{"id":161469,"date":"2017-10-05T11:26:55","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T11:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=161469"},"modified":"2017-10-11T10:01:09","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T10:01:09","slug":"biking-womens-empowerment-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2017\/10\/05\/biking-womens-empowerment-saudi-arabia\/","title":{"rendered":"Biking and Women\u2019s Empowerment in Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, Saudi Arabia surprised the world by announcing that a royal decree had been issued allowing women in the country to drive.\u00a0 Manal al-Sharif, a campaigner behind the Women2Drive campaign tweeted, \u201cSaudi Arabia will never be the same again. The rain begins with a single drop.\u201d\u00a0Similarly, just a few years ago, women also obtained the important right to ride bicycles in Saudi Arabia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to 25-year-old women\u2019s cycling advocate, Baraah Luhaid, \u201cWhen I advocate for women\u2019s\u00a0cycling, I\u2019m advocating for women\u2019s independence. Changing core\u00a0beliefs requires slow, consistent work.\u00a0 It\u2019s challenging, but\u00a0someone has to start.\u201d Indeed, while women were technically allowed to ride bicycles, several obstacles still remained in their way.<\/p>\n

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\n Socialising and Culture<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Wadjda: Is It the Best Movie About Cycling?<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div>\n

One obstacle was that women were only allowed to ride bicycles in recreational areas while accompanied by a male relative. \u00a0In 2015, Ndima Abul-Enein founded Saudi Arabia\u2019s first team of women cyclists, \u201cBicicleta,\u201d in Jeddah. There, the thirty members of her team ride around the popular seafront road.\u00a0 The next year, Luhaid founded Spokes Hub, Saudi Arabia\u2019s first gender-inclusive cycling community and business.\u00a0 While she is the CEO, her brother often has to represent the business, as it is more socially acceptable.\u00a0 However, she has found workarounds to include women and girls, and one of these is offering service from the back of a van.<\/p>\n

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Ndima Abul-Enein founded Saudi Arabia\u2019s first team of women cyclists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another obstacle is that women must be dressed in full-body coverings.\u00a0 Abul-Enein and her fellow team members ride in long pants, loose shirts and headscarves, with helmets placed over these headscarves.\u00a0 Luhaid, after returning to Riyadh from a bike trip to China, found that her traditional robe, or abaya<\/em>, kept getting caught in her bike chains.\u00a0 So she has designed a cycling abaya<\/em> with legs, which is about to receive a patent.<\/p>\n

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\n Socialising and Culture<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Is cycling the best workout for women?<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div>\n

However, Luhaid says that the cultural barriers are the most challenging.\u00a0 She is regularly stopped by the police while cycling, and drivers roll down their windows to shout at her.\u00a0 People were afraid she would lead their daughters astray, so she decided to just lead by example, and people have come to her.\u00a0 It is also unusual to see women cycling in Jeddah, and Dina Al-Quthmi, a member of \u201cBicicleta,\u201d says, \u201cI hope the community will accept us coming out and freely practicing our hobby without harassment.”<\/p>\n