Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Women's Ride VI - Bellys Out Ya'll



This Past Sunday I found myself arriving at the Starlite Cafe in Five Points for the Monthly Women's VI (that's 6 for you non Roman types). Every month the ride has an underlying theme and this months theme was, "Belly Out." Despite the fact that it is billed as a women's ride, men are more than welcome join in. Why or how can it be a women's ride if the guys are allowed to tag-a-long? The blog Actionville explains it this way: "This isn't (and never was) about superiority, what this is, is about inclusion. This is about dropping the macho, dropping the aggressiveness and promoting friendship. This is about getting on a bike (any bike bmx to cruiser) and having fun on a sweet themed ride. This is about winding through our city, about a mass of bikers on a Sunday afternoon, about waving to pedestrians and fellow traffic, about showing that, hey bikes exist too. This is and always will be about fun."

All participants (men included) were encouraged to sport some type of half shirt or mid-drift that would present the riders belly for all the visual delight that it would bring. Or in my case, less on the visual delight and more along the lines of fear and loathing, so I opted to not go belly free and save some innocent child from the impending nightmares my uncovered gut would surely bring.

Even though I chose not to ride Belly out, I had a great time with the ladies. And how could one not with such a great group of diverse individuals? Gay, straight, married, single, young, old, tattooed, non-tattooed, male, female, The woman's ride is not about what gender or social class you happen to be. It truly is about getting on bike and taking an easy Sunday afternoon roll through the Urban Core meeting new people and making new friends.



To see all the images from the ride Click Here.

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