May was just 2 years old when she came to Australia from Beirut, Lebanon.
She has little recollection of her arrival but has very vivid memories of growing up as an active outdoor kid, riding her bike everywhere, along with all the other kids in the neighbourhood.
All this came to stop when she became a teenager. There wasn’t a particular reason that made her stop, but she recalls most of her teenage friends also stopped cycling around the same time.
It wasn’t until after she married that her husband encouraged her to take up cycling again. May was 25 years old at the time and wore a hijab. Cycling rules had tightened and she felt quite intimidated by the thought of cycling on the road. But her husband bought her a new bike and a helmet and then helped her to regain her confidence to cycle.
May had forgotten how great cycling was and how much she loved it. She and her husband rode together, each of them building their health and for May, building her skill to ride a bike with gears and cycling in the traffic. At the time, she didn’t see many women with a hijab cycling.
In 2015 May joined what was then an informal sisterhood of women who wanted to cycle. Many were Muslim women who wanted to get healthy, enjoy each other’s company and be role models for other women who wanted to cycle.
May was one of the original members of the Sydney Cycling Sisters and facilitated various rides. The group encouraged both experienced and new bike riders to get out onto the cycleways wearing hijabs or modest clothing and to pave a way for other women to join the cycling community.
Sydney Cycling Sisters has a massive following now. They have weekly rides for experienced riders and monthly rides for the less confident. They organise rides all across Sydney and have come to Wollongong too. They have raised money for many charities and ridden together in the Sydney to Gong bike ride.
One of their first initiatives was to have special jerseys made so they could ride comfortably wearing modest clothing. This was a huge hit and now much more technical riding wear is available for women who want to respect their traditions and religion and still exercise the joy of cycling.
May now lives in the Illawarra and with children, work and other commitments finds it hard to get to Sydney to ride with the Sisters. However, May still gets out on her bike with her children or other friends to enjoy the cycleways around the region.
May hopes that seeing her ride around wearing a hijab may break down some barriers for other Muslim women and that one day they might be able to form a local chapter of the Sydney Cycling Sisters.
