Female cyclists are on their bikes and rolling
This week saw the kick-off of the third year of the Urban Ultra Women’s Cycling League, further raising the profile of women’s cycling in the UAE.
Aimed at heightening awareness of women’s cycling, achieving more media exposure and ensuring women’s cycling is well represented within the cycling world, the League is delighted to see yet more teams on the sign-up list. This year’s race calendar includes a range of events across most of the seven emirates, with varying levels of difficulty.
Although many of the women in the League are keen competitors, organisers stress it’s not only for experienced cyclists, and all women are welcome to form a team and join. As the season unfolds, various cycling challenges are presented and – with races on the open roads – the League provides a fantastic opportunity to both learn racing skills and improve general cycling habits.
Sponsor
Generously sponsored by The Cycle Hub, the vision of the UUWCL is to increase the numbers of women cycling and elevate their competitive level, with a mission of connecting and inspiring female cyclists at all levels.
A total of eight teams have signed up this year – each with seven riders – and riders are drawn form an entirely mixed pool of age, ability and experience; women from their early 20s to the over-50s are out on their bikes, and they’re unstoppable!
G.R.I.T.
We named our effort Team GRIT; Girls RIding Together. We’re strong, we bounce back, we’re resilient. We may not be the best out there, but we give it our best each and every time we ride! We love how amazing it is to see how years of life experience and overcoming stumbling blocks makes us the incredible women we are, and how this translates to our successes on the bike.
Married, single, divorced… Kids, no kids, fur kids. We all have different struggles, be they work-related, personal or physical. But united, we give it our all. When challenges face us – racing up Jebel Hafeet first thing on a Friday morning?! – the round of mutual support, mutual laughter and of course mutual fear is unprecedented and we all draw together. That’s what gives us our GRIT!
No judgement, just encouragement. We’re all in this together for the good of women’s cycling in the UAE.
For information on the league, visit the UUWCL page.