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March 17, 2023
South African professional cyclist and Olympian Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has partnered with Khaltsha Cycles in Khayelitsha, Cape Town South Africa to improve the lives of teenage girls in the area through the sport. Last week, a team of 30 girls from Khayelitsha took part in their first Cape Town Cycle Tour as part of the collaboration.
Khaltsha Cycles runs a #WomenOnBikes initiative led by Sindile & Juma, an all-girls cycling team that trains female cyclists and provides a space for them to study and network. The collaboration between the organization and Moolman-Pasio’s Rocacorba Collective (RC) non-profit began after they tagged her in a tweet. Created in 2021, RC wants to revolutionize indoor cycling by creating an inspiring, uplifting and safe space for women to come together and cycle, whatever their experience level.
After Khaltsha Cycles identified the 30 young women to participate in the Tour – which Moolman-Pasio rode in the very early stages of her career – RC was able to raise funds for bikes, kit, helmets and other items needed for the event.
In addition to providing a space for cycling in Cape Town for locals, the initiative offers educational courses, career guidance and emotional and mental health support. It builds upon the work done by Open Streets and other organizations passionate about getting more women into cycling. “The aim here is to empower the girls through the bicycle,” says Moolman-Pasio. “So we are using bicycles to firstly, give the new riders a sense of belonging, and to help them grow in their confidence.”
RC and Khaltsha Cycles’ partnership is the start of a longer-term initiative, where Moolman-Pasio hopes to continue to empower the team of girls through cycling with weekly training rides. There are also plans to create an indoor cycling facility and learning center in Khayelitsha where the girls will be encouraged to complete their education and develop their cycling skills and dreams.
“We hope to create an indoor cycling facility in Khayelitsha together with a learning center where we would aim to incentivize the girls to complete their homework and to do well at school and then afterward to have the opportunity to ride either on Zwift or outdoors, with the goal to integrate them into the Rocacorba Collective community and to race with our community race teams on Zwift and learn from the other members from all around the world,” said Moolman-Pasio.
The former Cape Town Cycle Tour champion and the first winner of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championship has been a pioneer of female cycling and hopes to continue to inspire the next generation of female riders from Africa. During the pandemic, her focus shifted towards virtual and indoor cycling and its ability to overcome barriers and challenges for many around the world to the sport. She has since become an advocate for esports and its potential to introduce women from hard-to-reach places to competitive racing and create opportunities.
Source: Africa News
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