The City of Vincent has recently launched two 6 week cycle course for women. These courses are designed to help participants build their confidence cycling and get back on their bikes this Spring. We have two women's cycle courses starting this Spring at Smiths Lake Reserve, running every Saturday from September 5th to October 10th. Our recent Super Tuesday bike counts showed male cyclists far outweighed women at all 18 count sites (about 3:1). These courses were created to address this.

Learn to Ride - Anyone can learn to ride a bicycle regardless of age. Our Learn to Ride Course will help residents get riding a bicycle independently in no time with the help of People on Bicycles expert bike instructors. Participants learn as part of a fun, social group and feel empowered to make short local trips by bike. Bikes and equipment are provided for everyone.

Social Riding - Guided sessions for women who have some bicycle skills, but need to build their confidence and skills. By the end of the course participants will be able to take part in a short social ride and even start thinking about riding to work!

Uptake was initially slow but both courses booked out in the final few days before the courses were due to start and we now have a wait list for future courses. We have received really positive feedback from the women taking part as well as other residents. We charged a minimal $20 fee to reserve a spot in the hope that this would ensure participants turned up each week. There was no pushback to this and turn out has been high. Many women enquired about the course but were not able to commit to so many sessions so in the future we may shorten the course.

"Just wanted to give some feedback on the Women's Cycling. I was on the path near Smiths Lake yesterday, allowing my son the opportunity to rip along on his scooter. There was a course on bike riding going on, it looked like most of the cyclists were ladies from multicultural backgrounds. I got to hear how supportive and encouraging the instructors were. There were screams of terror and squeals of delight. It was brilliant."