{"id":415218,"date":"2026-01-15T18:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415218\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:56:09","slug":"why-joyride-150-brought-womens-weekend-back-and-why-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/415218\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Joyride 150 brought women\u2019s weekend back\u2014and why now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joyride 150\u2019s women\u2019s weekend is back. Now called the SHErides Summit, the February event builds on a legacy that stretches back more than a decade at the Markham indoor bike park. For Lyndsey Thomas, Joyride 150 co-owner, the idea is both personal and urgent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SHErides Summit<\/a> grew from my previous experiences as a rider at Joyride 150\u2019s Women\u2019s Weekend,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThose weekends were powerful! You could feel the energy in the room, the confidence, the laughter, the willingness to try things that might feel intimidating on another day at the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas first attended women\u2019s weekend in 2012, long before becoming part of Joyride\u2019s ownership<\/a> group. That experience stayed with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch like everything I do though, I wanted to turn Women\u2019s weekend into something a little different, a little bigger and hopefully better than ever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Why now<\/p>\n

The last women\u2019s weekend at Joyride 150 took place in 2019. The pause was not intentional.<\/p>\n

\u201c2019 was the last time Joyride 150 held Women\u2019s Weekend, and we all know what 2020 brought,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cCOVID, along with the economic downturn that followed, simply changed how a business like Joyride had to operate and where focus needed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the park now under new ownership, Thomas says the timing finally feels right.<\/p>\n

The need goes beyond a single weekend. Thomas points to declining female participation across cycling disciplines as a driving factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing race classes fold, high performance training camps cancelled, girls leaving the sport they love because they feel alone, and we want to see that change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Creating space to belong<\/p>\n

For Thomas, the biggest barriers facing women in cycling are not technical.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the barriers women and girls in cycling face aren\u2019t so much about skill but about finding space they feel they really belong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She credits women\u2019s weekend with giving her the confidence to ride at Joyride in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Women\u2019s Weekend back in 2012, I likely never would have hopped on a bike at a place like Joyride 150,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

The SHErides Summit is designed to recreate that feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SHErides Summit is intentionally designed to remove pressure and build confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can show up exactly where you\u2019re at and there\u2019s going to be many options for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to expect on the day<\/p>\n

The summit runs Friday, February 6, with discounted riding available for participants on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

Programming includes on-bike clinics across disciplines, alongside off-bike sessions focused on connection and empowerment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be kicking off the day with an amazing woman and keynote speaker, Lana Starchuck,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cShe will be speaking to us about resilience, overcoming fear and more in her talk called \u2018When your parachute fails.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The day also includes a panel discussion on belonging in male-dominated spaces and a guided breath work session to close out the event.<\/p>\n

Leadership and long-term impact<\/p>\n

While the summit prioritizes female coaches, Thomas says the focus is on quality and experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is, much like participants in female cycling, female coaches aren\u2019t in abundance either,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Representation still matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates a real sense of belonging and it also creates role models for younger or less experienced girls,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

Her hopes for the event extend well beyond one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope women leave the summit feeling proud of what they can do,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to build the community and get more girls on bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas expects the SHErides Summit to return annually if support is there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first took over as co-owner of Joyride 150, one of the questions I was asked most was, Will women\u2019s weekend be coming back?\u201d she said. \u201cSo here it is, let\u2019s make this year bigger and better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joyride 150\u2019s women\u2019s weekend is back. Now called the SHErides Summit, the February event builds on a legacy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,43062,85],"class_list":["post-415218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-mtb-features","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}