Levenshulme cycling café Station South are hosting several bike rides this Sunday in celebration of International Women’s Day.
The ride is to start at 12pm on March 12 at the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue at St Peter’s Square and then the women will cycle to Station South.
Leader of Community Involvement at Station South, Anna Smith, said: “We wanted to celebrate and collaborate with some of our friends who also have female led bike groups around Manchester as a sort of celebration and a stamp on international Women’s Day.
“We’re really passionate here at the Station South at encouraging more women to cycle because we’re aware there’s a big gap and there’s just not as many women and girls on bikes as there are guys.
“So, any kind of celebratory rides events activities like that that we can do to encourage more people to come together the better.”
The event is a collaboration between several women’s cycling groups across Manchester, including the café itself, Lady Pedal, Bee Pedal Ready, Moston Cycling and Bird Outdoors.
The event has been organised with no funding and is volunteer led by experienced riders, but they are hopeful it will become an annual women cycling festival.
Although the gap between female and male cyclists has narrowed in the UK, there are still significantly fewer female cyclists on the roads.
In 2020, Cycling UK found that Males take over double the amount of cycle trips a year, with women taking an average of nine trips per year and males cycling a typical 24 trips.
The rides are inclusive to all women and non-binary people, aged 18 and above and it is hoped they will provide more encouragement for women to take up cycling.
A major factor worrying women is the safety of cycling and charities around Greater Manchester are continuing to provide sessions on bike safety and cycling starter sessions.
In addition to the rides, Station South are launching a photo exhibition alongside PowPow Pedal Power in celebration of Manchester female cyclists – which opens on Friday, March 10.
The exhibition will see over 250 submissions in print and on display at the café and the photos have answers to the overarching question “why do you cycle?” from women and girls across Manchester.
For further information on upcoming rides and for tickets to the photo exhibition launch, visit their website or Instagram.