ON YER BIKE: Souper way for women to learn about their bikes (From Oxford Mail)

ON YER BIKE: Souper way for women to learn about their bikes

10:00am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Columns By Honour Tomkinson

DO YOU want to know where to get the best soup in Oxford? Do you want to learn how to fix your brakes and punctures at the same time?

It may seem a strange combination but it’s all possible at Beryl’s Night, an all-women drop-in session held at the Oxford Cycle Workshop Training Centre on Wednesday nights. The session is named Beryl’s Night after Beryl Burton, one of the greatest English racing cyclists of all time.

Beryl’s Night was set up and is run by four passionate cyclists. There is Ellie who trains others on the mechanics, Grace the all-important treasurer, Cassiope the designer and marketer of the group and probably the most important, founder Lucy, who feeds the masses at half-time – she makes a mean vegetable soup.

I dropped in on the group last Wednesday and spoke to Kathleen, from Oxford, who was fixing her bike.

She found out about Beryl’s Night through the OCW website, she was interested in learning some mechanics and loved the idea that it would be a relaxed atmosphere with just women.

It was her second time and she had brought along her hybrid to work on in the second half of the evening, when the group puts what they learn in the first to the test.

I asked her what she felt was the most useful thing she had learned from the evenings and although derailleur adjustment was definitely useful she said even the simple seat adjustment had been a great learner.

I believe her, as the amount of people I encounter without the simplest of adjustments done correctly is phenomenally high and it can make all the difference to your ride.

But Beryl’s Night is not about lectures. Don’t expect to turn up and get talked to for three hours. No, this is an open sharing event and if you have a alternative way of doing something, the group would want to know your way also. It’s about sharing skills, not just teaching.

Beryl’s Night has been running since November. My visit coincided with the wonderful sixth session where the group were adjusting gears. The founders told me the evening dedicated to brakes was the biggest hit, with 18 women turning up.

If you would like to go along to Beryl’s Night check for more details online at ocwt.coop/berylsnight or become a friend on Facebook.

The group hope to reach as many women as possible and will soon be incorporating rides into the mix.

Don’t forget not only do you get to learn valuable skills that help keep you and your bike safe and happy, you also get to meet like-minded women, something I wish had been around when I started fiddling with bikes all those years back.

So if you don’t know your spanner from your screwdriver or just want to pick up some new skills without all the macho babble, I recommend you check out Beryl’s Night, And did I mention they also have great soup?