As part of Women and Girls in Sport Week 2020, MTB Leadership Development Officer Christine Fox gives an update on the Rider2Leader Programme.

1 year on: did it work?

Absolutely! But crumbs, what a year it has been!

This time last year Scottish Cycling and Glenmore Lodge delivered their first two pilot projects under the title of Rider2Leader with the sole aim of getting more women into mountain bike leadership. There is an underrepresentation across a fair number of demographics when it comes to mountain bike leadership and for us, super passionate as we are about mountain biking that is such a shame; mountain biking is AWESOME! Awesome for all over body fitness, awesome for your mental wellbeing and awesome simply for getting you out into the wild and woolies…or even the less wild and woolly urban fringes.

We wanted to try to address some of that underrepresentation. We have some way to go, we know that but this is our start. One year on, what has happened?

"I still believe the course was fantastic, well-balanced and had lots of takeaways that I still use today (like the bike M check and kit bag stuff). I can see myself working towards assessment at some point, which I would never have considered seriously if it wasn't for the R2L course”. 

For those of you unaware of this project, we decided to tackle directly the under representation of women in mountain bike leadership by setting up two weekends where we explored the British Mountain Bike Leadership Level 2 Award with two groups of eight super enthusiastic aspiring female mountain bike leaders. We had a suspicion that there was a misconception around these Awards, that they were being perceived as harder than they actually are and this impacts enormously on confidence. For many of the women there’s a fear. Fear of not being able to keep up with the group on training, fear that they can’t ride well enough, fix a bike quickly enough and so on. And so with the wonderful Emma Holgate of Glenmore Lodge (Scotland’s only female MTB Leadership Tutor) and Aneela McKenna of Go-Where Scotland we delivered two successful weekends, a way of giving highly capable enthusiastic women the confidence to take the steps required to be a mountain bike leader.

“I dont think that there could be a better course for aspiring mtb leaders and I personally am extremely grateful for the experience”.

We didn’t do anything amazing, simply explored the award content, loads of practical activities aiming to build confidence, provided an opportunity to chat in an informal and supportive environment. This was not a replacement for the training course, simply an opportunity for these women to discover just how amazing they really were and are. We loved it, they seemed to too:

“I really enjoyed the experience and yes it boosted me on to go for it and do my mtb leader assessment. The sessions we had were so similar to the actual mtb leader l2 training it was like a revision but more than that it connected me to a group of like minded”.

In our minds it is all about creating accessible role models, the more women we see on the trails leading, the more accessible it can seem to other women and for girls too.

Of course, role models are not the only answer. Addressing under representation is complicated but it’s a start. Each individual woman out there, being seen riding or delivering led rides, demonstrates how mountain biking is more accessible than it is perceived to be to other women and girls

One good role model can influence many.

“What's interesting about the aftermath of the course is two things...firstly it gave me confidence in my ability as a rider, for example, I had to courage to attend some social rides in Feb/Mar that I wouldn't have done before. And secondly, I've been helping some of my new female neighbours discover mountain biking, taking them to GT, helping them with basic bike maintenance etc and it's been really enjoyable! I certainly think that attending the course has helped me to inadvertently help new riders find their feet”. 

Check out the video below to see how our aspiring leaders felt about their experience immediately after the weekend.

And so, one year on, what has happened?

Well, Covid happened and golly gosh, what a happening that has turned out to be. It has impacted on everything and everyone and understandably it has impacted on our aspiring leader progression and our ability to deliver 2 more Rider2leader weekends.

“It (the course) was great! It showed me that the L2 pathway was much more achievable than I first thought and empowered me to give it a go! I passed! I was really motivated after my L2 assessment to look towards L3, I have lost that motivation during lockdown as I haven’t led anyone on bikes for ages now but I’m keen to keep moving forward... I’m riding bikes further and far more often now so just need to get some good experience leading people!”

Despite this, our aspiring leaders have been amazing. Of those 16 women, we have nine on their leadership journey at differing stages and 3 qualified leaders!

“If you can’t find a good role model, be one”. Gayle Ann Hurd, American Film and TV Producer

As part of Women and Girls in Sport Week we have a range of activities and information to shine a spotlight on women and girls participation in cycling. #SheCanSheWill Find out more HERE.