OPINION
actively shapes whether people stay in the sport. Alongside the guiding, coaching and event work, I’m also involved in Project FIAS (Fostering Inclusive Action Sports), academic-led collaborative project to tackle gender inequality in the outdoor sports and recreation sector, and I’ve been working with them on Gearing Up! That work has given me another lens on this, because it has pushed me to think not just about riders and events, but about the wider bike industry and the systems around it.
One thing I come back to a lot is that many people in the industry do care; the issue is not bad intent. More often, it is uncertainty. People are worried about getting it wrong, using the wrong language, or making a change that feels too political. So they stay in the realm of good intentions and broad statements, rather than doing anything tangible. But in my view, doing something is always better than doing nothing. You do not need to have a perfect strategy. You do not need
to solve every issue overnight. And you do not need to be an expert in everything before you begin. But you do need to be willing to look honestly at where women are being lost. Are women seeing themselves in your marketing? Are they
reflected in your ambassadors, your community stories, your event photography, your staff and your leadership? Does
Below: Bristol Rally Riders PHOTO BY TIM GIBBS
your tone of voice feel encouraging and welcoming, or does it assume that confidence is already there? Those are not impossible questions; they are practical ones, and the answers can lead to practical changes. The point is that if more women is the goal, then
women need to be thought about specifically. Not as an afterthought, and not buried inside more general conversations where the edges get smoothed off. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is be honest about who is underrepresented and then take clear steps to address it. I have seen first-hand how powerful that can be. I have seen women arrive unsure and leave buzzing. I have seen how much confidence can grow in the right environment and how women can go from feeling like outsiders to identifying as mountain bikers, bikepackers and leaders in their own right. And I have seen how quickly the atmosphere of a space changes when women are not tokenised, but properly accounted for. That is also why this matters commercially, not just ethically. If the industry wants to grow, it cannot afford to keep serving only the people who already feel at home in cycling. More women in cycling means more riders, more customers, more advocates, more communities and
18 | April 2026
www.bikebiz.com
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