#RideLikeAGirl – These Women Cyclists on Instagram Spin Us Out

women cyclists rhys may

Bikes are the steeds of the road – so healthy, cheap and good for the environment. You can Mary Poppins up your bike with a basket and bell, and/or think of it as your own personal unicorn. Cycling is also kind to your physical needs, preferences and abilities. Sail the streets with stately grace or grab the wind in your teeth like a courier, stunt rider or off-road explorer.

Need some inspiration to get on your bike? Follow these achingly fierce women cyclists on Instagram for visual inspo, cycling tips, kit ideas or just a reminder that your bike is worthy of your love. Get on your bike, do it your way… and #RideLikeAGirl.

Rhys May (@rhysmay)

Rhys May is such a lovely human to gain cycling inspiration from! She well and truly has her health goth on (or, to be more accurate, she’s a health metaller). She’s wonderfully inked, lifts the heart with her .alt hairstyles, makes beautiful jewelry. On top of all that, she bunnyhops like a fiend and showcases a lot of her riding with the JAM Fund Cycling Team.

If you want to wear your patriarchy-smashing colours with pride while you ride, Rhys May has an Etsy store which sells women’s cycling gear with a strong feminist aspect.

Ayesha Rosena Anna McGowan (@ayesuppose)

Ayesha McGowan is on a mission to become the first ever African-American woman pro-cyclist. Visit her personal website A Quick Brown Fox and you’ll see she’s also on an inspiring mission to “add colour and numbers to women’s cycling”! Browse the website and you’ll see ways to take part to help her build a more diverse cycling community, as well as help her secure a cycling team (she’s not yet been able to secure one for 2018).

Ayesha McGowan really gives of herself on her Instagram feed – enjoy lots of videos, shoutouts, inspiring pics, kit and style ideas and more. Also, you’ll see sneaky peeks of loved ones playing the Firefly board game… HURRGHHHHH adorable yes please more of that in our lives.

Susanne Haller (@susanne_haller)

If you follow Susanne Haller on Instagram, expect artistic close-ups offering fresh perspective and landscape shots that capture the imagination. There’s nothing quite like hitting the saddle and heading out on the open road – preferably through pine-scented Scandinavian forests, not morning traffic fumes.

You’ll also see lovely shots of the fabulous cycling socks she designs – there seems to be a lot of crossover between adventurous cycling spirits and artistically creative spirits!

Carley Young (@sk8bmxchic)

Carley Young is a BMX athlete and coach. She’s also the brains behind the @ridebmxlikeagirl project, which actively supports girls and women in taking up BMX riding. Her Instagram feed is dirty, gritty, steeped in positivity and full of rad shoutouts to other women BMX riders on the scene.

Carley Young is exactly what the BMX community needs – a warm inclusive presence and someone to make you feel like your spirit and pleasure levels are the most important thing. You’ve got this.

Jools Walker (@ladyvelo)

If you’re looking for painfully wonderful cycling inspiration, Jools Walker delivers. Her Instagram feed is full of style feasts, adorable dogs, achievements a-go-go (Walker’s book “In The Frame” is hitting stores in 2019) and of course bikes, bikes, bikes. Jools mostly focuses on urban life on two wheels, so if you get thirsty for bikes with wicker baskets, your thirst will be sated, darlings.

Walker’s insights are (a) delightful and (b) all about women supporting women. Tatty Devine love her, too. What more need be said? Jools Walker is a must-follow.

This post was brought to you with thanks to Formby Cycles Mountain Bikes, who can help you shift into gear when it comes to fierce fitness.