It\u2019s a humid, warm September day. The clock nears 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, and the sound of car tires spinning on the pavement begins to fade away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ratcheting noise made as the back wheel spins on a bike. It\u2019s a distinctive sound. It breaks through the silence of Sand Island on the way to the Ice House parking lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the clock approaches 6:00 p.m., the sound grows. People are arriving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the group is ready, the kickstands flip up, and everyone pushes off. Tires crunch against the pavement as the riders push off in unison, trailing their ride leader, Colleen McAndrew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the past 25 years, the all-women bike group has been bound by a shared love of cycling.<\/p>\n
Organized by the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, these weekly Wednesday rides serve a larger purpose. They\u2019re an example of the coalition\u2019s mission where public transportation prevails, according to their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jennifer Cunningham is a board member and frequently attends the weekly women\u2019s rides. She previously served as the vice president of the coalition and the chair of the finance and fundraising committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cunningham said the coalition\u2019s objective is to be a welcoming place for everybody who wants to ride a bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou could be a road bike racer, you could be a gravel person, or you couldn\u2019t have even been on your bike in 30 years, but when you walk in it just feels really welcoming to everyone,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The coalition\u2019s co-op is a cooperative located on the North Side where anyone can work on their bike, help others with their bikes, rebuild a bike to be donated or get cycling advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cunningham and McAndrew said the weekly women\u2019s ride is a great way for women to have camaraderie with each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn the co-ed rides that many of the bike shops lead, the men are usually going much faster, and the women feel like they don\u2019t know all the mechanics, so they want a space where they can ask questions and feel comfortable going slower,\u201d Cunningham said.\u00a0<\/p>\n McAndrew has been riding consistently with the group for the past three years, becoming a ride leader for the group just last year. She said that no one is too slow for the ride and that\u2019s part of the reason it\u2019s women-only, so they can feel comfortable asking questions and ride at their own pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cunningham said the Wednesday evening rides typically see a core group between five to 10 riders, although it varies depending on weather and the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a ride leader, McAndrew was trained in group safety and riding protocols through the coalition and is one of approximately 15 other leaders who have received this training and can step in to lead rides.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the weekly women\u2019s rides, the coalition hosts other biking events that are open to everyone. Their rides are found on the website Meetup<\/a> and allow people to locate and RSVP for upcoming events they\u2019re interested in.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some of their largest events are holiday-themed bike rides.\u00a0<\/p>\n