Dozens of women traversed the bike trails in the Skyline Drive Wilderness Area in Rapid City to celebrate inclusivity and community.
Emily Brown is a field guide at SRAM in Spearfish, a company that makes bicycle components. She, together with Acme Bicycles and what’s now called the Black Hills Bike Hub, hosted the event.
Riders in two groups from beginners to advanced faced the trails on the Skyline Drive Wilderness Area.
Brown led one of the groups and said rides like these lend to good opportunities to practice and try new things in a welcoming environment.
“The beauty of bringing just women together, it offers a really empowering vibe. Traditionally, when men are involved, they usually take leadership, they usually talk more, they are usually the ones who are trying to show everyone how its done – and not even on purpose, unintentionally – that can naturally push women to the back of the line," said Brown.
"Taking that element out of it allows women to speak up more, allows women to make decisions for themselves, allows them to lead the front of the pack. But sometimes you have to tear down that barrier.”
Also part of the celebration— the group is changing its name from the Black Hills Mountain Bike Association to the Black Hills Bike Hub.
Emily Berry is the Vice President of the group. She said it’s more than just a name change. It also aids in inclusivity and support for all types of riding disciplines, not just mountain bikes.
"There's a lot of people in this community who have a project they want to do and they just didn't have the organizational support to do that," Berry said.
"You need a 501(c)(3), you need liability insurance. We're able to now be the support mechanism to enable our members to immediately start having community impact with the projects they're passionate about—whether that's building a new trail, hosting an event, or educational experience—we want to be the underlying support to make that really easy for them."
Learn more about Black Hills Bike Hub here.