Scottish Cycling are committed to growing the influence and participation of women and girls across the sport of cycling. As part of this we are developing a toolkit which will provide information, advice and practical tools to help clubs attract and retain more female members.

We recently released a survey to help us to identify what would be helpful to include in the toolkit and to inform the development of the project. We received an amazing 855 responses, and we’ll need some more time to properly analyse the results. In the meantime, however, for Women and Girls in sport Week, here are some of the headline findings.

Benefits of being a cycling club member

This question was asked of respondents who indicated they are a member of a cycling club or group and the top three options chosen were:

1. Opportunity to socialise and make friends with other cyclists (79%)
2. Attending club runs (56%)
3. Learning from more experienced cyclists (40%)

Women who are members of women-only cycling clubs were also asked to indicate their reasons for doing so:

1. Women-only cycling clubs appear more friendly and inclusive (50%)
2. Mixed-gender cycling clubs seem to be dominated by men (39%)
3. No reason, I cycle with both women-only and mixed-gender clubs/groups (36%)

Reasons for not joining a cycling club or group

Respondents not currently members of a cycling club or group were asked to give their reasons for not joining a cycling club or group:

1. Local clubs appear too fast/sporty for me (38%)
2. Local clubs appear unfriendly or unwelcoming (16%)
3. None available locally (15%)

Cycling club values

What values make a good cycling club? Everyone was asked this and the top five values chosen were:

1. Friendly (91%)
2. Welcoming (66%)
3. Fun (64%)
4. Supportive (56%)
5. Inclusive (55%)

Actions

All respondents were also asked to choose what actions cycling clubs should take with respect to recruitment, support, training/education and governance, and the top three options chosen under each of these headings were:

Recruitment

1. Organise female ‘Come and Try’ sessions in different disciplines
2. Provide female role models in leadership roles, e.g. coaches, ride leaders, committee members
3. Organise a ‘Come and Meet the Club’ session

Support

1. Provide women/girls-only rides and sessions
2. Offer a variety of club runs at different days/times
3. Provide more social/café rides

Training/education

1. Clear information about club rides, clearly stating pace, distance, no-drop policy, etc
2. Bike maintenance training
3. Training sessions for new members on group riding technique and etiquette

Governance

1. Strive for a gender-balanced committee, reflecting the female membership of the club
2. Have a no-drop policy on social/cafe rides only
3. Have a no-drop policy on all club rides

Respondents

The majority of people who completed the survey were female (85%), cyclists (91%) and living in Scotland (78%). Road cycling was the most popular cycling discipline, involving almost three-quarter of respondents. Over half were members of a cycling club or group (55%), with a 34% membership of Scottish Cycling clubs. Almost seven percent stated that they belong to numerous cycling clubs/groups.

Thank you everyone who completed the survey. Watch this space for further updates as we further analyse the data and develop the toolkit for clubs wishing to increase their female membership.