To my femme friends cycling for their first season!
This blog post will serve as a bit of a checklist / knowledge dump for you before the 2026 outdoor road season really takes off. Hopefully you leave 3-5 minutes later with some new info or things to chat about with your cycling club.
The gear!
Cycling gear can be incredible and beautiful and $$$$ but what do you really need? A good pair of cycling shorts with a chamois/ shammy would be highly recommended on my list! Cycling shorts are great but it’s the cushy insert (chamois) that really does the heavy lifting here. The shammy provides a cushion between your sensitive lady bits and your saddle, yes, but it also helps absorb shock from the road, reduces chafing lowering the risk of saddle sores, and typically has anti-microbial or sweat-wicking properties minimizing skin irritation or infection. You want a gender-specific high-quality foam shammy within a pair of cycling shorts that are comfortable and the right size for you. Also please note, for a shammy to work well, you don’t wear underwear of any kind underneath them (kinda the whole point of the shammy).
Most female cyclists, as they try different brands of shorts, will eventually settle on a brand that works for their body. This means, there’s no extra fabric around the crotch, the shorts are tight enough at the waist and thighs, and the shammy has the appropriate amount of cushioning for that individual (too much or too little is subjective here). Typically, it is worth dishing out some extra cash for a high-quality pair of cycling shorts. They cover all of the above and the quality-made foam, seams, materials hopefully last you many, many, many rides.
I’m a big fan of Samsara but feel free to walk into a MEC or Sporting Life and see what your options are. Once you know what you like, it’s easier to keep an eye out for sales. When it comes to jerseys, helmets, cycling shoes, or even cycling gloves, my approach is see what’s comfortable for you!
2. Your saddle
The saddle is a key feature of your bike, for many reasons, but of importance to me is the fact that it is 1 of 5 surfaces in which your body is in contact with your bike. If you’re comfy in your saddle great! If not, some things to think about:
If this isn’t your first year with this saddle, and it used to be great, have a closer look at it. Saddles can wear and deform over time. Are the wings/edges worn down? Can you see some indents in the saddle padding that weren’t there when you first bought it? Is the nose worn or twisted? It may be time for a new saddle.
Another change that can have an impact if this isn’t your first year with this saddle is changes in your body. Weight changes, childbirth, a new job where you sit all day long, changes in fitness level, and aging, all impact how and where you sit on your saddle. This would be a great talking point with a bike fitter!
Next up, first year on a new saddle, you’re trying to get comfy but it just isn’t getting comfier. This absolutely sucks (been there, done that) and it’s also important to note, willing your way to making it comfy also doesn’t work. A bike fitter or a local bike shop can make suggestions for saddles, but ultimately, there is some trial and error involved. We can narrow it down to does the saddle need to be wider or narrower? Does it need more or less padding? Would a shorter nose be helpful for you? Would you be someone who’d benefit from a cut out?
The last and often forgotten about piece here gets addressed during bike fits (or ideally is). How does that saddle sit on your bike? Is it perched too far forward on the rails? Too far back? Tilted too little or too much? Why is it tilted that way (what is the hopeful goal here)? Would you benefit from an offset post?
I’ve found sometimes the saddle itself is 80% of the way there, but during a fit, some small minute tweaks can bring it that last 20%!
3. Your cycle and planning rides
There’s been a spike in sports and literature about pairing a female’s menstrual cycle with their training, as there should be! What gets lost here is that largely studies are still inconclusive in terms of this pairing due to individuals having different length cycles (compared to the average of 28 days) and different length phases. Across individuals, and even within an individual, the follicular phase can last from 10-22 days and the luteal phase 7-17 days. This can get extremely challenging when trying to pair these dynamic phases and cycles with a rigid training cycle or program, and this is if the individual falls within the norm (I see you my PCOS girlies). But not all hope has been lost.
There is insufficient evidence to conclude that phases of your cycle predictably influence acute strength performance or cardiovascular response. But while we wait for the high quality research in this area to see if the predicted minimal effects of an individual’s cycle on their performance is true, it’s also possible to work within the grey!
If you’re able to track your menstrual cycle, assuming it’s fairly regular, and you’re able to understand the timing and severity of your menstrual symptoms, there’s lots to work with here.
Perhaps knowing that you have terrible cramps the day before your period can help you predict what days you want to do your longer rides over the next month vs the shorter / form-focused rides. Perhaps knowing that you feel like a sack-of-potatoes on day 2 of your period can help you throw in some active recovery on that day and swap it out with an intense hill-climb training session. Perhaps knowing that post-period, you have a couple days where you are running too hot or you’re a little more prone to migraines, you can aim to do an indoor temperature-controlled workout or ride.
The key word to note above is perhaps. The science is catching up, modern medicine is catching up, but the expert in every room about your period is YOU! By tracking your period, tracking your rides (perceived exertion /10), and using ride specific data, you can see trends and optimize the things that work for you.
Anyways, if you made it this far, thank you for reading and happy riding!
References:
https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/article/32/Supplement_1/zwaf236.403/8137006
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ham.2024.0048
https://www.sportsmith.co/articles/does-menstrual-cycle-phase-really-influence-performance/