Around the time of our Colorado Bicycle Summit last February, we launched Women Bike Colorado (WBC)—a Facebook group to promote, support and encourage Colorado women bicyclists. In a mere few months, the group has grown to over 1,130 active members who are sharing information, posting rides, finding friends to ride with, sharing tips on gear and much, much more. We are excited and humbled by the enthusiasm of the WBC ladies.

Who we are, what we want

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

We conducted a survey in September and over 100 people responded. We learned that the majority of the ladies are in their 40s and 30s, and while the greatest number listed road biking as their primary type of cycling, both mountain biking and transportation riding were also high on the list.

Respondents said they are interested in group rides, as well as educational classes and workshops. There was also a lot of interest in group gatherings like coffee meetups and happy hours.

The survey also revealed areas for growth. The group wants to diversify in both demographics and types of bicycling. We want to attract more women in different age groups and from different cultural settings, and we especially want to help women who might be intimidated to experience the joys of bicycling.

WBC sheroes

I come from a family of four girls (and no boys). My mom is a wonderful, strong woman who encouraged us from a young age to find our “sheroes” in the world. (Why do they have to just be heroes?) A few of mine were Margaret Meade and Whoopi Goldberg (random, I know, but that is what I remember).

When we started WBC, I realized that we needed WBC sheroes, ladies who would represent our group and our mission to get more women—of all abilities, cultures, shapes and sizes—riding.

When we asked our survey takers if they were willing to serve as sheroes, 50% responded yes. It was an incredible response!

Our first gathering

We had our first WBC shero happy hour last week and it was a great success. We discussed who the WBC group is today and how we might grow and diversify the group in the future.

Many great ideas came up about how to engage more women and have a fun time doing it and, being the “bicycle bling” goofball that I am, I asked if anyone was interested in a WBC supershero cape.

Thankfully, I am not the only goofy one in the bunch and a group of us decided to order capes to wear when riding with other women or leading WBC events, like the group rides we hope to start scheduling in the spring.

Though the cold weather is settling in, these women will not be slowed down…and just wait until you see their shimmering silver capes!

Want a cape?

If you’d like a cape to really bring out your supershero persona (certainly not required to be a WBC shero), email me. I’m going to put in an order soon for silver capes with this fun WBC graphic (based on the Wonder Woman logo*). They will be the shorter kids’ length to ensure that we don’t have any unwanted cape incidents. The price will vary based on the final numbers but should be between $15 and $25.

Keep up with all the details about future gatherings, rides, workshops (and capes) through the Women Bike Colorado Facebook group!

*We have no affiliation with DC Comics.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]