International Women's Day & Cycling!

Happy International Women’s Day!     

Many people believe that bicycles can solve many of the world’s issues, relieve stress, and contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Did you know that cycling can be used as a tool to EMPOWER women? Read on!     

In Northern India, the Action Northeast Trust (ANT) was created to engage in women’s empowerment through a collective bicycle bank, aimed at increasing women’s mobility and promoting micro enterprises among women entrepreneurs. Women from a nearby village gathered for their favourite event, consisting of a bicycle camp and race. Each woman must learn to ride before becoming a member of a bicycle club, and pays a monthly fee. The women who started the bicycle camp were those that were motivated to increase their mobility, without having to rely on their husbands for transportation. With greater mobility came more freedom, and women began to explore job opportunities.  At first, many women were physically abused by their husbands, who didn’t react well to this new bicycle movement. However, after years of efforts, ANT was able to shift communities attitudes, largely by talking to men and women about human rights. Now, many husbands support their wives in becoming cyclists. This self-started bike group, led by women, is now a strong group, one that stands for and defends the right for women to own and ride a bicycle. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/4m3x7lr   

Women on Bikes, an effort through a partnership between The City of Fort Collins’ FC Bikes and Northern Colorado Outdoors, is a new program encouraging women to ride bicycles as transportation. Women on Bikes was organized to eliminate the fear and uncertainty that many woman have about riding a bicycle in Fort Collins. Women are united together, receive proper safety training, gear, and route planning, and feel empowered to ride bicycles as a form of transportation. Women can also meet with other women in their community and share their cycling experiences, find support, and learn more about integrating cycling into their lifestyles. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/4ujwvr5     

CycleChic (http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/) is the culture of cycling in fashionable clothes, and Copenhagen's blog is one of the top 100 in the world, according to Time. People have different views about this blog, but some say it helps normalize women on bikes and empowers them to get cycling!