Many mums that I coach with young children find indoor trainers a real help as they can be on call but still train. It can also mean that training after children have gone to bed is an option without having to go out in the cold and dark.
Week days can be so hectic with work, school and after school activities. Sometimes preparing ahead when you have more time at the weekends can help so long as it doesn’t detract to much from recovery. Bulk cooking either at the weekend when you have time or gradually by cooking double on days you do cook and freezing/refrigerating portions for another day; slow cookers are great for this.
Most of all ask for help; you do not have to do the triple shift and be perfect at everything. Cooking, cleaning, school runs etc can be shared with a partner if you have one; if you can afford it paying someone to clean your house not only gives someone else some cash but relieves you of the responsibility.
The world of women’s cycling is changing, slowly, but it is changing and showing more and more that women not only belong here but can thrive in this environment.
If you’re ready to take your next step in women’s ultra-distance cycling and would like to feel part of a women’s community of cyclists our women’s cycling club and coaching programmes can support you. You can book a free 30 minute call to get some advice and find out how we can support you.
You can learn more about our personality-based coaching tools in other blog articles and on our YouTube channel.