I can only comment on behalf of myself and The Straggler, based on what we tend to see in the East of England, which I feel has an inclusive approach to anyone who wants to ride an event, whatever their stated sex, gender, species, race, body type or sexual orientation. For our part we have German and Chinese heritage, in my case there were obvious prejudices when I was a child in the 1950's in England and also 110 kg bodybuilders do not look very graceful climbing, so I get all the patronising comments that you would expect on sportives, but less so on Audaxes. We may not look like elite athletes, but Raymond has featured in the UK top ten for points, and myself top forty, so we are no mugs. We are Lanternes Rouge because we enjoy the whole experience, and engage with everybody on the ride, particularly those working in the cafes that serve us.
Which leads on to our relationship with women riders. To be fair most are faster than us, so no alpha male problems there. Those that do find themselves close to the twilight zone often ask if they can ride with us as experienced riders, and enjoy the experience, including the many stories that are told. I feel that too often we look for divisions where none exist, we are all there to enjoy the challenge. Simplistic I know, but we are simple people with no personal agendas. I also coach women's football, they kick the ball as hard, they hit you in the tackle, and are footballers just the same, but it is a good discipline to avoid typical male banter, which is at best infantile, and at worst offensive to women. At Team MK my D Group is almost entirely women, they enjoy my leadership and their own companionship, we are all one unit.
There are no easy solutions to increase participation levels, but I think it starts with behaviours on both sides of a perceived divide, and understanding that perhaps we are not really that different after all when it comes to this particular field of sport.