Idiot Whoa!

Stop!

Jesus ____ Christ!

Woah, woah, woah, woah Whew!

You can wait a second.

As a woman cyclist, the main challenge is really just that we're such a minority.

That can be intimidating.

When I first started cycling, I would just try to find a good fit for, I don't know, feeling comfortable, especially as an early cyclist.

And I had some moments of, like, questioning, oh, is this for me?

I love biking and just, zoning out, but there's definitely some times where I feel like I have to be super alert.

I also think that cars, not that they get more mad at you for being a woman, but like, you just have to be that much more serious when a car almost hits you and you have to have that interaction.

I'm a bike courier in Denver.

Aggressive drivers are very real part of being a cyclist, especially obviously one on city streets where there's no bike infrastructure.

I've been hit by countless cars riding on the street, both on and off the job.

I've had things thrown at me.

I've had I get yelled at all the time.

People drive too close to you on purpose Someone intentionally hit me with their car wild bombing down Downing and walked over and there was a car.

Just like WHOMP Like coming into my lane, like eye contact with me and I was like That was not cool.

When I tell my coworkers I'm going to commute to work on my bike and they're just like, “Why would you do that?” Like, it's so dangerous.

It's never a celebration.

Something about being on a bike.

You feel free.

You are free.

And biking is... I like to think it kind of like, as an anarchist way of moving through the world.

If you picture you have a car, you are.

You are in the system, so to speak.

Whereas cycling, it's a very like, autonomous, almost like ghostly way of being.

So Fems and Thems is a group for female and non-binary folks.

A place a place to experience joy, be outside, to learn about new paths, and to meet people who, at a baseline, have shared value of riding bikes and then from there probably have other shared values, to be honest, which includes, you know, minimizing car use and just connecting with oneself and into our communities.

Not stopping.

Since joining and leading with Fems and Thems there has been this extra level of just empowerment and encouragement to sort of take biking into other avenues and ways of being.

And since then I tried bikepacking for the first time.

I mean, I rode a bike for ten years, and it wasn't until riding with Fems and Thems and I'm like, we got this and that, I got this and we all got this.

What do you think of these conditions?

I live for this.

I think it's so interesting how many different people and different walks of life come to this group and I've personally met so many people who I never would have met friends.

Fems and Thems was the first space I spent any time in where I've felt unquestionably accepted as a woman, which is about as empowering as it gets.

I know I'm always going to have friends there, but yeah, above all, it's like it's a safe space and a world where the amount of safe spaces are dwindling.

My friend, I won't name her, but my friend I brought her on a group ride, and so we're like a mile from where we usually start our rides and we go under this really dark tunnel.

And it's just kind of a tunnel you are going around this sharp corner and you have to go really fast cause then you have to get up this hill.

But it's dark under there.

There was like, what?

like 18 of us in front of her.

And then you're trying to rush to get up this hill.

And I heard screaming and I thought it was such a tight corner that someone must have felt like that's automatically where my mind went.

And so I get to the top of the hill and I look back and there's more screaming.

And my friend, this man, he was standing in the darkness of the tunnel and he, I think he saw her towards the back, got in front of her and reached out, and choked her.

And it's just so disheartening because you can do everything right.

Like you can ride with a group of experienced bikers.

20 of us.

And still these things happen.

In talks with my friend, she's like, are you going to invite me back?

And I was like, yes.

I was like, oh my gosh, yes.

Well, we can learn from these situations.

Is that I don't know, I think it's horrible and awful what happened, but I don't think that's a reason to not bike.

I think it's a reason to continue to bike together.

A century is riding 100 miles in one go.

It sounds like a lot.

It sounds really intimidating.

I used to think the same thing.

So what's cool Fems and Thems centuries is... that I did a century not even knowing I was going to do it.

It's crazy.

It's very accessible.

And it's a DIY century, more or less.

The leaders are planning these routes and anybody can show up.

And there's no commitment, points of easy access to dip out if 30 or 40 miles is all that you can do.

And I showed up to the first century thinking that same thing.

I had a single speed bike.

I had no training, I had been riding with Fems and Thems only couple months, and I think the farthest I'd ever ridden my bike was like 28 miles.

And I'm like, well, you know, I love these folks.

The vibe of the day, like the community, the support, the adrenaline, the friendships.

This hype was so high that I just couldn't stop.

It was almost like training as you go, like it actually got easier.

You get there like what, six, seven in the morning?

It's mile zero.

And, I feel unprepared and delusional Feeling hopeful and nervous and a little cold, but excited.

Feeling good Oh, yeah?

Confident.

All right, I love it.

You see 30 people like you're not alone.

It's not like you're like, oh, I have to do this all alone.

Like, you see like 20 to 30 people.

And there's, like, this energy about it.

To know we're all going to do this and we're all going to finish it together.

I think the accessibility and the DIY feel to these centuries really just makes it feel like anybody can do it.

And, you know, you're filling up your water bottles at 7-Eleven.

soda fountain station.

And, you know, getting the little corndog rollers to go Ive thinking about a hot dog since like mile 25 We got the 3 Ps here, pickles, Pedialyte and PBR nioce oh man, there are a lot of fun.

I highly recommend, even if you don't think you can.

Music's bumping, lots of lots of snack breaks.

Really encouraging environment.

It seems like every century yall done, there've been several people that have never ridden a century before, many that have never ridden their bike more than like 20 miles before they all competed.

So there's a really strong like group support system.

I think being a part of this community has empowered me as a cyclist by just showing me that I can do hard things and I can enjoy it.

There is something truly empowering about doing a ride that's longer than you've ever done or doing a grocery run that you weren't expecting to be able to do on a bike.

You know, one thing I forever get joy in is when we had days like yesterday where there's a foot of snow on the ground, is biking past, you know, the bumper to bumper traffic.

That feels very liberating.

Just not being stuck in a car and realizing, like your bike can take you anywhere if you set yourself up for success.

Like you don't really need a car.

So much more joy just being on a bike.

Even mundane activities like I got to go to work, or go to the bank or the grocery store and run errands like it never feels tedious.

It feels like, ooh, there's that little giddy excitement of, well, I'm going to ride my bike and I'm going for a bike ride In a society where we're always hustling to the next thing and trying to get somewhere the fastest way or the most efficient way.

It feels like a little delight, like something a little selfish to take your time getting there.

My favorite thing about biking i getting somewhere super fast and feeling like, wow, that would have been a whole hassle in a car.

A bike is like, it's like a really good friend.

And you know, I don't mean to assign inanimate objects these human qualities, but in a way, a bike is like it's there for you.

My trusty old PureFix Real weathered and tried and true.

It's like a hug, like it lifts your spirits away to be in community, or even just to be closer to yourself.

I get it, I get what they say about movement being a release of emotions and anxiety and things like that.

Cycling is a lot of things for me.

I really like that.

It's something that I can do by myself or with other people, and it really allows me, as a trans person, to connect with my body in ways that I find really difficult to do so in the past and really, really find a lot of freedom and joy and self-reliance riding my bike.

My daily commute I bike to work.

It's only a mile.

It's very close.

But there's this one particular hill and it's a very small hill.

You wouldn't notice it in a car, but when I'm rolling down the hill and the light turns green as I'm rolling, I can get that sharp left turn.

And I always try to get a little extra speed, and it's really exhilarating and if I we're just driving to work.

You don't notice little things like the slight angles of the road or any of that, but for some reason that turn brings me daily joy.

I saw her dancing all alone, kicking sand up & down the shore Around the fire, eyes aglow.

Watch it all go up in smoke.

Drive by the homes we used to know.

Missed the turn off Cedar Grove Neighbours' garden's overgrown, throwing shadows across the road