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Sisters in the Wild is one of the most prominent gravel and bikepacking focused groups open to women, trans, and non-binary people. Rebecca Bland speaks to UK founder Charlotte Inman.
This piece first appeared in the March edition of BikeBiz magazine – get your free subscription here
Gravel cycling and bikepacking have grown both in popularity and in the number of community movements that encourage it in recent years. Since the restrictions of lockdown, more and more people have discovered their desire to connect to the outdoors, and to nature in an accessible and friendly way. For women in particular, the need to find a safe place to ride and adventure is key.
In the UK, Sisters in the Wild (SITW) is one of the most prominent gravel and bikepacking focused groups open to women, trans, and non-binary people. They lead group bikepacking weekends, gravel events, and host skills sessions where riders can learn from like-minded mechanics – but it’s also about building connections – as UK founder Charlotte Inman explains.
“I think in the UK, the reason I felt like there was such an opportunity was that gravel riding and particularly women’s community based gravel riding had become popular during lockdown. People were craving the outdoors, they were craving connection. And these amazing little riding communities were popping up, where people who might have previously been super anxious about going and meeting strangers for a bike ride, now were like, ‘Actually, like screw that. I need to go and talk to somebody and I miss that connection.’
“And actually what came out of that was that it solidified that we all had these shared values and things that were important to us and opportunities that we saw to kind of just keep that momentum going. So I think a lot of amazing stuff was already happening, and SITW was just the way that we connected people physically for the first time and then it grew from there.”
Originally founded in Slovenia during the COVID era by Neza Peterca, Inman brought the idea to the UK after taking part in a Slovenian meet up.
“There were 12 of us, and we just spent a few days camping, riding bikes, eating food, and sharing stories. It was a really special, important weekend, I think for all of us, and we all made these really special connections.
“I personally left with this feeling that this is really important – I want to do this. Fast forward, and Neza and I became good friends and we talked about bringing it across to the UK. And then it kind of grew into what it is now.”
Currently, the group uses their ‘summer gathering’ as the main event. It caters to all levels of skill level, to all experiences, and at its core, is “a field, tents, people riding bikes, sharing stories, eating food together, and learning new skills.”
It’s the perfect introduction to all things gravel riding and bikepacking, and in a safe space with like-minded riders. No question is too daft.
“We usually get people coming on their own, people who’ve never bikepacked before or are looking to make friends with people who are interested in doing that. And we basically spend the weekend just starting from absolute scratch. It’s a safe space to talk about anything.
“We go through kit, riding, route planning, weeing in the wild, all that kind of stuff. And those weekends are amazing because it’s even more than getting an understanding of bikepacking. People usually make new friends that they can then go on adventures with.”
Seeing people take what they’ve learned from these events and applying them to their own adventures is what SITW is all about – breeding the confidence to allow people to create their own adventures, confidently.
To cater for those who still crave group events, they have gravel camps in Scotland and Lanzarote, bikepacking weekends in the South Downs, the Lake District and the Peak District. And for those wanting to go further afield, there are expedition trips to Bosnia, Slovenia and the Spanish Badlands.
For the summer gathering this year, however, SITW wants to focus a bit more heavily on the skills section. For example, they’re running an all-female led mechanics school in the summer, but for these sessions to have the most benefit, working with sponsors and brands that share their mindset is key.
“We’re always actively seeking or open to partnerships with brands who align with our values. So that’s all about trying to increase accessibility to gravel riding and bikepacking, skill building and about supporting women in the industry. It’s super important to us that we’re working with women, mechanics, guides, all that kind of stuff.
“So we’re always open to those conversations, particularly when it’s around supporting non-profit projects that we’d like to run. We have done some non-profit events with under-represented groups in the past, and worked with some amazing women of colour communities; LGBTQIA+ communities, with the Wanderlust Women who are a Muslim women’s outdoor community, for example.
“But financial support from brands can really help us to run those projects and make them super accessible financially, and they’re really empowering. The impact of them is incredible because not only do you have women learning, but you have women teaching. So people are seeing themselves and they may see it as an opportunity like, ‘Oh actually this could be something that I could do.’”
While the world remains a hectic place, in and out of the bike industry, bikepacking and gravel riding are perfect ways to reconnect with nature and to re-centre our busy minds.
If you’d like to join a SITW event this year, or even talk to the team about sponsorship opportunities, email them on hello@sistersinthewild.com, or visit the website www.sistersinthewild.com.
Picture credits: Sarah Hewitt
