How did the meetup get started? 

I wanted to get out biking more and get more of a community that I knew around biking. I’ve been to some of the other rides around town. Occasionally they skew a little “Bro [culture]” or towards a more traditional sports group. It wasn’t really my thing. I just ride my bike because that’s what I like to do. This is about creating a space more open to being less competitive, less heteronormative, and just kind of be around people that are similar to me.

What equipment do participants need? 

Anything goes. I try to make it a ride that will not require you to have some sort of specialized off-road bike, but then I also don’t want it to be a ride where you have to have a nice road bike that’ll zip you around really fast. It’s intentionally supposed to be somewhere in the middle. It’s a lot more casual, and what they call “party pace.”

What is your pitch for the ride? 

My biggest thing is I often find myself selling it to people who aren’t bike riders and trying to convert them into biking in general.

It’s a good way to get started biking because someone will plan the route for you. You get to come out and meet other people who like to bike and then hang out. We often have a social stop. In the winter, those are generally indoors and at some sort of establishment, but in the summer, I try to make the social stops some where outside.

March was our first ride after daylight savings. We celebrated by biking to Governors Island to catch the sunset.

How do you decide what route to take? 

I test them out ahead of time. I bike all the time because I don’t have a car, so it’s just all that I do in town to get around.

I definitely ride a lot of them beforehand just to make sure that I can get all of the turn directions accurate. Otherwise, there’s so much conversation and stuff going on during the ride and I’m not always the one [up] front.

Is it a year-round ride, weather permitting? 

It’s a year-round ride. The only weather that I would generally cancel for is extreme cold or one of my least favorite ones is cold rain. If people are not prepared for that, getting wet and cold can be pretty dangerous.

Do you always start in the same spot? 

We always start in Law Park, near the boat launch and tiny beach.

To learn more visit Instagram.com/madison
queerbikeride.