For fitness. To make friends. For freedom!
There’s nothing quite like riding a bike to experience the feeling of freedom. It brings back childhood memories of riding with friends, having fun outdoors, being fit and active. But for many women, somewhere along the road to adulthood, the bike gets put away and they stop riding.
That’s where She Rides comes in!
She Rides is an introductory riding program focused on fitness, skills development and creating a social riding community of women, with the aim to help women make riding part of their everyday life. The program runs over six to eight weeks and is led by an accredited Cycling Australia coach. It is designed to increase confidence and skill, plus includes a social aspect.
Participants can choose between a road riding and a mountain bike program, with both formats involving face-to-face sessions with a Cycling Australia accredited coach, in a small group environment, together with a three-month recreational insurance and membership to Cycling Australia.
She Rides offers three tiers of programs; ‘She Rides Confidence’ for women who have riding skills but are looking to learn group riding skills, participate for fitness and be part of a social riding community; ‘She Rides Together’ which is a group riding program to improve fitness, advance riding skills and enjoy riding in a with others; and ‘She Rides On Demand’ for those who are re-starting their riding journey with the basics, and are looking for a more personalised one on one coaching experience.
Both the She Rides Confidence and She Rides Together programs have capped program numbers to ensure a more personalised coaching ratio: each program has no more than 1 coach per 9 participants, up to a maximum of 18 participants and 2 coaches per program. The* She Rides Confidence* and Together programs run twice a year through throughout the Spring and Autumn seasons.
Here are some of the things program participants are saying about their experiences on a She Rides program:
“On completing the 8 week She Rides Together Program- King's Park I have new found confidence in my riding. As one of the weaker riders in the group I found Lindsay's supportive coaching style challenged me beyond what I believed I could achieve in just 8 weeks. Having an opportunity to learn/ consolidate my riding skills and learn group riding skills and practice these at a slower pace with other women who were encouraging and supportive of each other was amazing”. Kings Park WA Road Traffic She Rides program participant.
“I really loved the program and got a lot out of it. I might even go so far as to say it was life changing because I am now confident on my bike and keen to make riding a regular activity”. Wollongong NSW Road Traffic She Rides program participant.
“I was hesitant to sign up but I am really happy that I did. The coach was friendly, knowledgeable and explained things well at a pace we all felt comfortable with. The small group of 7 was perfect and the other ladies were lovely and encouraging, we were all on the same level of riding ability which also made the sessions enjoyable. By the end I was riding on track I previously thought I couldn’t ride and riding obstacles I would have previously avoided. Thank you She Rides Program for helping me gain confidence on the bike and meeting a group of great ladies - oh and the coach!” Newcastle NSW MTB She Rides program participant.
Now entering into its 6th year, Cycling Australia’s She Rides has continued to see outstanding results in the behavioural and attitudinal shifts of the women who participate in the She Rides programs. To find out more about how you can get involved in a She Rides program visit the She Rides website from the link above or send us an email on sherides@cycling.org.au
