'Queer people exist and they deserve a space in the sport' – From rainbow socks to cycling camps, LGBTQ+ cycling is thriving despite fewer opportunities

Josh Jones should be more tired than he sounds. Alongside a full-time job, he’s an ambassador for RCC Racing (Rapha’s racing arm) and founder of ALL IN Racing, working with brands and teams to help make competitive cycling more inclusive for LGBTQ+ riders - and by extension, for everyone.

And yet, four years into the project, partnerships are becoming increasingly difficult to come by, and opportunities only harder to find. Here, Jones charts a shifting culture around LGBTQ+ inclusion, and why coordinated support is more necessary than ever.

The incentive to start the ALL IN came after Jones’ own induction into the racing world as a 20-year-old student. Fresh from the world of music and theatre, the culture shock Jones experienced at races was difficult. Surrounded by “laddish banter", Jones felt his own mannerisms changing to fit in with the crowd - subtle code switches that steadily chipped away at his confidence.

“When you're at races, it can make it hard to be authentic, which enormously increases the challenge of networking effectively,” Jones explained. “And at least in the past, networking was 85% of the battle in terms of getting on a half decent domestic team.”

Cyclo-cross, on the other hand, provided a more positive environment. Jones put it down to the mental gymnastics that happen even before a road race begins, where the ability to convince the peloton of one rider’s prowess could bolster their performance on the course. “Off-road, you can have as much bravado and ego as you want, but if you don't have the technical skills, you're going to get found out instantly,” he explained. “People role play a pro much less and the atmosphere feels a lot more relaxed.”

But the problems of representation, of simply feeling comfortable enough to be totally himself, were still present in cyclo-cross. Cycling, he decided, needed a figurehead from the queer community, anyone from a Saturday rider to a Tom Daley on two-wheels - someone who could turn up to events and represent. Others within the cycling world were beginning to reveal their sexualities: the BMX rider, Corey Alsh had come out at around this time, followed by Belgian cyclo-cross rider, Justin Laevens the same year.

And, back in 2021, Jones found himself asking whether he could step up. “I didn’t really have any sort of profile, but through COVID I was thinking…if not me, then who? If not now, then when?”

And ALL IN Cycling was born. One of the first brands to collaborate with Jones' project - and the only one to consistently maintain their support through the following years - was Rapha. The apparel company supplied cycling socks with rainbow stripes on the cuff to give away at Clanfield Cross in the South Downs National Park. The project was designed to coincide with Stonewall's #rainbowlaces day, as a way for people to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, to demonstrate that everyone is welcome in the sport.

“We gave away all 90 pairs,” Jones remembered. “Nobody who we offered them to said no. I think it showed that, at that time, most people were broadly supportive of helping the sport be more inclusive.”

Yet, in the years since ALL IN Racing started, partnerships with organisations, teams and brands have been harder to come by. The industry is still grappling with COVID related financial ramifications, with amateur and pro events lost from the calendar. Then, in spring 2022, British Cycling banned transgender women from competing in elite female events, instead creating Open and Female categories for racing, with transgender women having to race in the Open category.

The ruling wasn’t just a blow to trans riders, it was a blow to the entire LGBTQ+ community, and to everyone fighting to make cycling a more inclusive space.

“It seems like the cycling industry at the moment is quite insular,” Jones said, “It's looking within itself to think, how can we sell more products to the same people and generate more revenue from existing customers? Whereas actually the easiest way to do that is to bring more people into the sport, right? And the easiest way to do that is to look at the demographics and groups of people that previously have been basically absent from the sport or certainly underrepresented.

“Whether you're a brand and you need more customers, a race team and you need more fans, a club and you need more members or an event and you need more participants and volunteers - better inclusion helps everybody.”

But the reality on the ground isn't as bleak. Around the UK, grassroots LGBTQ+ cycling communities are growing. Membership of LDN Riders has ballooned, the women+ cycling group Velociposse has grown in number, and Queers on Wheels and Manchester’s Rainbow Riders attract an ever increasing collection of cyclists.

“These clubs are thriving, they're getting new members, and they're bringing new people into the sport,” Jones continued. “They've got the sort of engagement from their membership that most of the stalwart existing clubs that have been going for 100 years are really longing for.

“These new clubs are able to create and grow a sense of real community that gives people that sort of space and feeling of belonging in the sport. And that's something that most of the established clubs and teams are missing.”

And ALL IN Racing has changed accordingly. From seeking out brand partnerships and opportunities to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community on a commercial level, Jones' energies are increasingly turned towards organising and supporting community cycling events.

Just this month, ALL IN Racing, alongside their long-term partner, Rapha, subsidised seven spots for LGBTQ+ riders at the Rapha Racing School, and is set to support the launch of BikeOut, the “world’s first cycling festival for the LGBTQ+ community” running in the Peak District this June.

Opportunities to connect are richer than ever, but problems of engaging the wider cycling industry in meaningful collaboration remains a challenge.

“Queer people exist and they deserve a space in the sport,” Jones said. “As the cycling community we need to do the work of building properly inclusive spaces that enable and encourage people to participate authentically. Succeeding will mean experiencing our sport growing, our industry surviving and our communities thriving, and who doesn’t want that?”

To find out more about ALL IN Racing, you can visit their website here or head to their Instagram.