#totalrush

It's no secret to anyone that knows me, or has had a chat with me, that I'm passionate about all things two wheels. Over 15 years ago in the aisle of a supermarket where I was working part-time to support my university education I started chatting with a co-worker about cycling.

It was the middle of July, and every weekend that month Pete and I used to chat about the Tour de France. It was a remarkable year in cycling, with drug busts, rider protests, and events that it is fair to say turned the cycling world on its head. I was addicted.

A month later with the help of my older brother who loaned me some money, i bought my first road bike, and set out to ride Around the Bay in a day with little more than 3 months of 'training'.

I had bet my dad I could ride 200kms in less than 10 hours, and I was not only amazed at the people I met that day who encouraged me to keep riding along on my clip-less spd mountain bike pedals and massive gearing (46x23 was the smallest gear I had).

What impressed me the most about that day, was how helpful and genuine most cyclists were. Perhaps this was a sport that epitomised the egalitarian values that Australia so proudly championed?

Yes, I found out when I started racing how rich the history of the sport was, and how a lot of racers got into it because their parents or grandparents raced, but once you had access to a bicycle it was a close playing field.

Guys had their Colnagos with Record, I had my cromium-alloy Dodsun with Shimano RX-100, but it was hard work (as well as talent) that determined your success to a large extent.

Since then a lot has changed in terms of bike technology, my day to day life, but my passion for the sport has perhaps only grown stronger.

I guess that's why it was important for me to write this essay expressing my concern about some aspects of the sport which have recently saddened and frustrated me. Not as a bike racer. Not as a cycling coach. Not as an academic. But as a father, and crucially as a human being.

The events over the past few days involving a Melbourne bike store who decided it was a good idea to promote their brand and new store re-launch with the use of what can only be described as a scantily clad woman covered in body paint. Their response to the social media outrage was a thinly veiled apology, full of qualified statements which I think is fair to describe as a Clayton's Apology.

Last month I stopped following cycling tips on twitter because I thought this tweet was in bad taste. Remarkably (or not if you consider ego-defensive reactions as a response to a threat) he did not take me seriously when I said that it was objectifying women.

Nearly every time I ride down beach road I see other riders ogling female joggers, passing comments on female riders, and carrying on as to impress me and others with their machismo. Incredibly, some of these guys have daughters - some who ride bikes.

Phil Gomes wrote an important blog at the start of the year questioning the role of the podium girls in cycling. More recently, I was sure I read that Cycling Victoria or Cycling Australia would stop using podium girls.

In 2013 Caroline Buchanan won cycling's highest honour, the Oppy. Anna Meares has just broken another world record at the World Championships in Mexico. And it's probably fair to say that both grass roots women cycling and elite cycling is starting to gain the momentum to bridge the gap to its brother sport which has had over a hundred years of acknowledged history (thanks velocurious for bringing my attention to this - women indeed have had a rich history in the sport, just that it's been overlooked).

A lot has changed since I started cycling in the mid 90s, but a lot has not. I am now a father of a strong and courageous 11 year old, but I still see the challenges she will face in society as she grows up. 

There are still people who perpetuate gender stereotypes about women's roles in society, and are happy to justify their beliefs through all sorts of fallacious arguments including - "that model was being paid", "she had a choice", "the agency was very professional",  "no one at that party complained or left", "it was for charity".

I can't help but draw the parallel and point out to those who believe that free will exists devoid of social norms. Go on, drive your car naked - there's no road rule against it, but I bet you wouldn't do it, and I wouldn't advise you behave in the manner this driver did.

Humour aside, there are very real consequences of objectifying women, even if your intention according to your media release is benevolent. We know that objectification has a very real impact on women. A study (one of many) by a colleague shows that presenting women in such a way can lead to depersonalisation and the denial of mind and moral concern.

It wouldn't be ok to have blackface entertainers at some gala launch, or even on an out of touch Saturday night entertainment program. As a culture we've moved to stamp out overt forms of racism (we've still got a long way to go with our own indigenous affairs), as well as prejudice against some groups in society with same-sex marriage laws in the ACT.

It's not rocket science, but as a society we need to be changing our norms so that the objectification of women is not accepted behaviour even under the thinly veiled pre-tense of charity and art.

In 1930 Keith Hancock, an Australian historian, wrote amongst other things that our Anglo-Australian culture was founded on the auspices of a special distrust of those in public office and a sense of egalitarianism. This is one reason we are generally distrusting of tall poppies, and like to continue the endorse of the idea of equality through the use of such phrases in our vernacular as "fair go for all" or "fair shake of the sauce bottle" and concepts such as mateship. 

Social media has the power to give a voice to the people but may not be representative of the wider population. So, I think that while it is hard to gauge precisely how indicative the response on discussion boards, twitter, and Facebook are of Australians it's probably a safe bet that the majority of people (men and women) who read about the recent events at that Melbourne bike store were opposed to the choice by the store owner to use a naked woman to promote a charity evening.

I'd rather see that store publish a proper apology than see their demise due to what some would argue a stupid mistake.

I'd rather see people discuss the broader issues about the treatment and objectification of women in society than call the owner a neanderthal for his choice of entertainment.

I'd rather see something good come out of this, than for it to be dismissed or justified as just an isolated incident.

I want my daughter to grow up knowing that she will be judged on her merit, her hard work, and not her looks.

Perhaps I'm an optimist, but I'm also a realist and importantly believe that humans are capable of changing for the good with the right information and processes in place to facilitate this.