Lifestyle

9 Significant Photos in the History of Women’s Cycling

Photo moments that show how the bicycle paved the way for women's emancipation and how it went on to shape women's cycling.

Early fashions

Female cyclist in rational dress from 1889. Source: http://1890swriters.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/1890s-womens-fashion.html
The Safety Cycle: Photograph: London Stereoscopic Company Getty Images
Cambridge students hang an effigy of a woman riding a bike in protest against university admission. Photograph: Hulton Archive/ Getty Images
Source: http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/01/03/donts-for-women-on-bicycles-1895/
Two suffragettes on bicycles in 1914. Photograph: Corbis
Beryl Burton
Connie Carpenter-Phinney wins the LA Olympics Road Race in 1984. Photo sourced from http://pages.rapha.cc/
Helen Wyman wins the 2013 Koppenbergcross. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Afp/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: http://www.womenstour.co.uk/

Early fashions

The arrival of the Safety Bicycle, a more practical evolution of the Penny Farthing, prompted Victorian fashion to make way for a new look for women that was more conducive to riding a bike – such as this outfit from around 1884.

Women were allowed to ride a bike without a chaperone and understandably, leapt at the opportunity and the chance to wear (slightly) more comfortable clothing.

This sort of rationale dress literally gave them more mobility and as a result, they were freer to travel without the risk of their cumbersome skirts getting caught up.