SEATTLE — Unsolicited advice. Random male cyclists shouting, “You go girl!” — to middle-aged women. Accusations that they’re showing off from male cyclists they pass on the road who don’t respond well to “getting chicked.” Equipment that isn’t designed with their bodies in mind.
These are just a few of the frustrations facing women and nonbinary cyclists in Seattle. It’s a local reflection of a sportwide problem that impacts both recreational riders seeking community and racers fighting for equal opportunities to compete.
From the doomed Tour de France Féminin to minimum base salaries for elite male riders but not women — a practice that only changed in 2020 — sexist gatekeeping in cycling is so longstanding and well documented that in 2014 cyclist Kathryn Bertine made an entire documentary about it, “Half the Road.”
The dynamic is out of step with women’s obvious interest and sustained participation, said Sara Kiesler, communications and marketing director at Cascade Bicycle Club. Kiesler said that in the organization’s paid rides, at least one-third of participants are women.