Looking at women and cycling The popularity of cycling has been increasing over the last decade and a sport that was once viewed as a recreational activity or a mode of transport is growing in competitive nature. We all learnt to ride a bike as kids and who didn’t get a bike for Christmas from Santa?? Today both women and men enjoy riding bicycles in a competitive nature and as a recreational sport, but this was not always the case as women had to fight long and had to be accepted as cyclists.

In 1868 the first recorded cycling competition took place: a road race in Paris, but it wasn’t until 1875 that the bicycle that we know today was finalized and mass produced. There are various cycling competitions which range from international competitions, like the Commonwealth and Olympic games to local club competitions and cycling comps that incorporate other sports. Cycling competitions are growing in popularity and are held all round the world with thousands of people belong to both competitive and recreational bicycle clubs. Basically there is something out there for every ability and inclination when it comes to cycling.

However even recreational cycling wasn’t always available to women in the 19^th Century. It was consider inappropriate and unbecoming for a women to ride bikes or even sit on a bike. The position in which a bicycle rider has to sit seemed too ‘improper’ – a woman with her legs straddling a seat was way to modern and offensive to the general public to be viewed as within an acceptable or tolerable level for society. Some critics condemned women who decided to ride bicycles, claiming that their vulgar look was too liberal and that they should be arrested, since women on bikes could lead to the disturbance of social order.

Today it is a common sight to see women riding bicycles through the streets with friends and competing in races and competitions. The importance of cycling and its role in women’s progression through time has spilt over into other areas of woman’s rights. In the 19th century, cycling was considered male dominated field of activity, much like other sport activities, and women couldn’t play a part in these fields. However, as the years went by, women started to protest against such discrimination, and after many disputes were also allowed to ride bicycles. The shift in attitude towards women on bikes also brought other changes – women’s emancipation changed the style of their clothes from the impractical long dresses and long skirts to sport dresses.

Bicycle riding played an important role in women’s struggle for independence. It encouraged and increased the freedom of women by allowing them to travel and change the way they dressed.