Khadija Patel: The Real Yellow Jersey winner who turned cycling into a movement for Muslim women

Khadija Patel, from Bolton, first became interested in cycling as a way to “manage my own stress”. Initially, she lacked confidence, access to a bike, and faced a series of unique cultural challenges as a Muslim woman who wears a full veil. 

She was able to access free cycling sessions through Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival, and quickly she fell in love with cycling, feeling like it was something she wanted to do for her own personal freedom and mental health, and to challenge herself.

In the world of cycling, the yellow jersey is an iconic symbol of excellence. Traditionally worn by the leader of the Tour de France, it represents athletic dominance, endurance, and determination.  

But for Cycling UK, true cycling excellence goes beyond professional sport—it lives in communities and on everyday streets. This year, the charity has honoured Khadija as one of Cycling UK’s Real Yellow Jersey winners. 

The award, launched to mark 10 years of the Big Bike Revival, shines a spotlight on individuals using cycling to tackle some of society’s toughest challenges—from climate change and air pollution to mental health and social exclusion.

When Khadija began cycling on her own in 2022, she used to go out at 5am because the roads were quiet with no traffic. She didn’t do this just because of road safety, however, but also those cultural barriers, making sure there’s no one to beep their horns at her or judge her. Fast forward three years, and she’s now completely comfortable with rush hour traffic. 

She used to drive a lot to get to places, but now mostly cycles or walks, and along the way she has inspired many other women to follow suit. She’s also inspired her own family – her two boys, both 11, cycle to the mosque for their daily prayers and they all go for family rides together.

Just getting that brush of fresh air first thing in the morning is so nice and quiet. The weather is nice and, you know, I’m just doing my own thing. But then other people saw me and asked about it, and I thought, OK, let’s do it, let’s do this all together – why couldn’t we?

As the founder of KRIMMZ Girls Youth Club, set up in 2009, she was already a coach in multiple disciplines, from  archery through cricket to netball. Khadija reached out to Cycling UK in 2023 and applied for funding to run Big Bike Revival sessions, group rides, community events and maintenance sessions, with a focus on encouraging Muslim women to ride.

“From that initial application grant, it’s been so successful here I cannot tell you. It’s just grown and grown and now we’re an official Community Cycle Club,” Khadija says.

At first, she faced challenges from the wider community. 

I’m not gonna lie to you. People were saying to us and to our committee members, why are you taking women out on a bike? They don’t belong on the bike, especially Muslim women. And I thought, hang on a minute, we need to stop this and educate ourselves. Sport is a physical activity and has all these benefits that come from it.

Khadija remained unfazed and over time, that’s helped normalise Muslim women riding a bike. People have slowly begun to accept the sight of groups of women riding around in the area, and it’s helped encourage more and more women to want to join in. KRIMMZ is constantly having to expand their offering, and requests regularly come in to borrow bikes so people can take their families on rides too.

The fact that we’ve set this foundation for people to use as a hub for them to loan bikes and take out for their families to go out just shows the impact it can have, and is having
 

The demand has been so high that Khadija has had to dial down her other coaching to focus solely on the bike rides. And KRIMMZ has been approached to support other local community groups. 

And we’re more than happy to do that because the more the merrier. The more people that are learning how to ride is just better for the community, environmentally and socially. Everybody is more content and mental health is a big part of it, we get so much positive feedback

Despite the negative feedback at the start, Khadija says “Everyone has now become used to it, and it’s just phenomenal.”

Krimmz has added a bike maintenance course, which helps the people leading rides on a voluntary basis, and they keep having to train more ride leaders. The club works with local schools, has started organising inclusive cycling sessions, and even men are asking to join now, despite the club being set up for women and girls and there being no male ride leaders.

But it’s other Muslim women that Khadija is really passionate about helping. 

I really, really do enjoy knowing that I’m helping women, women in their 60s and grandmas are coming to learn how to ride a bike. These are people you would never see riding, it’s such a big thing in the Muslim community. I’m humbled and I’m proud at the same time that we’ve managed to do that

For Khadija herself, cycling gives a sense of joy and it’s her “me time”. “When I go to my bike and say I’ll be back in a little while, my husband knows I just need to be away from everything for a little while. I feel content knowing that I’ve been on a ride in the morning or the afternoon. I won’t go for a drive or go for a coffee. I’ll just go for a ride.”

Khadija’s impact hasn’t gone unnoticed—alongside her Real Yellow Jersey award and other recognitions, she was also named one of Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling in 2024, celebrating her tireless efforts to inspire and empower others through riding a bike.