The first ever female focused blended cycling event, Femmes First, took place last Saturday.

Saw about 350 cyclists 

The event saw around 350 cyclists of different abilities gathering at the Singapore Sports Hub in the early morning.

A wide array of bicycles ranging from recliners, foldables, road bikes, hybrids and mountain bikes, made an appearance. 

Besides cycling groups, differently abled cyclists from Ageless Bicycles, as well as seniors and staff from Home Nursing Foundation, were in attendance.

And unlike with conventional cycling events where participants drive or commute to a common start point, Femmes First participants had three options.

Three different options 

Participants can cycle from anywhere, start at Merlion Park, or ride at Kallang either in the morning or in the evening.

Regardless of the category that they had signed up for, cyclists were expected to cycle to the event. 

As well, cyclists who were passing by the Sports Hub were also allowed to ride in and enjoy the festivities.

A green event

Said Kelvin Phang, Founder of RIDEnjoy, “Eliminating participants’ commute helps to reduce the event’s nett carbon footprint dramatically. We also cut down on unnecessary on-site advertising, goodie bags, event collaterals like wristbands, signages, pipes and more.”

Added Kelvin, “Instead of having multiple sponsors deliver premiums, we dramatically reduce logistical transport by collecting premiums and collaterals in a single trip using our company van.”

Planting a corn flower

In line with the green theme, the event medal, which can be planted into soil to grow a corn flower, was one of the interesting aspects that cyclists could expect as well.

This replaces the conventional event medal, which are usually made of metal. 

I think that this idea is a rather unique and interesting one.

Carbon footprint audited 

The event’s carbon footprint was audited by Zuno Carbon and was estimated to be around 2000kg CO2 emission. 

And this had been offset through the planting of 50 Rhizophora mucronate in a mangrove swamp reforestation project in Eden, Indonesia.

Said Kelvin, “Mangrove forests capture four times more carbon than tropical forests and are important in our fight against climate change. 

He continued, “Through Femmes First, we want to deliver a strong message to the cycling community that together, we can do more.”

Participants had fun

Participants who had taken part in the event had plenty of fun and had enjoyed themselves thoroughly. 

Said Chen Guo Xiang, 45, “We liked that the event is something like own time own target. So yeah, we don’t need to rush. We can actually plan our own time, not like planned riding events with a fixed location and timing.”

Nellie Tan, 49, was also attracted to the leisure and chill nature of the Femmes First event. 

Nellie, a financial service consultant said, “We just need to take our own sweet time. Of course we also need to know the time limit that we need to reach here.”

Signed up with friends 

Guo Xiang, who works in the marine industry, had signed up as a group with friends. 

They had cycled about 20km altogether from their house to the Sports Hub.

Said Guo Xiang, “One of my friends sent the link to the event and we just decided to join together. So we basically found out about this through word of mouth.” 

Attracted that it was a green event 

The green nature of the event had intrigued Nellie too, as well as the fact that the medal is a corn flower that can be planted. 

She said, “It’s very good because we have to see if we can plant it. It’s like we are giving back to Mother Nature.”

Riding with female cyclists 

Another participant, Rachel Goh, had joined the Kallang ride category which began and ended at the stadium. 

Rachel said, “This is particularly for females right? So I thought it would be fun to ride with all the female cyclists. I think having a community who enjoys cycling and exercising is good.”

Rachel, who works in electronics, added, “It’s the memories of the event that I go through and experience with my friends, that always makes me enjoy joining such events.” 

Children and seniors enjoyed 

Children as young as three and seniors in their 70s were all part of the morning celebrations, with more females joining in the afternoon rides and post ride concert.

Singapore’s top buskers Sheng Li and Arya Yunata also delighted riders with live acoustic sets as part of the event.

Event awards 

The RIDEnjoy cycling video awards were handed out in the evening, with more than 80 video submissions by local cyclists and public voting for Video of the Year. 

The top award went to local content creator Alan Ng who had passed away on New Year’s Eve.

Conclusion

I would say that Femmes First was definitely a unique and interesting cycling event in terms of its concept and proposition. 

I look forward to more of such events taking place in Singapore.