'THE LARGEST festival of women and cycling the UK has ever seen' rolls into Oxford in two weeks's time.

International cycling celebrities including mountain bike champion Rickie Cotter, Cycling Store founder Naomi Mahendran and women's cycling commentator Sarah Connolly are booked to pedal the paradigm of a feminist future on wheels on Saturday and Sunday March 4 and 5.

Festival-goers will also be able to join cycle maintenance and repair workshops which aim to help more ladies to go Lycra.

The weekend of women on wheels has been organised by Oxford's Broken Spoke bike co-operative which runs cycle maintenance classes.

The group, based at Oxford's Story Museum on Pembroke Street, aims to get more people of all genders in the saddle by giving them skills to look after their own machines.

The Women and Bicycles festival has been co-organised by The Adventure Syndicate, who describe themselves as 'a collective of extraordinary cyclists who happen to be women and who aim to challenge what others think they are capable of'.

Lead organiser Karen McCallum, of Broken Spoke, said the weekend was aimed at helping women overcome the 'many and varied barriers that might be keeping them from getting on their bikes'.

She went on: "It's about helping people find practical solutions.

"Broken Spoke and The Adventure Syndicate share an ethos of helping women to acquire the tools and skills they need to take matters into their own hands."

Other celebrity guests booked for the weekend include Kimberley Tew, founder of The Roasting House coffee company and a keen cyclist, Lee Craigie of The Adventure Syndicate and mountain bike guide Polly Clark.

Workshops will include a focus on 'fitting bodies to bikes' with yoga sessions aimed at improving riders’ strength and flexibility.

Isla Rowntree, founder of children's bike manufacturer Islabikes, will lead a session entitle 'The science of saddlesore' which she describes as 'part of her lifetime quest to improve the usability, fit and comfort of bikes, particularly for those other than medium-sized, fit, adult men'.

Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to get out on their bikes with Oxford cycling clubs the Cowley Road Condors and the Isis Cyclists on rides of varying lengths.

The whole weekend is open to people of all genders, and will be based at the East Oxford Community Centre on Cowley Road.

Tickets cost £45 and organisers say they are selling briskly, with early-bird tickets already sold out to punters from as far away as Edinburgh and Wales.

Buy tickets online at bsbcoop.org/women-bicycles-2017