Community fitness app Her Spirit has announced a new partnership with UK bike shop Rutland Cycling to inspire more women to cycle.

The Frightened to Fearless programme, launched at The Cycle Show in London last week, will include cycling workshops and group rides.

The aim of the programme, say Her Spirit, is to "empower women to have the confidence and competence to cycle for leisure on or off road, or for purposeful transport to and from work".

Her Spirit and Rutland Cycling are partnering to inspire more women into cycling.
Her Spirit and Rutland Cycling are partnering to inspire more women into cycling.

The campaign is motivated by research from Sports England's Active Lives Survey (May 2020-May 2021), which revealed that while 8.3 million adults cycle regularly in England, only 13% of these are women.

To boost these numbers, Rutland Cycling and Her Spirit are working together to help more women build a cycling habit and break down the barriers that are hindering them.

Further research amongst Her Spirit's community of 25,000 members identified the biggest barrier to cycling is a lack of mechanical information (60%), followed by concerns over route planning (21%), what to wear (11%) and road safety (8%).

To tackle these pain points, Her Spirit and Rutland Cycling are introducing the Frightened to Fearless programme, a series of cycling workshops supported by British Triathlon and female only events taking place this summer.

Events include free group rides from selected Rutland Cycling Stores, live-streamed indoor cycling sessions, mechanical tutorials such as learning how to repair a puncture, and access to a dedicated Rutland Cycling specialist who is on hand to help women navigate cycle shop lingo and work out what to buy from saddles to lights or a brand new bike.

The programme will offer free group rides and workshops with tips and skills.
The programme will offer free group rides and workshops with tips and skills.

The Frightened to Fearless programme is built around a group of female cycling coaches who will lead social rides, offer support, inspiration, and guidance for women across all ages and abilities.

Mel Berry, co-founder of Her Spirit, says: "Cycling is healthy, fun and a low-impact form of exercise for all ages and easy to fit into your daily routine by riding to the shops, park, school or work.

"Our goal is to make every woman fitter, stronger and healthier and this partnership further strengthens our commitment to address the significant impact the pandemic has had on female participation in sports."

Andrea Mulqueen, Commercial Director for Rutland Cycling, adds: "Rutland Cycling is delighted to announce our partnership with Her Spirit. Women are historically underserved in the cycling market and through this partnership we hope to remove some of the barriers to female participation by supporting members of the Her Spirit community with advice and expertise.

"Working closely with the Her Spirit community, we hope to open up cycling for both fitness and transport to a much wider audience of women who haven't felt at home in the sport that we love, and also take learnings away on how we, as a bicycle retailer, can improve our offer to this important segment."

To learn more and to sign up to Frightened to Fearless, visit www.herspirit.co.uk/frightened-to-fearless.

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