Riding in Community

Bikes Bring Us Together. Community Keeps Us Together.

When people ask me why I ride with a group instead of by myself, the obvious answer is that it's more fun.

It is. But after riding for years with the PuMadres—and now spending the past six months launching BABBS and riding alongside our incredible Beginners Program—I don't think that's the real answer anymore. Somewhere along the way, I stopped simply finding people to ride bikes with. I found a community that has quietly been changing me.

It started with accountability. Left to my own devices, there are plenty of Saturday mornings when I'd happily stay snuggled in bed with my fur babies after a long week. But when I know my people are showing up, I show up too.

Years ago, our little PuMadres crew started a group text to figure out who was riding, when, and where. BABBS has since grown into ride calendars, RSVPs, and weekly newsletters, but that text thread never disappeared. Somewhere along the line, it stopped being about organizing rides and became something much more important. It's where we share vacation photos, ask for cat sitters, send memes and inside jokes that absolutely cannot be repeated here, celebrate our kids, cheer each other on through the good and the hard, and remind one another that none of us has to figure life out alone.

The bike got us together. Everything else kept us together.

I've also learned that every rider has something to teach me. Ange rides like a metronome—steady, smooth, and capable of holding the same effort for miles. Chelly loves to fly out of the gate before settling into her rhythm. V is a spectacular climber, and if you can stay close enough (still from behind), you'll learn a thing or two about generating power on a hill. My friend Friday, like me, loves a good descent. Having spent years on motorcycles, she knows exactly how to position her body, trust the bike, and let it rip.

Every rider has a superpower.

If you're paying attention, you get to borrow a little bit of each one.

What has surprised me most, though, is how much I've learned from riders who would probably tell you they're still beginners. Over the past month, I've spent a lot of time riding with Dara, who joined our Beginners Program in March. She was just getting back onto a bike after years away. Our first ride together was about eight miles with maybe twenty feet of climbing. Just a few months later, she completed a 30-mile ride with more than 2,000 feet of elevation.

You might think that, as her coach, I taught Dara a lot. Maybe I did. But Dara taught me just as much. She reminded me to slow down and think more intentionally about how I climb. She reminded me to pay attention to fueling. She reminded me that progress happens one ride at a time. Most importantly, she reminded me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with riding at your own pace and simply enjoying the ride.

Sometimes the "coach" isn't the one doing the coaching.

Maybe that's what riding in community is really about. Yes, we learn how to shift more smoothly, climb more efficiently, descend with more confidence, and become stronger cyclists. But those lessons are almost secondary to what happens off the bike.

Many of us have been riding together since 2022. In that relatively short time, we've celebrated new jobs and navigated job losses. We've supported one another through medical challenges, breakups, family transitions, and all of the joys and indignities that come with our bodies figuring out perimenopause and menopause. We've wrestled with what it means to be women in our 40s, 50s, and beyond—continuing to take up space in a world that often tells us we should shrink ourselves instead.

Somewhere between the miles, the coffee stops, and the group texts, we've learned something much bigger than how to ride bikes. We've learned how to show up. To be seen. To be known. To let ourselves be loved.

When BABBS started, I thought we were building a cycling community. Now I think we've been building something much bigger—a place where women can rediscover pieces of themselves, with bikes simply serving as the vehicle that brings us together.

At least for me, that's been the greatest ride of all.

So if you've been thinking about joining us, consider this your invitation. Come ride with our girl gang. I can't promise you'll become the fastest rider in the group. But I do think you'll learn something about yourself. You'll almost certainly make a few lifelong friends. And if we're doing this right, you'll be reminded, week after week, to laugh a little harder, care a little deeper, and savor this one beautiful, precious life we get to share together.