The Keevan CC Charity Sportive hosted the Cycling Ulster Women on Wheels (WOW) graduation spin on Saturday 3rd August where 62 WOW riders from throughout Ulster took part.

The WOW initiative is aimed at introducing and encouraging more females to take part in cycling. The Cycling Ulster Women’s Commission have been leading the way in this programme which seen 10 clubs and 123 participants sign-up.

Clubs who took part were provided with the opportunity to have established members participate in Cycling Ireland Ride Leader course to enable them to introduce novice females to the sport and develop them through to the stage of being able to take part in the 40 miles event at the Keevan CC Charity Sportive. The clubs Ride Leaders were also provided with gilets funded by Cycling Ulster.  

As well as this, clubs had a session with Brenda Kelly from Sported about how to engage with women and girls to help them increase female participation in their clubs.

Speaking after the graduation spin, CU Women’s Commission representative, Claire Young said:

“The WOW programme has been a fantastic success that has enabled many women to take part in cycling for the first time with strong encouragement coming from many clubs in the province.

“I want to thank everyone involved in this initiative including Cycling Ulster, the Women’s Commission and the clubs.

“Keevan CC Chairman, Brendan Crealy was a fantastic supporter of the programme throughout and was instrumental in hosting the graduation event at his club’s sportive.

“I also want to thank Liam Doherty for his work on the WOW website and Ryan McKinless for developing the WOW logo.

“I hope the new recruits to the sport will continue to enjoy cycling in the future.”

Cycling Ulster Chairman, Tommy McCague added:

“Cycling Ulster are delighted with the support the WOW programme received with a range of clubs in Ulster taking part.

“It is important that we continue to encourage participation for all in the various areas of our sport. I look forward to continuing the WOW programme next year.

“I want to thank all the clubs, ride leaders, Cycling Ireland and in particular the CU Women’s Commission for their support in this initiative.”

Thanks to www.subversivedesign.com for designing the WOW logo.