This week, Bike Worcester hosted two Pizza and Punctures nights - a bike maintenance session for women, led by the awesome Em Wormald from the Lakes Gravel Gang. Around 30 women attended over the two sessions, the energy was fantastic, validating our idea for a women-only basic bike maintenance session.

The need for ‘women only’ sessions like this can be contested but they are also supported by stark national data on the gender imbalance in cycling. In the UK, men are twice as likely as women to cycle at least once a week (Cycling UK, 2024). This gap is often not about ability, but about confidence and safety. Over half of women (58%) believe their cycle journeys are limited by safety concerns and a lack of suitable infrastructure.

Anna Cipullo, published the following video in September to explain why women-only spaces are needed. There’s loads of quotable moments in the video but here’s just a few: women can feel "scrutinized, patronised, [or] excluded" [08:10] in typically male environments and that women-only spaces create a "heartwarming, chill, fun, ego-free, brilliant, supportive environment" [01:48].

Women are typically "socially trained" to be more aware of how others feel and are "more apologetic" about their pace or skill level and one of our participants shared her "fear of slowing people down” in previous mixed maintenance environments.

Research shows women are more likely to underestimate their abilities but when women see other women do it, it then becomes more attainable. So our goal was simple - to create an unassuming, female led environment where every question was welcome, and the focus was entirely on us learning practical skills within a supportive community.

When it comes to learning practical skills, that mindset, coupled with a confidence barrier can be equally high. Relying on a male partner to handle repairs or the perceived complexity of bike mechanics keeps many women from taking control of their own cycling independence. This was definitely the case for some of the cyclists who took part in our Worcester Women Cycle campaign last year which is when the idea for these sessions was first discussed as something we’d like for ourselves and to offer to other women.

Em created a warm, informal atmosphere that immediately put everyone at ease. The session felt instantly simple and accessible, and started with a fun exercise: Bike Anatomy 101. Groups were given labels for various bike parts to stick onto their own bikes, which encouraged everyone to mix and collaborate, without fear of getting it wrong.

She then walked us through each part, allowing times for questions, before moving into the practical essentials:

Safety Checks: Em covered the basic safety checks that should be routine before every ride.
Cleaning: We learned the crucial importance of keeping bikes, especially the chain, clean for longevity and performance.
Seating Comfort: A significant discussion focused on saddles! We were offered great advice on finding the right fit, the value of measuring sitting bones. This inspired the idea of a future Saddle Library at Bike Worcester.

The main highlight of the practical session was the deep dive into dealing with flats. The broad range of participants - from members of The Cycle Sistas, Worcester TriClub, Bike Bus parents and marshalls, as well as everyday commuter cyclists like me - highlighted how common a fear of a flat was in different cycling environments. Em was able to relate the demo to all eventualities and demonstrated, step-by-step:

Removing a wheel and taking off a tyre - including top tip of having 3 bike levers (normally sold in 2s)
Checking the tire and rim for debris (thorns, glass, etc.) that might have caused the puncture
She even discussed the dreaded "snake-bite" puncture, a new one on me, where the inner tube gets pinched between the rim and the tire.
Re-installing the inner tube and tyre - including another tp tip to keep a spare tube so you can worry about the fix later

After the demo, we all got hands-on!

Everyone was invited to practice removing, checking, and re-attaching a wheel with plenty of mutual support and guidance across the room. All of this was hosted in a warm, comfortable space, the Friends Meeting House with hot drinks on tap and delicious pizzas provided by local business and our new friends at Pizza Freakz.

This session was a huge success,and we received some great feedback with everyone reporting an increase in confidence and skills. Other feedback included, “I found it inspiring”, “I absolutely loved it. I would like to learn more”, “I loved having a women’s only session and would love to get a women’s maintenance community going”, and “thoroughly enjoyed & now feel confident & great to meet other local female cyclists”.

It did also highlight some important barriers that need consideration for future events:

Location and Safety: The venue, though central to the city centre and rally welcoming inside, was on a dark, less-than-obvious road. We need to be mindful of venue accessibility and lighting, as this can deter some women from cycling there in the evening.
Childcare: Several women mentioned childcare as a major issue, leading to cancellations and time anxiety for those attending. In the future, we may need to explore options like daytime sessions and running a children's activity alongside the main session.
Food Makes a Difference: Providing food made the decision to attend much easier, as it removed the stress of rushing dinner before the 6:30 PM start and created a valuable opportunity for socialising and networking.

Overall, the Pizza & Puncture Night was a huge success, building confidence and fostering an incredible community. We finished the evening discussing what attendees wanted to learn next—a great conversation to shape our future courses. Em said about the session: