Queens of Pain Cycling Community

We aim to get more diversity into cycling by encouraging and supporting women on bikes

Where it all began

At the start of 2021 Adna reached out to Ruby over Instagram with the idea to set up a women-led cycling group in Edinburgh. Ruby jumped at the chance and they set to work making it happen. With no expectations, they both rocked up at the first ride looking forward to having each other to cycle with - little did they know that it would be a full house and a sign of what was to come.

Queens of Pain quickly became a popular weekly group ride that has cultivated a community of amazing people of all shapes, ages and identities. Since conception, Queens of Pain have had success holding a mixed alleycat, an Intro to Bikepacking experience, a Women's 100km ride out, as well as weekly Wednesday rides and Adna and Ruby got nominated as Cycling UK's 100 Women In Cycling 2022.

What we stand for

Queens of Pain are on a mission to increase diversity within cycling. We want to get as many cis women, trans and enbies on bikes as we can and that starts with making these groups feel comfortable, confident and supported. Our aim is for our rides to be a gateway for people to grow and go off on their own adventures, increasing representation in the outdoors industry.

FAQs

How much does it cost?

It's free and we will continue to keep our rides as close to free as possible for as long as we can. We want this community to be as accessible as possible and removing a financial barrier is part of that. However, there are some overheads to keep things running and to be able to offer great resources to our community so you might see us creating some fundraising events in the future.

The name Queens of Pain puts me off. How much pain is involved?

The name was inspired by Isabel Best's book, which we highly recommend you check out! The subtitle of the book is “Legends and Rebels of Cycling” and highlights not only the amazing pioneers of women on bikes but also highlights the gender disparities around cycling. We believe that bikes are a resource and source of joy for everyone - the only painful part is saying goodbye to everyone at the end of a ride together.

What bike do I need to join the Wednesday rides?

All bikes welcome! We've had everything from commuters (including bromptons) to sporty weekend road bikes, beater bikes and fixed gears, mountain bikes and fully loaded gravel bikes. Bring what you've got.

Can men join?

We prefer to keep our Wednesday rides for women and non-binary folks. There are few cycling spaces where women and enbies can exist without men and for some of these people that space is sacred. We do however hold other events throughout the year and occasional weekend rides where your cis male friends are welcome to join. Where this is the case we will let everyone know that they are open to everyone.

Spaces fill up fast, can I just turn up anyway?

No. After a lot of trial and error we have learnt that a max of 20 people is the sweet spot for our Wednesday rides. We are a small team and most weeks we only have two ride leaders (one to lead and one to backmark). Any more than 20 people is a lot of pressure on our ride leaders, who are concentrating on keeping the group together and making sure everyone stays safe, as well as navigating the route and the traffic. Occasionally we have some extra support and on those days we open up more spaces and split into two groups.

If you are really keen to join a particular ride we do encourage you to keep checking the spaces as people occasionally pull out closer to the ride. If you have signed up to one of our rides and realise you won't be able to make it, please remove your name from the list to free it up for someone else.

Do you have merch I can buy?

Not yet but watch this space!

Group talking in a pub restaurant
Group talking after pizza night in a bike shop
A cyclist waving at the camera while cycling past
Bikes stacked against each other