Some recent conversations from our Female Bike Forum on Facebook
Advice on locking up a vintage Schwinn outside
Bikepacking destinations reachable from the city
ISO fun, organized, and supported group rides this fall
Some recent conversations from our Female Bike Forum on Facebook
Advice on locking up a vintage Schwinn outside
Bikepacking destinations reachable from the city
ISO fun, organized, and supported group rides this fall
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The number of NYC bicycle fatalities in 2019 already surpasses last year’s total. If you feel less safe on your bike or less certain about biking on our streets, WE feel you. Join this conversation in the Forum to hear how other people are coping with the loss and learn about ways you can get involved to help make our streets safer.
WE look forward to seeing you at this month’s events, where WE’ll ride with comfort in numbers and the solidarity of friendship.
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Pre-Orders for the WE Bike NYC official jersey are due April 18! Order online here and get more info below.
ICYMI: Some recent conversations from our Female Bike Forum on Facebook
Bike suggestions for a 14-year-old
How to Ship a Bike from NYC to Michigan
Celebrating WE Bike’s Bday & our 501(c)3 Non-Profit Status!
Some recent conversations from our Female Bike Forum on Facebook
Where do you store your bike(s) in NYC?
Tips for riding the East Coast Greenway
Have you seen this stolen bike?
By Joanna Giordano
If you have the goal to start bike commuting, start planning now! Let’s say you can ride, but you want to step it up from occasional rider to commuter. This is a great goal! You will ride more, save money, and get the wind in your hair!
Here is a rough guide ramping up to May 19th – National Bike to Work Day.
What to do now:
1. Get your bike ready to go. Got your bike and helmet? Bells, lights? Have you had your bike tuned-up at a local bike shop so you know you can depend on your trusty steed?
2. Map your route ahead of time! Be sure to plan for there AND back since you will probably follow different routes and traffic directions. Don’t forget to assess the mileage, bridges, elevation in case you need to work up to it!
Check out the route turn by turn on the Google map bike option:
3. Things to look for at your place of work:
4. Review your street riding basics:
April – Time for some dry runs
1. Practice, practice, practice
2. A true dry run
May – It’s go time!
Are you ready? How’s the temperature these days? How are those dry runs feeling The day before your first bike commute:
May 19 – Bike to Work Day has finally come!
Good luck and we hope to see you in the bike lanes!
Have any other commuting tips or tricks to share? Join in the conversation in our Facebook group!
By Maria Boustead, Editor and Casey Ashenhurst, Director of WE Bike NYC
WE Bike NYC aims to reflect the diversity of the cycling community in our city and considers inclusivity to be one of our founding values.
WE Bike NYC is an all-volunteer nonprofit, non-partisan organization. Generally, WE’re in favor of getting more women, female-identifying, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks from all different backgrounds on bikes by breaking down barriers, building community, and supporting each other. WE believe it is central to our mission to approach this work through an intersectional lens, and do our part to make sure we’re working with awareness and care for all different facets of identity in addition to gender expression, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, caretaker status, immigrant status, and primary language spoken.
During this tumultuous time of national uncertainty, WE feel our work is needed now more than ever. In the coming months and years, WE are committed to keep doing what WE do best: offer free rides and workshops to all women, female identifying, and gender nonconforming people through our WE Ride, Moms on Wheels, and Mujeres en Movimiento programs. Everyone who attends our events is welcome regardless of race, religion, or cultural background. It’s always been that way and it always will.
WE will continue to be champions of inclusiveness and openness – no matter what you ride, or how you ride, you are enthusiastically and happily welcomed and encouraged to ride with us.
While WE Bike NYC focuses on programming for women, WE also collaborate with other organizations who share our belief that embracing diversity is necessary in building a bicycle community that feels home to everyone. Just last weekend, WE Bike NYC participated in the Bed-Stuy Bike Summit, a gathering of local bicycling community groups, clubs, and advocates, to discuss how WE could work together to affect positive change in bicycling in the neighborhood in 2017.
The topics discussed ranged from how to engage longterm residents of color in cycling, to improving bike infrastructure in the neighborhood, to educating residents on their rights as cyclists. WE look forward to collaborating with the community organizations like the Bed-Stuy Restoration Project, The Brown Bike Girl, and the Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op this year to help grow the community of women in Bed-Stuy.
Do you have ideas for how to improve cycling in your neighborhood or want to plan rides or workshops for your community? We’re always recruiting volunteers to help us plan and execute programs and we’d love to have you join us. Email us for more info!
Speaking of improving bike infrastructure, you may have noticed that Transportation Alternatives has been busy adding new protected lanes throughout the city (hello beautiful Chrystie St bike lane!). Below are potential projects for each borough for 2017 – make sure to sign the petitions on their website to move the ones forward that you could see making a difference in your neighborhood.
Bronx
Grand Concourse – a long, wide, and, frankly, terrifying street in the Bronx. 3 people were killed last year alone! Sign the petition.
Brooklyn
Flatbush between Empire Blvd and Grand Army Plaza, making it easier and safer to get to Prospect Park. Sign the petition.
Manhattan
Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan to make it safer to bike in the heart of Manhattan. Sign the petition.
Queens
Queens Blvd Phase III will be a big project in 2017, putting an end to the “Boulevard of Death”. Sign the petition.
Staten Island
Van Duzer Street to calm this residential area that cars have been speeding through to bypass major thoroughfares. Sign the petition.
Have an idea of a street that deserves a bike lane? Start your own petition here. Remember that WE have the power to change our city!
By Meg Ausen
Summer is here and the streets are swelling. It can sometimes seem like you’re in a video game on your commute, dodging obstacles left and right. Much of the increased foot and bike traffic comes from the amount of tourists and visitors out enjoying the city. While pretty basic, WE can all use a reminder of the following tips that will help you not only when you’re pedaling your way through the 5 boroughs, but they will also come in handy when traveling (and biking) in new surroundings yourself where it’s easy to become distracted or caught off guard.
Avoid distractions
By law it is legal to ride with one earphone in your ear in New York City. However, it’s much safer to avoid the distraction altogether and ride without any earphones. While the law is loose on personal audio devices, remember that they can be extremely distracting not only for other cyclists but also for pedestrians around you.
Use hand signals
Hand signals are integral for safely signaling to others what your next move is going to be. Need a refresher on what the signals are? See our tips on that here. If you do not feel comfortable taking your hands off of your handlebars, do not hesitate to announce yourself with an ‘on your left’ or other audible signal so that people know you are in a space they might otherwise try to occupy.
Survey your surroundings
When making drastic moves, particularly turning corners, make sure to look both left and right several times beforehand. And then look again. Both cars and pedestrians can sneak up out of nowhere – even on red lights it is courteous to always give pedestrians the right of way.
Pull over when you need to stop
If you need to pull over for whatever reason, make a conscious decision about warning those surrounding you that you are pulling over with plenty of time for people to move safely around you if necessary. Try to stay out of the way of traffic as best as possible and keep yourself out of danger. Do you need to take a phone call or send a text message? It’s ALWAYS safer to do so while stopped and in a safe spot.
Be as predictable as possible
Follow basic traffic laws when riding, whether you are on the street or in a protected bike lane. Keep right and pass left. Avoid weaving in and out of the path of other cyclists or in empty parking space – unpredictability often times works to our disadvantage. Do not be afraid to take a lane to make yourself visible – it is your right!
If you have any tips to share, join us in the conversation at the Female Bike Forum on Facebook!
This February, WE Bike NYC was represented at the Youth Bike Summit, an event hosted by Recycle-A-Bicycle to strengthen the bicycle community by empowering bicycle leaders and engaging youth in the bicycle advocacy movement. WE shared information and resources with other bicycle advocacy groups from all over the country (and world!), and many of our members attended workshops about mechanics, inclusivity, and bicycle promotion. This unique event brings together adult leaders and youth leaders to create some of the most innovative and exciting ideas for bicycle advocacy in 2015!
We think it’s important to have a presence at events like this, as it legitimizes our voice in the cycling community and allows us to make connections with other groups that have similar values and goals! Next year it will be in Seattle! Who’s coming with us?
A focus group at the Youth Bike Summit about getting more girls involved, led by one of the young women from Girls Bike Club, Chicago.
Also this month, WE Bike NYC celebrated our 2nd Birthday on February 24th with happy hour
at Glorietta Baldy in Brooklyn. Delicious cupcakes were provided by Sweet and Shiny, and a photo booth from the Self Portrait Project made this night a fun time for all! As we prepare to send off a group to bike from NYC to Washington DC for the National Bike Summit (the longest WE Bike NYC ride in our 2-year history), it seems fitting to celebrate how much WE’ve grown! Here are some highlights from the night! Check out our Facebook soon for the rest of the photobooth!