They're told it's immoral, but these women are doing it anyway.

Can you remember how old you were when you rode your first bike?

Remember that exhilarating feeling you experienced as a kid – both jitters and determination – getting on that seat, finding a balance and pedalling?

What if you had fear – real life threatening fear – for not only learning to ride a bike, but for every time you straddled the seat and pushed the pedals.

The women that change the world.

For the ladies riding in Afghanistan this is their reality. Every time they ride they face ridicule, threats and judgement.

In 2006, after several visits to Afghanistan, ex American athlete, Shannon Galpin founded a non-profit organisation called Mountain2Mountain – an organisation that aims to promote women’s rights globally.

Galpin decided to use bike riding as a tool for female empowerment in a country where heading out on two wheels is considered an ‘immoral’ action for women.

After her eleventh visit to Afghanistan, Galpin discovered a group of women who had formed their own national cycling team. Fully clothed, headscarves tucked in under their helmets, the group had started a new kind of revolution.

Women’s rights in Afghanistan are backsliding.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Galpin told the New York Times. “I’d been in the most liberal areas of the country, and I’d never even seen a little girl on a bike, let alone a grown woman.”

Women’s cycling is considered taboo in Afghanistan, defying the predominantly conservative cultural norms, with Human Rights Watch Afghanistan researcher Heather Barr describing women riding bicycles as being generally considered ‘immoral’ in the Middle Eastern country. It adds to the list of other behaviours considered ‘inappropriate’ in Afghanistan.

Galpin says the idea of a woman on a bicycle is considered offensive – not unlike when women dared to ride their bikes in the United States in the 1800s, which contributed to the women’s suffrage movement.

My own mother grew up in Afghanistan. She tells me women were rarely seen on a bike due to the fear that conservative families might condemn girls for what they saw as “attention seeking” behaviour.

What it’s like to be a woman in Afghanistan.

“We would ride around in more secluded places, close to home but even then there was only a very small group of us,” my mother tells me.

Today, along with some courageous Afghan women, Galpin has helped create a movement breaking gender barriers by using a bicycle as a vehicle for change.

“They ride because they believe they have the right, because of the freedom they feel when they are on a bicycle, and because of the pure joy they get from the sport,” she says.

As the Women’s National Cycling Team of Afghanistan prepare for the 2020 Olympics, Galpin has collaborated with Let Media to create a documentary on their story called Afghan Cycles. 

Voices from Afghanistan.

The film will feature the girls, aged 16-22, and focuses on the oldest girl on the team Mariam who is the only married cyclist and needs to seek her husband’s approval to compete.

You can watch the trailer here (post continues after video):

Afghan women have made real progression since the days of the Taliban regime. They have gone back to school and university, joined the police force and even become pilots.

After more than three decades of war, women – like these cyclists – have brought back a spirit of courage, bravery and defiance.

We hope to see these girls represent their country in 2020.

And in other sporting news from the week…

– Aussie women have made us proud in the tennis Australian Open this week. Australian, Ajla beat Shelby Rogers on Thursday night to join Casey Dellacqua and Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round of the competition.

– Sam Stosur made it to the second round of the tennis Australian Open, but was knocked out in round three late this week. She was happy with her performance in the game that she went down 6-4, 6-4 to American Coco Vandeweghe. She did us proud.

– The Matildas have drawn England and the Netherlands in Group A for the 2015 Cyprus Cup. The organising committee for the tournament have released the groups this week. Australia was drawn next to 2014 finalists and two time champions – England. We have faith in our women.

– After being in cricket for over 12 years, Alex Blackwell can FINALLY afford to play full-time (without a job on the side). As a contracted player the NSW captain has the potential to earn up to $80, 000 or at least match the top Southern Stars contract at $52, 000. This is a huge breakthrough for women’s sport.

What’s on your radar this weekend?