CycloFemme - May 13th

In some parts of the world this weekend will be a full on celebration of all things related to those wonderful ladies that brought us into the world — our mothers. However, there is also something else happening here in the world of cycling that on this day is making a push to bring more women to the world of cycling. The CycloFemme ride day was announced in March and in a little over a month has grown to almost 150 rides happening in 12 countries around the world. Check out the complete list on the CycloFemme site and see if there is one happening in your area. The founder of the ride is one of our Rapha Women's Ambassadors - Colorado based Sarai Snyder. In keeping with Joy and Lauren, the first two ladies to be introduced to the world we sent through the same introduction questions and some extra insight into the CycloFemme project.

Name:
Sarai Snyder

Age?
37

Residence:
Boulder, Colorado, USA

Occupation?
Editor in Chief - GirlBikeLove, Project Manager at Level 3 Communications

What kinds of bikes do you ride?:
Mosaic GBL CX, Guru Evolo, Vissago Jobberwocky
 
Reason why cycling suits you? 
It touches every part of my life, keeps me healthy while clearing my mind and feeding my creativity. Cycling provides me time with myself and something remarkable to share with others.

Do you have a favorite cyclist?  
Bridie O'Donnell, a true inspiration and great spokeswoman for cycling. Did you know that she is a surgeon?

What is a favorite place you have ridden? 
Through the canyons and up the dirt roads, in the mountains of Colorado. What goes up, must come down. There is nothing more amazing than getting out of the saddle to catch a wheel on a twenty mile descent.

Where would you most like to ride?  
Peru, can we go now?

Knee warmers, full legs, or embrocation?  
Knee warmers.  

Tell us one thing that people may not know about women's cycling in the USA?
Only 13% of racing licenses, in 2010 were held by women.

Who is going to win the Giro d'Italia this year?  
Taylor Phinney!!! I've got to root for the local boy!  

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Let's move on to the CycloFemme project. This is something that has been gaining momentum in the past couple weeks. Even here in Portland, Oregon our friend (and fellow Rapha Women's Ambassador) Cindy Lewellen has organized a ride leaving from Upper Echelon Fitness at 8am. To see the full list see the CycloFemme Website. There has also been a good amount of external press about the day as well coming from the Huffington Post - A Global Day of Women's Cycling - as well as something from Stevil on All Hail The Black Market So, we reached out to Sarai herself to let us in on CycloFemme, temporary tattoos and everything that has gone into making this day come to life.

Where did the idea for CycloFemme come from? 
Women's cycling is gaining great momentum but as a movement it has felt a little disjointed.  We need a unified voice for women's cycling moving forward.  We need to stick together to encourage women to start and keep riding.  And really, who doesn't want to create an International holiday?  

I heard that the Liquigas Team signed up to represent your ride with some temporary tattoos at the Tour of California. We'll be on the lookout for that, but how did you get a full team of Italians rocking your tattoo?   
Well, that's the rumor. As soon as I realized TOC started on the 13th I knew that if we could get some men to sport the tattoo it would be an amazing statement. It's more a function of getting a company like Cannondale excited about it, and they are, along with a few others. The best part about CycloFemme is that we intentionally avoided taking partners so that everyone can get involved. It's a beautiful image with a simple message that is easy to agree with. Keep your eye out, I suspect there will be more than a few in the crowd and hopefully, if all goes well, my dreams will come true and we will see them on the right calf of a few riders in the peloton.

Bicycle Photos by John Prolly

Tell me a little bit about your collaboration with Mosaic? We saw it at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento in March. It looks great with the Girl Bike Love branding. Tell us a little bit more. 
We created the Mosaic GBL CX to tell the story of a custom, handmade bike.  We wanted to share the Who, What, Why and How of a handmade bicycle. It was an amazing project. I went in to it thinking there was so much to share with others, I had no idea there was so much to learn. I use to design and make custom gowns and there are so many similarities. Having a handmade bike gives you every option in the world. As the bike is built it becomes like an extension of your body, rolls with you, accentuates your power and movement as if it was a tailored garment, perfectly complimentary. I could not be more in love.

I know you have reached out to the men as well to take part in this ride. Has their been some push back on this? Why wouldn't men want to come out and support the ladies?  
That's exactly what I said! Some got the message, after all, we do have a bachelor party that registered a ride for CycloFemme. Men don't realize what an important role they have to play in getting women on bikes. Usually, they try to leave it all up to us. It's a male dominated industry and sport. It would be silly for us not to collaborate. Getting more women riding bikes is not just about recruiting one more rider. As teachers, care givers, and mothers, women have the greatest opportunity to affect the next generation. Women who ride bikes will encourage their children to ride bikes to school and they will make sure it is safe to do so. Women who ride bikes bring their friends and their friend's friends along and before you know it, we have drastically increased the number of _people_ riding bikes. Besides, women on bikes are beautiful.

If you could sum up your message to ladies in one sentence  (or a few brief sentences) what would it be? 
Come ride with us. HONOR THE PAST and the emancipation of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, for the freedom to choose and the chance to wear pants. CELEBRATE THE PRESENT and the riders who keep it rolling, bringing women's racing to the forefront, pushing the limits, breaking down barriers and sharing the love of the bike with everyone along the way. EMPOWER THE FUTURE of women in cycling and the opportunity for positive social change. Teach women to ride and they will change the world. MAY 13TH, 2012

What's next after the Cyclo-Femme ride? What is the best way to continue this great tradition that you have started to pull together? To utilize this network of women? A cyclo-femme ride once a month? 
We could not build momentum like this and not do something with it. We have big plans for CycloFemme. We will be collecting photos and video from around the world and compiling it in to a story of the day.  From there we will focus on programs and partnerships to support more women riding bikes. And of course, continuing the beautiful tradition of CycloFemme.

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Make sure to check the listings for your area to see where the nearest CycloFemme ride will be departing from. Or, start your own ride. In the last day and a half there have been ten additional rides added to the list including one in Afghanistan.

CycloFemme Portland: with Rapha Ambassador Cindy Lewellen
Women in Portland who race or like to ride at a swift pace: please meet at 8a, May 13, at Upper Echelon Fitness for a 2.5+ hour ride in the west hills. We'll finish at Woodlawn Park by 11a and ride to Fernill Park with the parade of CycloFemme riders gathering at Sunday Parkways at the Women on Wheels booth. Please wear your team kit and invite family and friends to meet us at Woodlawn for the CycloFemme parade.