The first ‘Ohio Women’s Bicycling Summit,’ was a success.

About eight months ago, I had my two friends Mimi Webb and Jeannie Martin join me for a beer so that I could present them with an idea.  I went to California the end of last summer for two separate Bicycle Conferences.  At both conferences, there were specific ‘women forums’ to continue to forward efforts of increasing women ridership here in the U.S.  Leaving California, I was both inspired and new what I had to do in Ohio.  Fast forward to the evening with Mimi and Jeannie.  I told them I planned to organize the first statewide ‘Ohio Women’s Bicycling Summit’ and would they be interested in joining me in this effort.  Immediately, they said ‘hell yes!”  So, for eight months, Jeannie, Mimi, and myself met and planned out this Summit.

Interest and excitement generated, immediately.  Our main sponsors, ROLL and Trek were absolutely incredible.  Then, Detroit’s ‘Autobike’ got in touch with us.  ARC Imaging donated printing costs for us.  And last but not least, food trucks!  OH! Burgers! and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams sponsored and killed it during lunch time  Green Bean Delivery covered all of the yummy fruits during the Summit.  Thank you to all the talented and incredible speakers:  Lisa Hinson, Tammy Krings, Marjorie Shavers, Lindsay Sherman, Lindsey Bower, Emily Burnett, Ohio’s First Lady Karen Kasich, Julie Walcoff, and Rep. Teresa Fedor.

72 women from around the state of Ohio and two women from Indiana.  The overwhelming positive responses from both the attendees and the presenters was absolutely amazing.  The Summit ran without any huge hiccups.  Women were learning, asking questions, laughing, meeting new women, and just enjoying themselves.

I’m grateful for such an amazing first Summit.  This will turn into an annual event.  My main focus is making our city inviting and safe to more modes of transportation.  Men, women, and children deserve ‘choice’ to be able to move about our cities and feel safe doing so.  Us advocates can provide the education; can organize bike rides to build confidence; but there are other components in making people feel that ‘choice,’ in moving around is priority:  political will and infrastructure.  Our wide, arterial streets need to be road dieted and designed with protected bike lanes.  The perception of safety is what I feel a lot of our engineers are missing.  I’ll say it until the light bulb goes off, ‘sharrows do not invite families to ride and feel safe on arterial streets that are four + lanes across and each lane 12+ wide.  Road diets, the narrowing of lanes, and an integrated bicycle network of green lanes, protected lanes, bike boxes, etc. will announce that our leaders are serious about inviting people of all ages to move around the city.  Our leaders making decisions need to be okay with hearing complaints instead of trying to please everyone.  When you create change, you’re gonna hear complaints but the only way to change behavior is to change the infrastructure.  You’re NOT changing the infrastructure when you lay down sharrows.

We have a long way to go and we’re doing better but…  we could be doing even MORE.  We can be building and piloting innovative and bold infrastructure that IS WORKING in other cities.  If we continue to remain status- quo as a city, we’ll continue to get left behind.

Some photos from the first ‘Ohio Women’s Bicycling Summit.’

Be safe and keep riding!

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’2 Wheels & Heels’ Columbus Ladies Basic Bike Mechanics – part deux

So, back in November, I organized my monthly ’2 Wheels’ night to be a basic mechanics evening.  Ladies were very interested and asked if I could set something up and of course I did.  It was a super successful evening at Paradise Garage.  Emily Burnett and Sarah Elizabeth were fantastic in teaching the ladies the basics about their bicycles.

Well, post holidays, I received requests about another basic mechanics evening since folks missed the first one as well as folks just learning so much from the first one – they wanted another.

So this time, Trek Bicycle Store off of Lane Ave hosted us.

42 women showed up last night.  Women ranging from 11 yrs old to 50′s and older.  Numerous ethnic backgrounds and riding abilities.  All women wanting to know best practices, the ‘dos’ and ‘don’t's’ when riding your bike.  Trek’s Raeda and Rhonda took the ladies through the basics of changing a flat, shifting gears, lubing your chain, cleaning your bike due to weather, riding clothing, as well as a few safety tips.  I’m very conscious of ending these events around 9pm.  We’re women and we have numerous responsibilities let alone, we seem to always over extend ourselves.  Well, last night women were asking such wonderful questions that even after the event, women stayed to continue to ask questions.

This kind of an environment was so humbling to be a part of.  It was comfortable, and nobody felt foolish when asking their questions.  The environment and the experiences that took place last night are exactly why I do this.  There IS a need for empowering women and providing women with these kinds of environments so they can build their confidence to ride more.

I feel like women left last night really excited about what they learned and about what’s to come for Women on Bikes -2013 in Columbus.  I look forward to weather being beautiful and the ’2 Wheels & Heels’ ride being out of control, over populated with women coming from all over wanting to become more confident in their riding.

Women make up over 85% of the decision making within families today.  We are the majority when it comes to volunteering in our communities as well as when it comes to taking our kids to school.  If women are confident and excited about riding their bikes, its going to be that much easier to funnel that excitement to their kids.  The bike needs to be ‘normalized’ and women will be the one’s to do this.

Enjoy the photos from last night’s mechanics.  Thanks again to Trek Bicycle Store of Lane Ave.  If you’re a fb user, be sure to search ’2 Wheels & Heels’ and ‘LIKE’ us.  Also, search for ‘Ohio Women’s Bicycling Summit’ as myself and two other colleagues are organizing the first statewide women’s bicycling summit – here in Columbus, Ohio.

Be safe and keep riding.

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2 Wheels & Heels Columbus Ladies Ride: Large and In-Charge

This past Wednesday, I believe around fifty ladies ended up riding together ( I keep forgetting to take a head count).  It was such a beautiful sight.  We rode passed a handful of parks that evening, praising public parks and green space and all its beauty.  A lot of the gals had not been over either of the Main St. Bridge or the Rich St. Bridge – they all loved it.

We had an interim rest stop at the ‘walk up’ Jeni’s in German Village where it was one of the evening’s highlights.  Lori at Caffe’ Apropos LOVED that we began at the Caffe’ and said we were welcome back, any time.  Ya see, bicyclists are a very big positive to a neighborhood and a business.  What is more visually appealing:  cars parked all along the sidewalk blocking the scenery of the patrons lingering at the cafe tables outside OR bicycles of all kinds and colors, locked up and PEOPLE filling the sidewalks with laughter and conversations?  Which one brings life to a neighborhood??

Here are some of the photos taken from Wednesday.  I look forward to next month’s ride which I believe will be a tour of Bexley and the beautiful streets and homes.  I hope the trees will have begun to change as this was my reasoning for waiting.

Be safe and keep riding!

 

 

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2 Wheels & Heels Ladies Ride – Columbus. Parks de’ Jour

Ladies.  The details about the August have been set.  This month we’ll be celebrating ‘Parks.’ Parks de’ jour will be the theme of our ride.  Parks are so important and slowly but surely, more parks are popping up which is so important when creating and maintaining a sustainable city / community.  You gather in parks.  You spend time in parks.  You create friendships and conversations in parks.  Parks are community building and neighborhood building.

We will begin with our meet n greet at Caffe Apropos on the corner of 3rd and Michigan in Harrison West at 6p.  Close to seven, we’ll ride off and visit parks:  Goodale, The Columbus Commons, Genoa, Scioto Mile, and Fetch Park.  During the middle of our ride, we’ll be stopping at the awesome ‘walk up’ Jeni’s in German Village  Bring cash if you want Jeni’s.

Bring your moms, bring your kids, bring your girlfriends or just bring yourself.  This ride is about women empowerment on two wheels.  Women are the majority transportation with our kids so showing the kids at an early age that the bicycle can be just as reliable as the car is essential.

We had close to forty women join us for July’s ride.  Incredible.  Let’s expand!

We will also be supporting two local businesses as well.  Showing that bicycles stimulate the economy just as much as drivers is also important when it comes to future bicycle development, like taking away a parking spot and putting in an on-street bike corral that parks 12 bikes instead of one car.  People first!

If you have any questions about August’s ride, please email me.  My contact email is under the ‘About’ tab.  I look forward to seeing you all

 

Be safe and keep riding!

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A lifestyle perspective

More and more women are showing off their femininity when riding their bikes rather than the racer perspective.   We need more and more of that.

My friend Will took some really chic photos of his wife and neighbor riding this past weekend.  Thanks, Will.

Nothing like riding the new Main St. Bridge with the city as the backdrop.

I don’t know this woman however, she’s beautiful and so is her gorgeous, accessorized bicycle…that I want badly!  You can’t tell me that if more women dressed this way, the stigma of ‘sweat’ and ‘recreation’ would be drop off at the waist side and ‘feminine’ and ‘acceptance’ WOULD finally happen.  More and more women here are riding and dressing for their destination which is what we need to continue to reinforce.  I hope this woman joins my newly formed ‘Two Wheels n Heels’ riding group that’s just been expanded from Cleveland  More to come on that.

More pics of this beautiful woman and her bicycle:

Seriously, when you see a bicycle like this – how do you NOT want to ride??  She needs to join the Tweed Ride Columbus coming up May 6th!

The man and woman above, I spotted them, well their bikes from five blocks down and we all ended up riding around the Topiary Gardens off of Town St.  I stopped them and obviously drooled over their bicycles which have been shipped from the Netherlands (obvious).  I told them about the Tweed Ride Columbus coming up May 6th and I really hope they’re able to join.  I’d love to officially meet with them and talk more.

The upright bicycles really show off style over speed which is what the Slow Bicycle Movement is all about.  Enjoying the journey and looking good, too!

Keep riding!

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Head for the hills!!

Well, not really.   Columbus really doesn’t have ‘hills’ in my opinion.  I mean when people call that ‘dip’ going North on High St. near Nationwide, that kinda makes me giggle just b/c I began biking in San Francisco.

Anywho, last Friday our afternoon work day consisted of filming.  We’ve been filming short education videos for online viewing pleasures.  We hit up The Olentangy Trail and oh, my – it was a glorious, bicycle-filled afternoon on the trail.  Now, ya’ll know that I’m WAY MORE into capturing ‘everyday’ outfits and the idea that there’s no need to change when getting on your bike and going from point A to point B but it was just so great to see that each year, more and more folks are dusting off their bikes and using them.

Enjoy your Monday and I hope none of you (including myself) fall off your bikes with the sudden burst of tornado-esque winds we’ve been having.

Keep riding!

I saw this woman and snapped her b/c I love how I’m seeing more and more folks use their bikes in a ‘ultilitarian’ manner – just like the Europeans.  The more that this is witnessed by others, the more it reinforces that the bicycle can be used for so many things.

I’m also seeing more and more older riders and that makes me very happy.  I’m seeing more of them ride in my neighborhood.  A niche I think that needs some attention – like those High Schoolers who are about to get their licenses!

Little ‘off-road’ action

Here’s some of the crew that was part of filming.  Thanks, ya’ll!

 

And of course I saved the best for last!  Adorbs!

 

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