Ladies get back in the saddle with Her Ride program
Ladies are learning or re-learning how to ride a bike safely with the next sessions in the Her Ride program rolling out in Brisbane in October and November.
The four-week course includes nine sessions, with rides lasting about 90 minutes every Wednesday morning and Sunday afternoon, starting on the Bicentennial Bikeway near the Go Between Bridge.
The women are learning how to improve their bike skills and negotiate different road and traffic conditions while enjoying all the benefits that cycling brings including getting fit in mind and body, establishing a healthy routine and making new connections.
Bicycle Queensland Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Randazzo, said there is a strong and growing community of female bike riders right across Queensland so there are courses held in metropolitan and regional areas.
“Her Ride addresses three things – skills, confidence and connection,” said Ms Randazzo.
“We provide courses for women to improve their confidence and skills to ride their bike more often and we do that on a road bike and in a mountain bike environment.
“It’s great for fitness, it’s great for your mental wellbeing, you don’t have to be an athlete to do it, it caters for all levels and all abilities.
“The connection is really important as well – after every session we go for a coffee and we drive relationships for these ladies to make new friends, to continue to ride after they finish the program.
“The Her Ride program is incredibly popular, and we are really looking to continue this momentum going forward to get more women to ride more often.
“We know that is really important because mums often make decisions about what their kids do, and we would love to see more kids being active as well.”
Her Ride participant Kath Gilmore said the course teaches important skills like mounting and dismounting the bike and how to ride safely in a group.
“Cars scare me, I don’t like riding on the road so if I can get more confidence in that I will be much happier,” said Ms Gilmore
“I wanted to get more confidence in my riding, especially on my road bike and I wanted to do it in a female environment.
“It’s very comforting that I’m within my skill ability and I don’t feel put down, I feel very encouraged in my skills.”
Fellow rider Karen Nightingale said the course helped to build her skills and meet new people.
“We are learning how to corner, we are learning all our hand movements, emergency braking, how to clip in, I need to look at getting clip in pedals too so it is going to be a good learner for me doing this,“ said Ms Nightingale.
“We learn about checking everything before you go out, from your brakes to your chain, making sure you’ve got everything on you, making sure you’re well hydrated, learning all the road rules too because riding with traffic and cars is quite scary.”
The Her Ride program is funded by a $60,000 investment through the Sport and Recreation Active Industry Project Fund.