Fostering a community for women, trans and gender non-conforming *BIPOC who love riding bikes.
BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color
PURPOSE
Our purpose is to promote and grow diversity in cycling. Our efforts are focused on BIPOC who are trans, women, intersex, and gender non-conforming.
WE VALUE
Community
We want to ensure that Friends on Bikes have a safe, supportive and fun cycling community that they belong to. We encourage all forms of riding, from everyday commuting to casual riding to off-road adventures.
Awareness
We want to bring more exposure to BIPOC who are women, trans, or non-binary and who are not currently being heard in the cycling community. There is a huge lack of representation for BIPOC in cycling media, advocacy, and organizations. We believe that we can break down the typical white male cyclist stereotype if we combine and amplify our voices together.
Advocacy
We believe in volunteering, donating, and working with our allies to encourage more cycling advocacy with the Friends on Bikes community. We support nonprofits, businesses, and individuals who encourage progress for the cycling community.
WHO WE ARE
Portland, Oregon
Molly
Molly was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Maryland. She fell in love with bikes in 2007 while attending Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Afterwards she lived in Brooklyn, NY and got hooked on riding her fixie through the busy streets. She moved to Portland at the end of August 2016 after biking from Virginia to Oregon. Ever since then she prefers riding with gears (and brakes) and is planning her next long adventure.
Founder, Portland Chapter Leader
Rachel
Raised first generation in a large Latinx immigrant community near Downtown LA, Rachel began riding a bicycle in the city as a last resort to heal a knee injury. To her surprise, the bicycle healed her in more ways than one, and with every bike ride felt more empowered while learning and loving her home city all over again. Living in Portland, Oregon since 2011, she is still happily riding through the city, and in 2017 had her first bikecamping experience with Friends on Bikes. Let’s ride!/Andemos en bici!
Portland Chapter Ride Leader
Toronto, Canada
BIKEPOC
BIKEPOC is a sibling chapter of Friends on Bikes and located in Toronto, CA. Similar to FOB, BIKEPOC is a social cycling group for BIPOC who identify as Women, Trans, Femme, Non-Binary.
They will be hosting monthly social rides, workshops, and bike camping trips throughout the year. You do not need to be a hardcore cyclist to participate, and they encourage all levels of riding to join.
Seattle, Washington
FOB SEA
FOB SEA is a sibling chapter of Friends on Bikes and located in Seattle, Washington. They organize rides and social events for BIPOC trans, women, intersex, and gender nonconforming (TWIG) folks!
FOB SEA looks forward to a summer full of fun, snacks, and radical bike love.
R.I.P. SJ
SJ was born in Kansas and has fond memories of crushing down the Shunga Trail as a kid. While living in Montreal, SJ started riding bikes as a means of transportation. Their first overnight bike camping trip was to Harold Parker State Forest from Boston. Now in Seattle, SJ has retired from working as a bike mechanic and is enjoying riding their bike to explore the Pacific Northwest.
On May 19th, SJ was fatally attacked while biking outside of Seattle. SJ’s death is a huge loss to the cycling community. They were a positive light who worked tirelessly to create change. We are deeply saddened to lose our friend and they will be forever in our hearts. SJ's legacy continues with the SJ Brooks RAR Scholarship, a scholarship for BIPOC and FTWN-B folks who receive a financial stipend, bikes and gear for their spirited bike endeavors.
BEHIND THE NAME
F.O.B.
The name Friends on Bikes originally came from a group of (Asian) friends while attending Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA who loved all things related to cycling. From exploring their city on two wheels, to riding in almost every state in America. While most of the group has moved to other states, they still possess a passion for cycling and ride their bikes together whenever they reunite. Their group represents a diverse mix of Asian backgrounds - Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan and Filipino.
