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Police tell female cyclist who is slapped, grabbed by three men 'she shouldn't be riding at that time of night'

A female cyclist has been left with bruising after she says she was attacked while riding her bike in Perth - but she was even more outraged when police told her she "shouldn't be riding at night".

Anne-Louise Woon says she was slapped and grabbed by three men on motorbikes as she was riding in South Lake on Thursday night.

The cyclist is used to battling it out on the Iron Man circuit, but an attack as she rode home from work has left her bruised and frightened.

Cyclist Anne-Louise Woon is more accustomed to battling out in the Iron Man. Source: 7 News
Cyclist Anne-Louise Woon is more accustomed to battling out in the Iron Man. Source: 7 News

It happened around 7.30pm on the Kwinana Freeway cycle path, near Berrigan Drive.

Ann-Louise, a 50-year-old pay clerk and elite athlete, was riding home to Success when the incident happened.

The cyclist was grabbed while riding along the Kwinana Freeway bicycle path. Source: 7 News
The cyclist was grabbed while riding along the Kwinana Freeway bicycle path. Source: 7 News

"Out of the blue, unprovoked, three motorcyclists came up behind me," she says.

"The first guy slapped me across the back, so I've got a handprint on my back where he hit me.

Marks on her back where Anne-Louise was grabbed and slapped. Source:7 News
Marks on her back where Anne-Louise was grabbed and slapped. Source:7 News

"The second one has struck me as well as he's passed by.

"And the third one tried to grab me on my backside."

Police told the elite cyclist she shouldn't be riding home at night. Source: 7 News
Police told the elite cyclist she shouldn't be riding home at night. Source: 7 News

Ann-Louise says she was nearly knocked off her bicycle.

Further down the cycle path she saw the group of men again and tried to take a picture of them on her phone, but they fled.

When she told her husband what had happened, she claims a police officer said she shouldn't be riding at that time of night.

But Anne-Louise objects to that idea.

"We shouldn't be living in fear," she says.