WELCOME to the March issue
Legend has it that International Women’s Day began life in New York way back in 1907 to mark the 50th anniversary of a brutal protest that took place in the city many years before. However, after digging a little deeper, historians now recognise that, in fact, the first International Women’s Day protest was in 1909 and it wasn’t until 1975, after 66 years of women taking to the streets to fight for their everyday rights, that 8th March became the official, official International Women’s Day.
Now, my human science isn’t great but I’m sure women have been around just as long as men and, considering the treatment of women through history, that seems like an awfully short amount of time that women have had a voice for.
Social science aside, let’s get into why we are here. And that’s for cycling! Women have been part of the cycling scene since the late 1800s (as you will soon learn as you read through this issue) and yet, still today, they face issues with being patronised, struggling to find the right cycling clothes and finding they are the only female rider in their group (as you will also discover). experience in the world of cycling. I wish I could tell you they are unique experiences, but sadly, they aren’t. And, it seems that perhaps not much has changed since the first International Women’s Day began over 100 years ago. Of course, it isn’t all negative, and as we learn, there are some incredibly supportive sports people out there with some great women in cycling messages for us all.
Needless to say, we haven’t totally banished other genders from this issue and we still have advice and stories from regular contributors too.
The point of this issue isn’t to shame or make people feel bad. It’s to make people aware of the everyday experience of women cyclists. And to make a positive wave of change in the world of biking, no matter what gender people are.
Every woman can tell you a story of how, because of their sex, they have been treated differently in one way or another. Let’s make that stop in cycling and encourage women and girls of all ages to be as strong, confident and respected as they deserve to be!
> Grace Barnott Palin - Editor in Chief