Queensland and national mountain biking champion Eva Plessing says there are so few female competitors in Australia she is regularly forced to race against men.

While there has been a 20 per cent increase in recreational participation rates across Australia over the past 12 months, very few women are taking part in competition.

Plessing said there was often no other women to race against.

“I lift myself up into the men’s categories just to push myself a little bit,” she said.

“At the moment it’s not too competitive and we’d really like to get more women into the sport.”

The lack of female participation in mountain biking prompted fellow rider Sharon Mills to form Dirt Divas in Mackay last year.

More than 60 girls and women have joined the group since it started meeting monthly.

Ms Mills said it was heartening to see girls as young as 10 taking on the sport with their mums.

She said fear was often the thing that made them reluctant to give it a go.

“Fears of falling off, doing something different, what they might look like,” she said.

Source
ABC News