IMO, it is better for the sport to have women out on women's only rides, developing skills, fitness and confidence and being happy than not riding in a group at all, there is a great deal of enjoyment and more available from riding in a group context and if a womens only ride facilitates this, well then great.
If you live in an ideal world, which exists only in your head there will not be a need for such things! However, external to your head exists the real world where there is clearly a market (if not a need) for them and the net effect is far more positive than it is negative (I am yet to come across a negative tbh, if I have, then it was not substantial enough for me to be able to remember it).
Additionally, many womens rides and womens groups IME are not exclusive and men are welcome to participate (I participate in the womens section of the time trialling forum from time to time... not yet been slammed for it), but the balance is usually tipped much in favour of the female contingent (on the last one I am aware of, there was around 10-16 female riders and 2 male riders, including me - not certain of numbers as not all stayed at the cafe at the end, some people split off when nearing the cafe). Now I have been on couple of womens rides and did not feel at all uncomfortable (now I am not particularly socially minded and am awkward at the best of times, the kind of person who will give you a 1-2 word answer and then look away, so it is saying something when I felt completely at ease) and I get on well with at least a 2-3 of the regular riders, last time I rolled around somewhere near the back encouraging a couple of friends who are not particularly keen on hills, had a chat and a good laugh, then grabbed a coffee at the end and gave a little bit of a tutorial on using courses with a Garmin device to those who had asked. The onus is on you to to go into the ride with the aim of the ride clear in your mind. I simply tag along to get extra miles, have a chat and if required provide a supporting role.
Essentially, why women's only rides? Because there is a market for them. According to the success of our club's women's rides and other women's cycling initiatives, this is obvious. Since these have come along, the numbers of women in our club (and I would assume other local clubs based on race numbers and general observations etc) have increased drastically. As have the numbers of women racing in local leagues. If mixed novice rides (of which our club also run on a regular basis) were already providing what people want then the obvious increase in numbers result from around the launch of various womens initiatives simply would not have happened. Further, a local female rider has organised womens only race training sessions on a number of local crit circuits, all dates are over subscribed now. Mixed sessions organised by a local club in previous years never were over subscribed!
I also note that in our club of a committee comprised of 13 members, 4 are female, including the president and racing secretary. I believe our membership (of now over 350 members I believe) has a similar male to female ratio with around 30% being female and we are currently getting new members signing up with a ratio of about 1 female per 2 male. It may be even closer to 50:50 now, I would have to check with the membership secretary (who is also female).
