A Cyclone Starts with a Breeze

Riding to work early last week I was excited to see a bunch of cyclists whizzing past down a main road. Lights ablaze, plenty of colour and a variety of steeds, road bikes, mountain bikes, cyclocross and hybrids.  Always great to see a group ride happening at anytime, the whir of the gears and the buzz of the conversation, but it was 6:40am on a Thursday morning in Box Hill, hardly a cycling mecca.   Perhaps a group heading for the Dandenongs, who knows.  I caught them up flying down the hill heading into Box Hill from the city and they caught me at the lights.  The lead rider pulled up beside me and we swapped the usual cyclist's small talk about the conditions and our destinations.  Are you a club, I inquired. Turns out this was no ordinary group of riders, it was a group of 12 to 15 women  out on a Breeze Ride and about to wrap up their 30km morning spin with a coffee at the Red Cup Cafe. The most expensive coffee around I'm informed, but very good I'm assured.  

Breeze Rides are an initiative setup by Cycling Victoria back in 2012, influenced by a group from the UK, to make cycling more appealing to women and what better way than offering them the choice to ride with other women.  We all know it's easy to find excuses not to do things, but when you have someone who is trained to lead and instruct and a group of others committed to take their first steps with you, you suddenly find you're not alone with your interest in a male dominated sport with no shortage of high tech gear and body hugging lycra. It's not about how fast you are, how light your  bike is or whether you have all of the latest gear or how self conscious you feel in lycra, it's about finding a place where you feel safe and connected.

I get to work and I'm excited about this new group so I fire off emails and links to my wife,sister in law and friends. Perhaps they might be interested.  A couple of days later I found myself talking the Breeze Ride to a work colleague who had recently got into cycling with her partner and done her first 50km event.  A few days later I find out she's looked up the website, impressed with the concept and toying with the idea of upgrading to clip in shoes.

Whether you're a woman or not, check out the site.  I was impressed with the website and the focus of keeping the groups small and excellent information about getting started.  For those of you who live in Victoria and are looking to join a group ride, it's all there including the incentive of coffee at your destination.

By the way, the Australian National Cycling Team is known as the Cyclones and the women of Australian cycling have been a very successful part of the team in the past two decades and with initiatives like this it will hopefully grown to be even more so.