FEATURE
fully explain why, it was just the mindset that existed.” The club rapidly gained a public profile after its inception, and was known to all within ‘cycledom’ and to many outside the world of cycling. Guest speakers included Government ministers – Philip Noel- Baker, George Strauss and Denis Howell – and cycling celebrities like Hubert Opperman and Jean Bobet. In the more recent past, the club has fallen out of the limelight and many members believe the all-male rule has been largely responsible. It is certainly the case that most public figures now refuse to associate themselves in any way with a men- only club, said Lovibond.
Rule change So why did it take so long to finally drop these outdated rules and open the club to women? There are two reasons for this, explains Lovibond: “Firstly, the Pedal Club was essentially a lunch club. “In around 1940, most of the people who might have joined
worked in central London, and it was perfectly normal to have at least an hour off for lunch. You didn’t need to be older to get time off to go to lunch midweek, but now you do. And this has meant that the membership has tended to be older. We do have members of working age – but it’s not that easy for them to come. “The average age of the membership is higher than we’d like
it to be. And so, inevitably, we have got a lot of older members and a proportion of them have got these antiquated views. “Gradually, the average date of birth has moved forward. And that’s helped the people who were not against women joining in the first place to win the day, but it’s taken time. There were quite a lot of older people and some of them were very resistant to women. Younger people are more open to this sort of change.” The other problem, Lovibond continues, was that the rules couldn’t be changed without a two thirds majority. “We did vote about five years ago to change the rule then, but, although we got a simple majority, we just failed to get the two thirds. There were plenty of people who wanted to change, but it wasn’t that easy to do it.”
34 | January 2022
In terms of its role in the cycling world, the Pedal Club hoped to influence opinion, Lovibond said. “I think it still does, and as one member put it to me recently, perhaps the purpose of the Pedal Club is to be a conscience for British Cycling.” As of 30th November, the Pedal Club has three women
members. Lovibond is confident more women will join, and the club has people in mind it wants to approach, but one of the basic conditions of joining is that potential members should have been to meetings at least three times as a guest. “We only had this change in October, there weren’t that many women who were even qualified at that point. “I’ve no doubt that in a year’s time it will look different.
Covid has made it more difficult – we might have been busily inviting people as guests this year, but of course we haven’t had many meetings. Assuming things go on as before, I’m sure we’ll catch up.” n
‘I could not have been made to feel more welcome’ Kellie Parsons, marketing director, Madison – The Pedal Club’s first female member
“The club was created in a different time with a constitution that reflected that era. But that is not at all what it is like now and certainly does not reflect the current and progressive mem- bership. Every member of the club has one thing in common and that is a passion for cycling and this has nothing to do with gender. Despite limited funds, the club has supported many riders in the past who have gone on to achieve amazing things. “Many of the members are able to influence the sport and the industry through their contacts and position, so we definitely have the leverage. The club is very sociable and not the smokey back room full of dusty old misogynists which some people seem to like to portray it as. I had previously been invited as a guest on several occasions and I am really happy to be the first female member of the club. I could not have been made to feel more welcome and I will certainly be encouraging more women to join.”
George Strauss speaking at The Pedal Club in January 1946
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