?Women Are Often Really Undermined?: 37-Year-Old South African Cyclist Pedals to Fulfill Her Mission of Empowering African Women Through Cycling

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio was very much frustrated after she took up professional cycling. As she hailed from Pretoria, in South Africa, there were several hurdles that she had to overcome in order to rise and shine. Gradually, Pasio realized that women from the African region had to go through a lot of hardships to be successful in the realm of cycling. Thus, Pasio channeled her inner frustration into a productive idea.?

She initiated the Rocacorba Collective a couple of years ago to help the cause. The collective is an indoor community that offers female athletes a safe platform to practice. Let?s look at how Pasio is changing African female cycling for good.?

Pasio?s quest for empowered cycling

After setting up the collective, Pasio looked to do something more. Thus, she worked on rapidly expanding the community and also initiated a project. The project aims to provide bikes to female cyclists in order to make their lives a bit easier. In order to carry out the initiative effectively, she teamed up with a bike shop in the Khayelitsha township of South Africa.?

Pasio and her partnership have already provided cycling kits to as many as thirty girls. Speaking about her mission, the 37-year-old said, ?Women are often really undermined, they?re not necessarily given the encouragement to pursue their own dreams or ambitions. I really wanted to use cycling as a way of empowering African women.??

Pasio further stated that women in Africa have a lot of potential. They just have to be provided with the right guidance for flourishing on the bigger stage.?

Pasio dreams of a new African cycling world?

The 37-year-old mentioned how cycling has impacted her life. She reflected on the fact that cycling made her physically healthy as well as mentally strong. Thus, after the positive effects of the sport, she wanted all the women to have the same dash of positivity in life.?

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Pasio?s active involvement is surely starting to change the scenario in Africa. The cyclist also mentioned about the impact of her husband on her journey. Pasio stated that she was not very keen on pursuing the sport and went riding occasionally. However, her triathlete husband Carl saw her talent and persuaded her to take it seriously.?

Thus, with all the changes happening, Pasio is confident about a new African women?s cycling revolution. We, along with the entire community, would hope for her dreams to come true very soon.?

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