In my last column, I briefly lamented the imbalance of men and women in cycling. This is not to say there are no women cyclists in the Seattle-area. But local races often see five times as many men racing as women. Of the 95 people that finished Sunday’s populaire, only 12 were women. Tonight, Gregg’s Cycles in Greenlake is doing their part to buck the trend.
Gregg’s is hosting a free, women-only event that they’re calling “Women on Wheels – A Ladies Night Out.”
Though it’s free, they want people to RSVP. The event goes from 6:30-9:30 tonight, March 4, at the Gregg’s Greenlake location, 7007 Woodlawn Ave. NE. There will be raffle prizes given out through the event including a new bike as the grand prize.
Former world champion and Olympian track cyclist Jennie Reed will lead a clinic on nutrition and conditioning and bicycle company reps will lead smaller clinics on bicycle mechanics and maintenance. The main event of the evening is a speech by Triathlon Hall of Famer and author Sally Edwards who’s completed a ridiculous number of Ironman-length triathlons and ultra-marathons in her career.
Edwards’ speech will be followed by a fashion show “[showing] off the latest in cycling fashion” which kind of seems to perpetuate tired stereotypes (no?), and is just kind of silly (unless they’re being ironic?), but I wear bright-colored spandex when I ride, so what do I know about fashion?
Also of note: Food from the Greenlake Bar and Grill, Theo Chocolates, and beer and wine will be available and a bike valet will be provided at the event.
It’s typical at events like this for company reps to push their wares on you, but the free clinics and speeches by industry experts and chance to win prizes just for showing up probably balance out the corporate soft sells.
