Get on her bike!
The Fancy Women Bike Ride pedals onwards in Edinburgh
THE FANCY WOMEN Bike Ride is an annual women-only cycling event held on World
Car Free Day in more than 150 cities around the world.
The events allow women to cycle just to show that everyone can ride a bike – even if you are wearing something just a bit fancy.
And here in Edinburgh women put on their fancy clothes and went for a cycle around The Meadows.
But there was a purpose to it all. The Edinburgh organiser, Sally Hinchcliffe, told The Edinburgh Reporter: “it is a way of bringing visibility to the way that women change the world. Cycling does not have to be something you armour up to do. It is something you can do in your best clothes, as slow as you like, as fast as you like, as fancily as you like. We just wanted to take over the streets a little bit with some fabulousness.”
Sally is co-convener of the Women’s Cycle Forum Scotland. She said that she mostly just cycles to “get around” but admitted to cycling quite far. she said: “Getting around has got further and further over the years. I do cycle longer distances now. It’s been a revelation to me and now I think that a journey of al-most 40 miles is easy. I would not have been able to think about that a few years ago.”
Transport Convener, Cllr Lesley Macinnes also took part in the ride. She said: “This is just fantastic. It is done in cities all over the world and is a chance for women to really get out there together and remind people how many cyclists in this city are women.” Asked if better infrastructure would not help all of the cyclists on our streets, Cllr Macinnes admitted that it would. She said: “It is all about connectivity. Coming into the city centre from south Edinburgh where I live, I ride about five miles and a lot of that is now on segregated cycle paths. That makes such a difference.”
International coordinator, Pinar Pinzuti said: “The women’s bike ride is successful because the event welcomes everyone, the message is clear and it is organized by intrepid and independent women. The Fancy Women Bike Ride is an opportunity to experience the soft power of femininity on the streets where women boldly exhibit their inner colours on their eco-friendly transport: bikes. Once a year we offer people a chance to leave their stinky cars yet look fabulous all the same, on their bikes. If you enjoy cycling once a year, you probably keep on cycling every single day.”