As we look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day on Wednesday, 8 March, please take a moment to celebrate the achievements of the women of Randwick Cycling.
What may instantly spring to mind are some recent big races, with some brilliant results. And that does make us proud!
However, what we think is worth celebrating this IWD is the diverse group of passionate and dedicated female cyclists who share a strong sense of community and support. Within any sporting group there is always a diverse bunch, be that in careers, family settings, riding goals, nationalities or sense of humour. As they say, lycra is a leveller! And we love that we can come together, go out riding, chat about all kinds of weird and wonderful topics, laugh, drink coffee (or not) and support each other through our common love of two wheels.
Randwick Cycling creates a safe and inclusive environment for women cyclists of all levels. As we evolve and grow, we’re able to add more and varied ride options from social paced rides (an ability to carry on conversation without being out of breath essential) to more challenging skills sessions as well as solo or team racing events.
We also aim to capitalise on the strengths of our more experienced members, some of who have been with the club for over 25 years. The ladies who regularly turn up to club rides, don their best dress-ups, or come down to cheer on their team mates, who offer bike advice or a lift to a club event, the gravel riders, mtb’ers, TT’ers and crit racers; the commisaires and marshals - these are the amazing women that create the camaraderie and positive environment that helps women cyclists feel confident both on and off the bike.
As well as the camaraderie and support, the women of Randwick Cycling love giving back to the community. As a club we love to support charities and fundraising initiatives, such as the annual Breast Cancer Awareness month in October that raises money for breast cancer research, and the Bondi2Berry ride in November that raises money for research into a cure for Dementia. These events not only provide opportunities for us all to support causes that are close to our hearts, yet also challenge ourselves on the bike at the same time.
So here’s to all the strong ladies! Thank you for all the encouragement, inspiration, support and hilarious stories. We’ve got an amazing bunch with so much talent and we look forward to building on what we’ve got in 2023!
To celebrate IWD, in March we will be running the second edition of our popular Femmes ‘Try Heffron’ Day on Saturday, 11 March (come along and bring a friend!) We are also launching our new women’s event calendar with three different regular ride opportunities for us all to progress and improve our cycling skills. We look forward to you joining us on the Skillz, Hillz and Chillz!
Happy IWD all!
Fiona Kwok, Womens’ coordinator
