The Tour de France isn’t just a parade of men in very tight Lycra criss-crossing the Continent on extremely aerodynamic bikes. For lapsed cyclists like myself, it’s also a welcome reminder to dust off our rides and saddle up.
But city cycling isn’t as bucolic as whizzing through idyllic Yorkshire countryside. Every female cyclist I know has a horror story about sexual harassment (shoutout to the guy who once filmed me getting off my bike on his iPhone). Even if you’ve miraculously avoided gross catcalls, you still need to deal with sobering facts like how women are thought to make up 86 per cent of cyclist deaths in London, despite there being three times as many male riders as female ones.
But does that deter us girls? Hell no. British Cycling aims to get a million women on bikes by 2020, and that’s a good thing – for one thing, it’s cheaper than a gym membership and saves on a travelcard (although we wouldn’t recommend cycling shitfaced). And thanks to a new breed of female-centric bike hacks, innovations and support groups, cycling has never been more appealing. Here are a couple of the best ones.
Ward off the dreaded knicker-flash when you wear skirts
There are loads of great ideas for making skirts bikeable, but these often mean altering or buying special skirts,’ explains Glasgow-based cyclist Johanna Holtan.
‘Plus I’m a strong believer that you can make any style bikeable with a little creativity.’ So she and a bunch of mates came up with Penny In Yo’ Pants, an idea so simple and so brilliant you wonder why nobody’s come up with it before. Basically, you just push a penny through your skirt, gathering up the fabric before wrapping a rubber band through the entire thing. Voila: your skirt or dress is a sealed, cycle-ready garment. Watch the video here to see how it works.
Invest in female-friendly bike inventions
Perusing the women’s section of a bike shop can sometimes feel like you’re drowning in a sea of floral helmets and twee wicker baskets. ‘There are such limited products for girls out there,’ says bike entreprenuer Emily Brooke. ‘”It also comes in pink” just doesn’t cut it, lads!’
But there are some products out there that are genuinely female-friendly (read: pretty much life-saving), Brooke’s invention among them. The Oxford physicist-turned-inventor created the Laserlight, a bike light that projects a green laser image of a bike five to six metres onto the road ahead. For female cyclists (myself included) who tend to be more cautious on the roads and hug the kerb – sometimes to the detriment of our actual safety – it alerts drivers that you’re near their vehicle.
DIY your own bike-beauty solutions
If you’re a long-distance cyclist, you’ll be familiar with the saddle sores or cycle rash that can afflict your legs. You could shell out for obnoxiously sexist products like this pink Lady Anti Monkey Butt powder to reduce the burn, but why bother? Just use baby powder or cornstarch to keep it at bay. Some female cyclists I know recommended Vagisil – yes, the cream for “dry intimate skin” – to soothe the worst saddle sores, or ward them off entirely. Can’t get any more ladylike than that.
Connect with an online bike sisterhood
Being a female on the roads can get lonely, especially if you’re faced with a horde of stony-faced cycle bros in sports gear on the daily. But there’s a thriving online sisterhood of bloggers and feminist zine-makers who won’t stand for harassment (and will gladly swap repair tips with you). With names like Velo Vixen, you can’t really go wrong – check out Taking the Lane for zines or this masterlist of female cycling blogs. And if you’re after an IRL connection, head to British Cycling’s club finderto hook up with your own local group of female cyclists.
Follow Zing on Twitter @misszing
Picture: Lukasz Wierzbowski
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.