The episode in detail
Only 40% of Brussels cyclists are women
In 2019, a Pro Vélo study titled Being a Woman Cyclist on the Streets of Brussels found that only 36% of Brussels cyclists were women. In 2023, the Observatoire du vélo put the ratio at 40%. The gap is narrowing, but parity remains far off.
Marion Van Boekel, programme officer at Ride Your Future, identifies several factors. Social constructs first: a man on a bike is ordinary. A woman on a bike is brave. Dress norms next: the pressure to look well turned out puts some cyclists off. The unequal division of tasks too: children, shopping, multiple everyday errands call for a properly equipped bike. And a heightened perception of danger, reinforced by upbringing, leads women to avoid what appears risky.
“Women make more everyday journeys. You need to be able to carry your children, your shopping. On a bike, you need the right bike for that.”
Elles en Selles: three workshops to break down barriers
The Elles en Selles programme, launched in 2021, offers women-only workshops to support women in their cycling. The first strand: learning basic bike mechanics. Knowing when a chain is rusting, spotting play in the handlebars, doing a quick check of the bike before setting off. Many cyclists, men and women alike, ride bikes that are poorly maintained. But women are more reluctant to get their hands into the mechanics.
Second strand: bike games. Led by Barbara, an instructor and amateur cyclist who won the BXL Tour, these playful exercises build balance, riding in a group, sudden stops and overtaking. Skills that are directly useful in everyday traffic.
Third strand: pump track taster sessions in small groups of 5 to 10 women. The pump track, with its bumps and banked bends, looks daunting at first. But after the first few laps, the effect on confidence is dramatic. Participants come away thinking that if they can ride that, they can ride anywhere.
“Once they had ridden the pump track, they felt far more capable on their bikes.”
Why women-only spaces are necessary
All Elles en Selles workshops are women-only, except the family rides. Marion explains the choice from direct experience: in mixed workshops, men tend to dominate the conversation, to put their existing skills on display, to talk over others. The women-only space lets participants ask their questions without pressure, at their own pace.
The only exception is the family ride, launched this year, where mothers and fathers can accompany their children together. Having children is an additional barrier: it is hard to get free for a Saturday afternoon workshop when there is no one to look after the little ones. Bringing children into the programme removes that obstacle.
“The women-only setting lets every participant ask her questions calmly, without anyone talking over her.”
The Fancy Women Bike Ride: 100 women on the streets of Brussels
Each year, on Car-Free Day, Ride Your Future co-organises the Fancy Women Bike Ride in Brussels. This feminist ride, which began in Turkey, invites women to ride together wearing whatever they choose: a mini-skirt, a colourful dress, a decorated bike. The message is twofold: women have their place in public space, and you can cycle dressed however you like.
The first Brussels edition aimed for 50 participants. More than 100 showed up. The documentary Women Don’t Cycle by Manon Brulard, a bike journey from Brussels to Tokyo filming feminist cycling initiatives around the world, boosted the event’s visibility. The women who organise the ride internationally have stopped the global coordination, so the Brussels edition could be renamed the Brussels Women Bike Ride.
“The aim is to ride all together and show that you can cycle dressed however you like.”
What needs to change beyond the workshops
The Elles en Selles workshops are small steps. Marion places the fundamental change elsewhere: a more equal division of domestic tasks to free up time for travel, an upbringing that no longer links cycling to a men’s sport, a perception of danger that is not gendered, and a use of public space where women feel as entitled to be there as men.
Ride Your Future works as part of a network with Molenbike (the Les Hirondelles programme for learning to cycle), the Casual Cycling Club (mixed-gender rides), Bruxelles Mobilité and the City of Brussels. The approach is complementary rather than competing: each association covers one link in the chain, from getting on a bike to mechanics, from bike games to festive rides.
“The fundamental change is for women to feel free to move around and make use of public space as much as men do.”
