Inspired by Carmen Martinez-Perez, Sarah Connolly, and Emma Pooley I founded and ran a gender-balanced cycling club for a few years.
Contradictory Expectations
I found it difficult to be both inclusive and athletically ambitious.
My wish to reduce a barrier to joining a ride and corresponding commitment that ‘we ride at the pace of the slowest rider” conflicted with the desire for a predictable experience that most passionate amateurs wanted (‘what pace will we actually ride when I choose to spend my Saturday morning with that group?’).
The former meant I felt I couldn’t ever turn anyone away from the meeting point, no matter how divergent the
This conflicted with my unstated goal of convincing riders to join regularly. I wanted both the size and athleticism of the club to grow, so that we could enjoy more varied tours led by more riders.
This was a symptom of an unwillingness to focus on one thing or to tell some people, sorry it’s not for you.
Cf. running