At Vamper.cc we love a good inspirational quote: we are pretty sure it is genetic, passed down in Victoria’s DNA by her father, a great lover of a motivational phrase.

Here we bring you our top ten favourite quotes from women cyclists:

-1-

Running would be much better if they invented a little seat to sit on and maybe some kind of platforms for your feet to push and… Oh wait.”

– Liz Hatch

-2-

 The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.

– Ann Strong

-3-

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.

– Iris Murdoch

-4-

It (cycling) really is all about believing in yourself: 80 per cent mental, 20 per cent physical.

– Victoria Pendleton

-5-

Embrace your sweat. It is your essence and your emancipation.

– Kristin Armstrong

-6-

I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all learn to ride, or fall into the sluiceways of oblivion and despair. That which made me succeed with the bicycle was precisely what had gained me a measure of success in life — it was the hardihood of spirit that led me to begin, the persistence of will that held me to my task, and the patience that was willing to begin again when the last stroke had failed. And so I found high moral uses in the bicycle and can commend it as a teacher without pulpit or creed. She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life.

– Frances E. Willard

-7-

I’ll tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood.

– Susan B. Anthony

-8-

The only thing that I can do – and the only thing that I’ve always done – is to ride my bike fast and get my head down and control the things I can control.

– Lizzie Deignan, née Armitstead

-9-

You know, bicycling isn’t just a matter of balance,” I said. “it’s a matter of faith. You can keep upright only by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the goal, not the ground. I’m going to call that the Bicyclist’s Philosophy of Life.

– Susan Vreeland

-10-

(The bicycle) makes me independent in a way no other form of transport can – it needs no fuel, no documents and very little maintenance. Most importantly it goes along at the right speed for seeing everything, and as it doesn’t cut me off from my surroundings, it makes me a lot of friends.

– Bettina Selby