Greater Philadelphia Bicycle News: Biking from NYC to DC to Speak Up for Women in Bicycling

The Women's Forum and National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. are coming up the first week in March. While many Bicycle Coalition staff will be there, one of us is getting there via bicycle.

Our Education Fellow Katie Monroe will be joining nine other women in a bike ride from New York City to Washington D.C. These women are activist leaders from WE Bike NYC, Philadelphia's own Gearing Up (Program Director Kaelin Proud), Women Bike PHL, Black Women Bike: DC, and Women & Bicycles and they're undertaking a "purposeful adventure" to get to the National Bike Summit.

Why ride to D.C.?
The number of women who commute to work by bicycle has increased 56% in the last year. Lower-income individuals (earning less than $30,000) accounted for 28% of bike trips as recently as 2009 — more than 1.1 billion bike trips overall. Yet both of these groups are woefully under-represented in national transportation conversations. So the ride's goal is to support the League of American Bicyclists’ efforts to include underrepresented cyclists at the decision-making table through the inclusion of ten voices that would not be able to attend the summit without the financial support generated by this ride.

They are raising funds to make this happen. If you would like to help Katie and her fellow adventurers on their trip to D.C., you can donate at their Indiegogo campaign. You can learn more about the ride on WE Bike NYC's website.

The women will be taking a pretty direct route from New York to Washington D.C (boring). But one stretch goal of their Indiegogo campaign* will allow them to pedal really fast and check out some of the fine small-town bike share programs in the area. (Area = Burlington, Keene, Mt. Vernon, Tulsa, and Chapel Hill.) We think it's doable in three days if they're really motivated and get up early. Plus we hear Keene, NH is beautiful in early March.