Condors: Celebrating International Women’s Day

For International Women’s Day we wanted to celebrate the range of cycling that the Condor Women are involved in! The Condors are proud to have 30% female membership, our aim is to get to 50%. We have a Women’s Committee which meets regularly to develop activities that encourage, promote and facilitate women’s cycling in the club (and beyond!).

To celebrate our fantastic Condor Women we invited our members to highlight all the awesome cycling-related activities they are involved in.

Toni on Commuting / Helen on Ride Leading / Cheryl on Indoor Cycling /
Kat on Bike Mechanics / Kristen on Racing / Laura on Coaching and Racing
Rose on Ultra-Endurance Racing / Sara on Strava Art
Cat and Raz (TandemWOW) on Cycling Round the World
Jo on taking on the Tour de France

Toni on Commuting

Over the past year I have found commuting to be a thoroughly rewarding experience. I started cycling the 14km journey twice a day in February last year, so when the pandemic took hold it felt even more necessary to adhere to it (or difficult to avoid). Cycling to work ensures I’m mentally prepared and the journey home offers me the time to decompress or reflect on my day- which has been ever more important for health care workers this year.
There have been difficult times; rain, snow and ice can be a challenge but you adapt (a waterproof rucksack and a shoe dryer are a girl’s best friend). There have been so many great times too, watching the seasons change is wonderful, especially when it features sunrise or sunset. Another bonus is being able to join a Condors social ride straight after work!

Helen on Ride Leading

I started cycling with the Condors five years ago through the Women’s Sessions. After I’d found my feet with group riding, I was initially nervous at the thought of leading a ride. I found that the normal social rides of 13mph were a bit too fast for me, and I needed a slower option. I thought the best way to make sure that happened was to lead one myself! I decided to embrace the idea of ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ and make a start. Luckily the club has a really thorough ride leading workshop you can attend to learn more about what ride leading involves, and more experienced ride leaders are always happy to lend a hand to nervous newbies.
I now regularly lead women’s slow social paced rides (nicknamed the ‘legs 11’ rides as they average 11-12mph). I also regularly lead women’s introductory rides as part of the Condors’ Women’s Sessions. I find it really rewarding helping others to build skills and confidence in group riding. Each year we organise a full program of women’s sessions and I’m always really grateful to the friendly Condors who are so enthusiastic about delivering these sessions and making sure we demonstrate why we are Oxford’s friendliest cycling club.

Cheryl on Indoor Cycling

I never rode my bike indoors at home. In fact I couldn’t think of anything worse. That all changed when Covid came along and we had to invent new ways of living a life within confines.
 
Over the last year I have spent many happy hours riding around on Zwift, while chatting to friends and club mates on Discord. The magic of modern technology means we are connected in ways never seen before. I’ve cycled virtually in New York, Austria and France and seen more dinosaurs than you can shake a stick at. It’s been a weird and wonderful experience, and while I am very much looking forward to outdoor group rides again, the indoor world definitely has a special place in my heart.

Kat on Bike Mechanics

I’m a volunteer bike mechanic at Broken Spoke Bike Co-op, Oxford’s community bike project. I started out a few years ago with fairly basic skills and it’s been great to develop my knowledge to help people fix their own bikes. I love not knowing what challenge is going to walk in the door – a puncture? Dodgy brakes? Gear issues? Bottom bracket trouble? Working through the problem with the bike owner so they learn why something is not working and then guiding them through fixing it themselves, is very rewarding. I am yet to leave the workshop without grease on my face somewhere, but I leave with a smile too.

Kristen on Racing

(Photo credit: Stephen Cartmell)
Entering your first road race can seem like a daunting prospect. Those of us who have raced have all been there and know what it is like, but once you get over this temporary hurdle you’ll find that road racing can be a lot of fun. Fast paced and exciting it can become quite addictive! Obviously having a good fitness level is paramount, nothing quite prepares you for ‘race pace’ of your first event and unless you are a superstar you should just aim to get round the course without dropping off the back of the pack. But don’t worry if you do, even the best riders get dropped sometimes. Stick at it though and before long you’ll be flying round. The Condor ladies racing team is open to all women in the club and is always delighted to welcome new racers into the fold. We currently have a group of regular women racers, so no matter what the event you should find you have other Condors there to team up with. We’re looking to build a strong female racing presence in the local amateur race scene. The race team trains regularly for both fitness and race skills and is enjoying growing success!
[text edited from Condors website]

Laura on Coaching and Racing

I’m a Level 2 triathlon coach and have worked with several different groups around Oxford in both triathlon and cycling, including the University teams and Regional Junior Academy, as well as the Condors. My favourite things about coaching are sharing my enthusiasm and experience in something I enjoy with others, and helping people to achieve their goals. I like being inventive with sessions, encouraging my athletes to think, and them making me think too!
I also race and am looking forward to taking on crit, road and cross racing with the Condors this year. In the past I’ve been lucky enough to race as a guest rider in the Women’s Tour Series, which is one of my best cycling memories as the atmosphere was buzzing. I do have to admit to riding my bike without socks on occasionally as well, and I’m currently approaching my third season of racing in the French Grand Prix de Triathlon with my team from Marseille.

Rose on Ultra-endurance Racing

About 2500km into my first ultra endurance race, somewhere in Italy or maybe Slovenia, maybe it was Greece, so at some point at least 1000km from the end and more than 2500km from starting, I was having a tough day. It was hot, I was tired, I was behind schedule and there was another blooming hill. Everything hurt, I’d started to faff uncontrollably which meant more time lost yet the food stops were the highlights and they became longer. Anyway, at some point, on a hill, I realised that this was tough, it felt impossible, yet there was nowhere I’d rather be. I was moving, I was living my dream. Even if I’d quit then, well what next? I’d rather be grumpy on my bike pushing myself, seeing all these things, feeling all these emotions, awareness of the world in a new light than back in an office. I can be in an office everyday, forever. I won’t get this experience again.
Then, I felt lucky. I tried to think of barriers. I went through 100s of people in my mind, who could do this if they put their mind to it. People of all ages, all sizes, genders and people who probably have never ridden a bike. I decided anyone could (also should, it would be good for them)
That’s the beauty of ultra endurance. Anyone can do it.

It’s just cycling your bike for a long time, finding ways that you, you alone, but also ways only you can overcome adversity / s!*$ hitting the fan.

Strava and Instagram make it shinier than this. It isn’t. It also doesn’t matter what you wear, what you post or what you ride. Strava and Instagram can also make it look more complex and expensive. It doesn’t need to be. You just need a bike, the rest you learn along the way.

Sara on Strava Art

The Cowley Road Condors rate friendliness, fun and generally being active as well as sporting endeavour. This has been more important than ever during lockdown.

Who could resist the Club weekly challenge to capture a social ride on GPS and generate some Strava art?

Re-purposing commuting time, getting outside during the day ensures the pick of the weather and is just what the doctor ordered for general wellbeing.

Cat and Raz (TandemWOW) on Cycling Around the World

We were unsupported, which meant that we carried all our own kit. We experienced extreme weather – getting soaked in monsoon rains in India and Southeast Asia, avoiding the bush fires in Australia in temperatures pushing 50°C and riding hard to return to the UK just before the lockdown as coronavirus was sweeping across Europe. In fact, we caught the second-to-last passenger ferry back to the UK on the day of the travel ban in France – making it back in the nick of time. 

We road for 263 days 8 hours and 7 minutes – this is the fastest ever on a tandem and we beat the current men’s record of 281 days 22 hours by more than 17 days. We raised over £37,000 for two charities, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Oxfam and have sought to raise awareness of women’s cycling particularly for older women (we are both in our 50s). We believe that you are never too old to get on your bike and follow your dreams. 

Jo on Taking on the Tour de France

It all started in the summer of 2018 during a sun kissed holiday to the Pyrenees when Becci announced on the last night of the trip that she’d like to ride L’Etape du Tour the following year. After a beer or two, Jen, Cheryl and I foolishly committed to join her.

Somehow, a year later we all find ourselves back in the Pyrenees at the bottom of the Col de Solour. Together, we’ve raised £12,000 and undertaken hours and hours of training crammed in around our work, family and life commitments. Cheryl and I have already ridden 13 stages of the 2019 Tour de France, and Jen and Becci have joined us for the toughest days yet: 7 mountain stages set in the Pyrenees and Alps in what was described as “the highest Tour de France ever”. Back to back ~200km days with multiple mountain passes on each stage, and a heatwave sweeping through Europe. What were we thinking?

If you’ve met me, you’ll know I’m not a climber. But somehow, all the slow and steady miles and turbo time I’d clocked up in the months preceding the Grand Depart seemed to have come together. Slowly but surely I ticked off the kms, grinding up the climb past sheep and cows, their bells softly ringing in the breeze. I was greeted at the top of the first climb by a grinning young girl handing out sandwiches to the riders. She was from one of the charities we’d raised money for and I chatted with her briefly while I refilled my bidons and crammed peanut butter sarnies into the pockets of my jersey. She lived in inner city London, had never seen mountains before, and couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. Funny how a two minute chat can leave you feeling so utterly humbled and grateful for the experiences you have taken for granted.

3,460 km and 30 categorised climbs later we cruised into Paris for photos in front of the Tour d’Eiffel and traffic dodging laps of the Champs Elysée. I look back now and can’t really believe that we did it. Four women from Oxford who ‘quite liked riding their bikes’ took on the Tour de France… if we can do it, what could you do?