Blog

Last summer, we awarded our first round of Women Bike Mini-Grants, and, to make sure these leading edge initiatives can serve as inspiration for other groups across the country, we’re rolling out the step-by-step Toolkits produced by each grantee. Last week, Katie Monroe, the Bike Share Outreach Manager for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, shared how she made her “Girl Scouts on Wheels” program a success in Southeast Pennsylvania.

Last month, new data revealed that bicycling ranks #6 among the most popular fitness activities in the United States. Through the National Bike Challenge, we’ve seen those fitness results right before our eyes. According to our participant survey, nearly one-third of Challengers have lost weight and more than half have improved their well-being because of the Challenge. Those numbers are encouraging. Today, we hear from Doug Schmitt in Nebraska, about his health story.

Dawn Finley and Jenn Witte first met at a reading group at the Women’s Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles. What started as a conversation about how to build a collection of feminist literature and multimedia, quickly evolved into something more when Witte, in her excitement, blurted out, “And it can be on my bike!” Now the two women are well on their way to making their vision — F.L.O.W. Feminist Library on Wheels — a reality.

The National Bike Challenge is a community-based event focused on people. There are dozens of different reasons to get on your bike and participate. From viewing personal achievements, motivating friends to ride, having fun in the workplace, spending family time, and more, we know the Challenge means something different to all 44,000+ riders. At the League, one very important thing to us is that the Challenge be accessible to everyone, fun for all, and shared across the country.

Whether you’re an educator yourself or simply a bicycle enthusiast, our LCIs have so much knowledge and inspiration that we want to share their stories. In this edition of LCI Corner, Maria Sipin, #womentalkbikes co-host and LCI #3846, gives five helpful tips for creating a safe and inclusive learning environment.

There’s a gaping pothole in the path to more women riding: Keeping young women excited about bicycling. Research shows that, at about age 14, many girls abandon their bikes for a variety of reasons: Other girls aren’t riding; their friend don’t think it’s cool; exercising is awkward. How do we keep future female riders in the saddle? Last year, Katie Monroe with the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition piloted a promising partnership that can be replicated nationwide.

During my time with the League, one piece of feedback has remained consistent: It’s difficult to get people to commit to 9 hours of bike education. So today, we’re proud to introduce our brand-new Smart Cycling Quick Guide! Over the past few months, I’ve explored ways in which we can create an entry-level guide that can be used to market the Smart Cycling program. This exploration, combined with a lot of input from League Cycling Instructors (LCIs), has helped with the development of this accessible Quick Guide to our material.