Ladies Ride in its heyday, circa 2009. Organizers say they’d like to see a return to this sort of turnout, as more women take up cycling. Photos courtesy of Lo Somerville.

Two local bicycle groups are meeting on Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30PM in Belmont Shore to discuss how to get more women in Long Beach riding their two-wheeled steeds more often and with more confidence. This is just one small step in a soon-to-be city-wide engagement to encourage more women to commute, race and ride anywhere independently.

Ladies Ride and Boats & Hoes (there will be no boats, nor hoes) are two weekly group rides that meet on different days. The two rides will be consolidating schedules to congregate Wednesday evening for a 20-mile medium-paced ride around Long Beach, ending with food, drinks and discussion at Beachwood Brewing and BBQ. Those who can’t make the ride are welcome to join the group at Beachwood afterward.

The organizers of Ladies Ride are eager to welcome new and experienced cyclists to their Wednesday night spins. The more women who know about it and are willing to show up and be visible, the easier it will be to build a lively, healthy community of empowered female cyclists. Plans for meet-ups with other night rides, such as Gfunk and The Bicycle Stand’s weekly ride have been thrown into the hopper. This is the first ride of many in an effort to keep expanding Long Beach’s female cycling community and to gain support from other local rides.

Allan Crawford, formerly the Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Long Beach is in the midst of organizing a series of monthly training sessions and educational clinics out of Bikestation for women who want to learn better bike handling skills and bicycle maintenance. The Long Beach Post will keep its cycling-advocate readers apprised of these upcoming dates.

For more details on where to meet and what time, visit the Facebook event page, and make sure to RSVP.