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Women’s VIP Evening Success

We went to celebrate women's cycling at Alf Jones Cycles

One of the best ways to encourage and promote women in cycling is to have a good old fashioned get together. Last week, Alf Jones Cycles hosted a women’s VIP evening at their store in North Wales which saw an amazing turnout of brands, and enthusiastic female cyclists.

What makes a female friendly bike shop?

Earlier this year, the Wrexham based bike shop was awarded the Strongher seal of approval for being a female friendly bike shop. Since then, they’ve been working hard to promote women in riding by co-hosting the Ride Out Wales day with Juliana Bicycles and organising female bike mechanic classes.

Their most recent women’s event took place last week, an evening to celebrate women’s cycling. The aim was to bring female cyclists and brand names together to socialise, share stories, discuss products and encourage more women to give cycling a go.

The event started at 17:00, but by 17:20 the car park was full and the store was bustling with women. I don’t think I’ve ever walked into a bike shop and felt such a warm female presence before. It was amazing!

The café area emitted a buzz of excitement as it overflowed with guests who were indulging in the delicious catering on offer. The projector screen played inspiring videos from the women’s cycling industry on the wall, as groups of women socialised.

Alf Jones Cycles carefully considers each brand in their store that best represent, and cater for the women’s cycling industry. Brands like ASSOS were there, getting to know the local community and discussing the needs and wants of women who ride. Having gotten off to a rocky start, we’re pleased to see ASSOS are making a serious and active mends to how women in cycling are portrayed.

Female specific bike brand, Liv also attended the evening event with goodies for the raffle, as did British cycling component brand, Hope. Having worked with, and hosted ride days with Juliana Bicycles, it was no surprise that their fleet was out on display in all their tempting glory. These were just some of the many brands who were there, showing their support for women’s cycling.

What was so lovely about this event in particular, is that the bike store had gone to great efforts to keep the evening relaxed. There was no hard-selling from the store or the brands reps, and without any real agenda, women were able to come together to connect and share their passion for cycling.

The evening culminated to a big prize raffle which saw awesome cycling prizes up for grabs. In addition to the raffle, each guest also received a well packed out goodie bag to take home with them.

The atmosphere was inspiring as I spoke with women of all ages, skill and cycling disciplines who were grateful for an event such as this. The women’s VIP evening allowed everyone to connect with other women in their area. It was clear by the end of the night that new friendships were made, ride dates had been organised and women were excited about this wonderful sport.

Events like these do wonders for women’s cycling. Not just for the guests who can go and connect with others, but they are great for the community and the bicycle brands. Women’s events provide a great opportunity to better understand the female market, and to encourage one another to ride through new founding friendships.

Check out the photo gallery below from Alf Jones Cycles women’s evening.