WE Bike NYC is organizing ten women from five organizations to ride 262 miles on bicycles from New York City to Washington, DC to represent their communities at the nation’s largest annual bicycle advocacy event, the National Bike Summit on March 3, 2014. WE are so pleased to be supported by WomanTours, Bicycle Times Magazine and Transportation Alternatives. For more about the ride, check out our fundraising page HERE!

Lesly Jones

Black Women Bike DC

Age? Really? 50+

Where are you from? I grew up in Berkeley, CA; I currently live in Washington, DC.

Where do you ride? In the Washington DC metropolitan area. Mostly in the city. I have 3 bikes (carbon road bike named KoKo, steel single speed/fixie named Kat and a cyclocross bike named Mac) and no car, so cycling is my primary source of transportation. However, I ride most of my miles for the sheer enjoyment of riding.

When/Why did you start riding? I have never not owned a bike. I have 3 older sisters and riding my bike was the only time I was in charge. For me, biking equates to freedom. Now, I simply ride for the love of being outside. It’s also a great stress reliever. Having a bad day……I just jump on my bike and whatever is bothering me is gone!

Why do you want to go on the ride? I love to share my love of fitness and cycling is a big part of that. I am a member of Black Women Bike DC’s Leadership Team….our vision is that Black women and girls, of all ages, ride their bikes for fun, health, wellness and transportation. Our mission is to build community and interest in biking among Black women through education, advocacy and recreation. Participating in this event is a great way to share our vision and mission.

Anything else? I am a mother and grandmother. I am a league certified cycling instructor. I regularly lead beginner group rides in my community. I am a strong advocate for cycling in my community and belong to WABA, Women & Bicycles and several local bike groups.

Bring Black Women Bike DC’s awesome vision to the national stage by contributing here!

WE Bike NYC is organizing ten women from five organizations to ride 262 miles on bicycles from New York City to Washington, DC to represent their communities at the nation’s largest annual bicycle advocacy event, the National Bike Summit on March 3, 2014. WE are so pleased to be supported by WomanTours, Bicycle Times Magazine and Transportation Alternatives. For more about the ride, check out our fundraising page HERE!

Katie Monroe

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia: Women Bike PHL

Age? 23

Where are you from? Philadelphia, PA

Where do you ride? All around my city! I am constantly traversing the bustling neighborhoods of Philadelphia on my bike. There is no better way to live and love this city.

When and why did you start riding? I have always been riding bikes for fun, but I only got into riding for transportation consistently when I moved to South Philly about a year and a half ago. It’s cheap, convenient, environmentally-friendly, fast (good for impatient folks like me!), but more importantly it is FUN and it has connected me with an incredibly diverse and passionate community of people, in Philadelphia and beyond.

How has WE Bike NYC (or biking with your org, or as a woman) impacted your life? WE Bike NYC has been a tremendous source of inspiration for the program I founded at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia: Women Bike PHL. I love riding and learning about bikes with women because it’s allowed me to share the skills I have, inspire confidence in others, and learn a LOT. I think the confidence I have as a bicyclist carries over into other aspects of life, too. I feel so independent in my transportation choices and that has a ripple effect!

Why do you want to go on the ride? There are some incredible women moving the bicycling movement forward all over the country. We are strong individually, but together we are way more powerful. I want to deepen the connections I already have and form new ones on this ride — it can only mean good things for the bicycling movement to strengthen solidarity among women bicycling leaders!

Anything else you’d like to add? I am a little scared of doing this type of ride! I mostly ride for transportation around Philly, or on pretty cushy tours on vacation with my family (not as much mileage per day). I am always encouraging women to face their own biking challenges — so this will be a good challenge for me. 🙂

Get Katie through this challenge and into the National Bike Summit by contributing here!

Photo by Dmitry Gudkov

Laura Solís

Outreach Coordinator

Age? 27

Where are you from? The Bronx

Where do you ride? I usually start out in the Bronx, and somehow I end up in Brooklyn, or Queens, often Manhattan, a couple times in Staten Island and most recently in Philly!

When and why did you start riding? Back in the Summer of 2011, I wanted to go see a roller derby match that was not very easily accessible by public transportation. The smart guy I was dating, recognizing that there was a beautiful steel pony not being utilized in my living room, suggested we take our bikes on the train as far out as we could and then ride the 5 miles out to the venue. The ride to the venue was a voyage, it was my first day riding a bike as an adult, I was a bit squirrely on a ride that started on a very busy and dangerous Flatbush Avenue. We got there, I was sweating in new places, and I felt invigorated. There was no turning back after that. The ride back to the train station was a rainy one, which certainly motivated my legs to pedal faster, especially considering my afro-textured hair is not waterproof 😉

How has biking with a women’s organization like WE Bike NYC impacted your life? WE Bike NYC has exposed me to different parts and people in the #bikenyc cycling community. As it is in my “only-child” nature, I have always felt compelled to connect people and create a family around me, the cycling community is perfect for that! I attended my first WE Bike NYC meeting on March 30, 2012, after I purchased and figured out how to mount my first (adult) bike at Bicycle Habitat. The physical transformation is apparent to a few, but my personal transformation has been apparent to all.

Why do you want to go on the ride? This is going to be an incredible journey and I want in on it! I also want to see more people like me at the National Bike Summit. “People like me” are people from low-income neighborhoods, with limited resources with the odds against them, but with a strong desire to see beyond what’s at their immediate grasp. A machine as simple as a bicycle could inspire hope in many that find it difficult to do so for themselves. Riding a bike requires a lot of self-reliance, which often times is not presented in the best manner in neighborhoods that may be lacking opportunity. Oh yeah, I am also a women of color, but that is secondary.

Anything else you’d like to add? This is going to be EPIC.

Help Laura bring her enthusiasm for cycling to a whole new network by contributing to our ride: Click here!

WE Bike NYC is organizing ten women from five organizations to ride 262 miles on bicycles from New York City to Washington, DC to represent their communities at the nation’s largest annual bicycle advocacy event, the National Bike Summit on March 3, 2014. WE are so pleased to be supported by WomanTours, Bicycle Times Magazine and Transportation Alternatives. For more about the ride, check out our fundraising page HERE!

For the next week, we want to introduce you to our riders and generous sponsors…

Liz Jose

Founder of WE Bike NYC

Age? 30 (at the time of the tour)

Where are you from? Born in Minnesota, spent half my childhood in Massachusetts.

Where do you ride? I mainly ride in New York City, but I have also done tours all over the United States, Chile and South Africa. Oh and I did bike share in Mexico City too!

When and why did you start riding? I have been biking ever since I was a child. My dad was a big cyclist and we used to bike as a family to a pizza place to dinner about once a month. Biking has always been a mode of transportation as much as a way to exercise. In my adult life, I fell into biking again in college when I found a free bike and fixed it up as a way to get to campus in Santa Cruz. It doesn’t snow there, so it was a great way to travel all year. Since then I just keep biking more and more, and more than anything, the thing that keeps me coming back are the people. Biking seems like a solitary sport, but really, it puts you in a situation where you are forced to interact with people, and that can be really wonderful and important.

How has biking impacted your life? Like I said above, biking for me is all about the people, however, in NYC I felt very alone on the road. And strangely, so did all the other female cyclists I knew. By riding with WE Bike NYC I have met the BEST women I could imagine, and also so many people I would not have crossed paths with otherwise. When I am biking with my male friends, it becomes about the struggle in my head- “can I keep up? Will they think I’m slow because I’m a woman? What if i need to pee? I’m going to prove this to them once and for all…” But when I’m biking with WE Bike NYC it becomes all about the celebration! “Here WE are! Where can WE go next? What is the farthest WE can make it? How many ice cream cones is too many ice cream cones?” Finding this celebration, again, on my bike, and being part of this community has been one of the most important anchors and motivating factors in my life in New York City.

Why do you want to go on the ride? I want to be on this ride because it is one more way to celebrate being on a bike and it’s a way to make more visible to vibrant and diverse community of female bicycle riders here on the east coast. I see this as a way to make a statement, as a way to have fun, as a way to meet new people and to meet new sides of people I’ve known and worked with for almost two years now! WE are riding. And WE are loving it. And WE’d really like to have a voice in the national conversation about our passions!

Anything else you’d like to add? I’m sooooo excited! I just can’t hide it!

Help Liz bring the cycling celebration down to DC by contributing to our IndieGogo campaign: Click here!