Continuing our celebration for International Women's Day, of women whose lives have been changed by cycling, today we share the experience of Breeze Champion, cycle coach, mountain bike leader and Scottish Cycling Women’s Development Group member, Leanne Whitehead.
I’m a mountain bike guide, cycling coach and strong advocate for the benefits of cycling, but if you told my 20-year-old self my life would literally revolve around bikes, I would have laughed at you.
Twelve years ago, my sister went travelling and lent me her road bike so I could commute to work. I had an almost sedentary lifestyle and counted visiting the farmers market to buy a pastry as exercise. I remember the first time I tried to go up and down my street on this strange bike with skinny tyres and thought “there’s no way I’ll make it three miles into town on this”. The next day I put on my sister’s cycling gear and started off towards town, petrified of every car that passed me. Halfway up the final hill to the hospital where I worked, I could feel my heart pounding through my chest, and I thought I was going to be sick. I got off and pushed to the entrance and sat on the cold floor, my bike next to me, trying to catch my breath for the next five minutes. A hospital porter came over to make sure I was okay. This theme continued for the next few months, with the same porter commenting on how much less time I was needing to recover as slowly but surely, I realised I could get further up the hill. Then one day I rode the whole way to the door. I felt amazing. My cycling obsession was born.
I’m a bit of a ‘Yes-Person’, and it can get me in trouble sometimes. So, when a good friend suggested we did the Pedal for Scotland - Glasgow to Edinburgh ride, I very reluctantly said yes. We trained by riding up hills in Glasgow’s southside, with her riding in circles waiting for me to make it to the top. I got clipless pedals (which always confused me… but you clip in?!) and fancy riding gear. I learnt what gels were (but in the end visited every cake stop) and guess what? We did it! Forty-five very, very long miles. My mum posted a photo of me finishing on social media with the comment “what’s next?” and that’s when I thought ... well what is next?
That night, on the bus journey back to Glasgow, I came up with my next challenge, a 200-mile cycle from Glasgow to Aberdeen, via Loch Lomond, over three days. I poured over maps and cycling forums, invited three friends to join me and together we began training. It was such a great experience and I realised how much I enjoyed planning rides, finding the best routes, and encouraging others. We raised money for charity and made memories that will last forever. It was so exciting seeing my body and mind change. I started to feel fit and strong, I believed in myself! I took on new challenges, started mountain biking and fell in love with bike-packing.
Then, three years ago a new challenge presented itself. Scottish Cycling announced an initiative to fund women to complete their Mountain Bike Leader qualification and I jumped at the chance. So, after lots of practice at puncture repairs, fixing broken chains and map reading, I gained my level 2 qualification. I started volunteering, leading road and mountain bike rides for British Cycling’s Breeze project and began the Glasgow Mountain Bike Girls, an amazing group of women that meet up regularly to ride trails. We cater for all abilities from total beginners to enduro winners. We now have over 200 members!
I am currently progressing through the coaching qualifications pathway and last year made the huge decision to leave my full time NHS job so I could take on more cycling roles. I now guide and coach for Glasgow-based company Trailcoach. I love my job! I focus on women and young riders. Each week I see clients improve and their confidence soar. We are not about racing, although we have amazing riders that win races, it’s more about having fun whilst getting the best out of your riding. However, we are still lacking in the number of girls. It’s so important that young girls see female riders out there and think “I can do that too!”.
Looking to the future of women’s cycling, I think it is so important that there are women-only events and sessions. I recently organised a series of track sessions for women from the club. The first three sessions were women-only and we had such good feedback. Everyone enjoyed it so much, we worked as a team, and pushed each other to get better. Track can be scary, you’re clipped into a bike with no brakes on a 45-degree slope! You need to feel comfortable to be confident.
Our last session, the final accreditation, was a mixed session due to the numbers required. The atmosphere for that session was very different. Speaking to the women afterwards, we all agreed that we felt more nervous and out of place in a group of 30, 25 of whom were men who all knew each other from local cycling clubs. It’s not that we couldn’t keep up with them, our own superwoman Flora won the elimination race, I think it just felt more intimidating. Even as a confident cyclist I felt much more nervous in the mixed group. I don’t think all women want to ride in women’s only sessions, some prefer mixed groups, but from my own experience, having the option to join a women’s only session is essential in encouraging more women into the sport!
So, what next for me? I want to keep breaking down that barrier and get more women into the sport. I love the saying ‘girls can’t be what they can’t see’. So let them see it… amazing women like Jenny Graham smashing out an around the world record! Kerry MacPhee going for a ride one day and ending up with a West Highland Way fastest known time! Katie Archibald smashing world records and entering the history books on the track. And li’l old me, that once thought riding the three miles to work was a challenge … about to attempt to ride 24 hours around one of Scotland’s most technical mountain bike centres! IF I CAN DO IT, ANYONE CAN!!!
All images supplied by Leanne Whitehead
