A female cyclist called ‘a fat bitch’ whilst riding around the Surrey Hills has received bucket loads of support from fellow riders after the upsetting incident.

Elz Lloyd describes herself as a “wry Scorpio who likes coffee, cake, road bikes and taking a photo or two” – much like us then, save the Scorpio bit (Taurus, FYI).

Yet when Lloyd, who works at Sigma Sport bike shop, took a spin around Surrey to climb Punchbowl Lane and Box Hill, she was insulted twice by two separate cyclists.

Lloyd wrote on her blog:

Just heading toward Punchbowl now. I’ve no intention of doing anything other than enjoying being out… Two cyclists come past me quite fast, one in black and red Castelli, the other in black and yellow Castelli cafe kit. ‘…off the fucking road you fat bitch…’ from the first one.

We’d be pretty upset by this, already – as was Lloyd, who said:

You’ve no idea how stuff like that makes me feel. Wretched for lack of a better word. Incensed. And very very upset.

We agree with everything there, except that we have no idea how such a comment would feel.

Refusing to be deterred from her ride (rightly so) she continued to Box Hill, where a second incident occurred. She writes:

I go around the roundabout following two other guys, one a roadie one a mtber. Past some guys with Wallingford on their jerseys stopped at the bottom. And head up Box. A lone rider – quite tall in plain black kit goes passed just as the road straightens. ‘Can you get that fat ass up here?’ He snapped

The second comment is far too much and Lloyd records how she continued the climb in tears.

Not that speed has anything to do with this, we might add she completed the climb in eleven minutes, which is a far cry from a shabby time. In fact, that would actually put her half way up the leaderboard of the jaw dropping 4987 women who have recorded the climb on Strava.

The incident caused Lloyd to question if she ‘fitted in’ with cyclists, and she adds: “I wanted to just be invisible. All I wanted to do was get home.”

We were mortified to hear that any woman, or any person, on a bike would be spoken to this way. Thankfully, so was everyone else – and Lloyd’s blog post has now collected 357 comments offering support.

Lloyd also commented in the post that she rides alone, saying: “I really haven’t found any clubs around here that I’d be happy to join. Or any local friends” – and she’s already had plenty of offers of ride buddies to join her on her commutes.

Strava Flyby: Useful Social Tool or Risk to Vulnerable Cyclists?

Some people had suggested using Strava Flyby to identify the individuals, but Lloyd was adamant that she did not want to begin a “witch hunt”, especially as riders she knew were not involved had been named.

We’re pleased to see from Twitter that the support has paid off, and Lloyd is out and about on her bike, not being held back by the frankly disgusting comments made by the riders she encountered.

We cyclists enjoy a very special community – lets keep it  a friendly one.