Kicking off at the end of April 2023, the Ride Free Festival is a unique, three-day, women’s adventure cycling festival in the Wye Valley.
Pete sat down for a chat with Ride Free Collective’s founding triumvirate Karen Maidement, Beth Perrou and Aoife Glass about their inaugural Ride Free Festival.
The Ride Free Festival runs from April 28th to April 30th 2023.
How did the Ride Free Festival come about?
Beth: I had been wanting to plan a festival in the Wye Valley for a while, but the idea kept brewing slowly as I over-analysed what I wanted to happen at the weekend. It wasn’t until I brought up the idea with a good friend (Karen) that things took shape and started to happen.
We sat and discussed all the reasons why we ride bikes, what we liked about things we had attended in the past (bike or other events) and of course what we didn’t.
Our stories were pretty similar although our riding styles are quite different. We realised we were after something more, a connection and it seemed to be missing from many of the current women’s cycling events. It didn’t matter if we could ride the furthest, do cool tricks, or finish first, it mattered that we were doing it at our pace, in our way, while enjoying every bit of road, forest or mountain track that we put our tyres on to. We wanted to bring that feeling of support and belonging to as many women as possible, regardless of where they were in their bike journey.
Karen: I’d been looking to create a CIC for the last 8 years, originally that was a community yoga studio and cafe back in my home in the Cotswolds. Finding a way to give back and feel real purpose in my work was an itch that just wasn’t getting scratched. I’ve been teaching and presenting to groups at outdoor gatherings for the last 10 years so when Beth came to me and planted a seed about a women’s cycling festival here in the beautiful Wye Valley, I pretty much bit her arm off and demanded to be a part of the plan.
I’m going to be honest I am like a runaway train when I get creative and after just a couple of chats, a small concept has developed into us creating a CIC. Whilst the Ride Free Collective is currently focusing hard on the festival the real excitement for me is brewing for our future community day events aimed at making cycling accessible for underrepresented communities.
Why Now?
Beth: Although it seems like it was a random decision after a conversation, it was more likely a build up of both Karen and mine experiences and skills up to this point. For me specifically I had been guiding for a few years but wasn’t feeling I was finding my place. I wanted to create trips with meaning. This led me to creating bike maintenance and ride days, where I am the bumbling self-taught mechanic taking some of the mystery away from having a go at fixing things. After we chat and learn from each other I lead us out on a 3 hour ride to laugh together.
These have been amazing and really started to show me where I wanted to go. I had also been dabbling in bike orienteering events with my partner and liked them but wanted something more accessible where everyone could have a laugh. Maps and finding my way (getting lost) are fun and I wanted other people to realise this too. All of this built together to make me think there was something more I could be doing.
Karen: The world has gone through three years of unprecedented stress and disconnection thanks to Coronavirus. I don’t think the world has ever felt so segregated, well, certainly not in my lifetime. As a nation we became fearful to connect with others in person, afraid to hug a friend, share a space with a stranger.
For me this disconnect amplified a need for community. For a feeling of us as opposed to them and us. Outdoor gatherings, time in nature, shared conversations with like minded people, problem solving and learning as a team. These are fundamental ways to stimulate mental and physical wellbeing. So we’ve taken the things we love and we’re creating a welcoming, safe space where women can get inspired, can learn a new skill, laugh, play and connect.
Once you made that decision, what happens next?
Beth: Oh my goodness, apparently a 1000 things happened next. From forming a Community Interest Company to deciding how many toilets and showers need to be hired (and if we can afford them) there was and is so much. The learning curve is massive, sometimes stressful, and sometimes so much fun. It’s a constant surprise to learn how many people are willing to help and support and to figure out what skills we have or can acquire when the situation demands it.
How many people make up the organisation and what do they do?
Beth: 3 right now, plus lots of helpers/volunteers/coaches etc…
Beth Perrou – definitely the logistics person who had the idea and got things rolling. Also the route planner, get-things-moving person.
Karen Maidment – the heart and creativity of what we are doing for sure. She leads from a warm place which gathers so many people in and always seems to get a yes when we ask for something.
Aoife Glass – is our remote social media guru. Based in Scotland makes her job doubly hard. But she is keeping our presence beautifully alive.
What can women expect from the event?
Karen: Our festival weekend is a welcoming safe space for all women, non binary, gender fluid and trans folk. It’s a weekend to inspire real growth, confidence and skill. Our event is 100% women lead, women run. From our onsite caterers to our coaches, from the mechanics to our guest speakers.
Why? Because we recognise that the cycling industry, like many outdoor sports, is a male dominated. We are looking to encourage equality and equity. It’s not about segregation. Our hope is that with more skill and confidence on a bike, women will feel confident to ride with anyone, anywhere.
Was it a challenge to find the right location for the event?
Beth: In reality the location was the first piece of the puzzle. The Wye Valley sits central to the Black Mountains and the Forest of Dean. It has outstanding beauty at every turn and in the spring it is covered in bluebells. The riding goes from chilled lanes to gravel fun and black run gnar if you want it. Essentially everything. As you wind in and around the River Wye.
The actual campsite was a place Beth had cycled past many times thinking what a great location; with riding straight out the door. It was simply a matter of approaching the owner and convincing him that 75+ women on his family run glamping site was a good idea.
What are the challenges of trying to bring women riders together?
Karen: I am not sure if the challenges we are noticing are specific to women or to people in general. The current predicted economic downturn has made a lot of us cautious about spending money. It’s a key driver for keeping our ticket price low; that, and making this event accessible to as many women as possible, but has meant we are up against it in terms of finding sponsorship to support the gap.
Our festival is pretty unique, in that it’s for mountain bike and gravel riders. For newbies and seasoned riders. We’re done with ‘them and us’. We just want women to come and ride. We’ve got trails and terrain to suit all, but that means bridging the divide between the two communities. It’s coming, slowly.
Favourite moments?
Karen: Reading the nominated rider applications has to be a total highlight. Goosebumps felt, tears shed, high fives delivered. This is one of the aspects of the festival we are most proud of… Five all-expenses-paid places, sponsored by Komoot, complete with camping set-up and food, for any person who feels they deserve a gift. We’ve had a sponsoring family nominating their Ukrainian guest. A single mum, cancer survivor. An over-60 cyclist who just joined the community and has found their buzz. It’s going to be a painfully hard task deciding who receives a place.
Any disasters?
Karen: Hmmm, it depends what you classify as a disaster… Underestimating costs is probably our steepest learning curve. From the start we decided the ticket price had to be cheap enough to appeal to as many people as possible and so we’re relying on businesses to dig into their pockets to support a new, heart felt CIC.
If we break even we’ll consider it a win, but our aim from the start was to create enough revenue from this festival to finance free community events for underrepresented communities later in the year.
Any long-suffering folk to thank?
Karen: There’s some key players who from the start have said yes. They trusted that we had a great idea, that we could pull together a special event. Cotic Bikes, Komoot, local biz Pedal A Bike Away, Katy Curd Coaching and Wern Watkin Leisure. This event couldn’t happen without them.
Where next for Ride Free Collective?
Beth: Each member of the Ride Free Collective team has struggled with mental health issues and used cycling as a powerful coping tool. We share the belief that cycling, and time in nature, is a powerful tool for good health and healing.
So for us the next push will be creating workshops that support those with mental health challenges, but that building resilience through bike mechanics, gaining confidence through map reading, or accessing a supportive community in guided social rides.
