If a cycling clothing manufacturer can motivate more than 7,500 women worldwide to get on their bikes and ride more than 100 km in one day, then you can call that a successful marketing campaign. But not only that, women all over the world have been given a platform to celebrate themselves and their achievements on the bike. We at Chic Hat bow our heads to the heroines of the farm roads and country roads who have set themselves this task. No matter where on this globe. And we are happy that we were there in Düsseldorf with such a great group.

The weather forecast for July 20 was not exactly positive in the run-up, in the middle of the week there were even storm warnings and thunderstorms in the morning. A difficult mission to reconcile your own advertising drum and the perceived responsibility. But we hoped, crossed our fingers and didn't let that deter us. Then, on Saturday, our Dutch friend Paul Sneeboer from BlueOnBike brought our first chic hats of our own on time, the trophy for all women who have completed the Women's 100 with us, we were sure that we would also be lucky with the weather. And on Sunday morning the gray clouds cleared faster than expected, the sun peeked out at our backyard before 11:00 a.m. An impressive peloton had gathered there, the changed ratio compared to last year, when three women met thirty riders, could not be overlooked.

After coffee, croissants and chatting, the women briefly lined up for a group picture, then off we went. The traffic lights slowed us down from the Talstraße to Düsseldorf Hamm, after that there was almost no stopping and the Grupetto rolled along the Rhine. The first real break then took place after 40km in front of Gasthaus Gilbach in Rommerskirchen, thanks again to the operator for his spontaneous hospitality.

Our route, which has already proven itself several times, then brought us to the ascent of the Vollratherhöhe in bright sunshine. The sweat was pouring here, but regardless of the different training kilometers of the individual drivers, everyone had their fun, no matter how fast it went up or down again afterwards.

We continued towards the rocket station via farm tracks and small country roads. Unfortunately, due to a lack of communication, they were not informed about our coming, but a little improvisation helped to use the short stay to regenerate and recharge the energy storage. The sky grew overcast, the first drops fell, but were felt more as a welcome cooling off.

Shortly before the finish, a youthful danger seeker in a small car with squeaky tires caused a little excitement, but couldn't shake our cheerful peloton any further. Back in the chic cap, it took less than 5 minutes until the sky opened all the floodgates and forced us all under our canopy. Coffee, honey cake grins, a good mood, loud laughter, chic hats in two colors and a lively exchange followed.

Striking: not a single suffering mine, everyone completed the 103km with a smile and confidently, no one seemed battered. As far as breakdowns are concerned: a flat tire with almost forty participants with 103 km each is a reasonable average. Apparently women ride well-maintained bikes. And women drive much more communicatively. Announcements while driving were almost always passed on from the front only by female voices, one of the many positive little things that we noticed.

Conclusion: if we increase the number of women taking part in the Women's 100 sixfold again next year, we will have a logistical problem. But we can handle that. Otherwise, we at the Chic Hat would be happy to be able to offer a regular appointment for all racing cyclists, we are currently collecting ideas for this. So if you're reading this right now, own a racing bike and haven't dared to ride in a group yet: get in touch with us. You are not alone, many feel the same way. We are happy to offer our expertise to facilitate the first steps into the happy cosmos of cycling.

Oh, and of course that also applies to men.

See you soon!

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