Black Girl Joy Bike Ride is for black women interested in easy, stress-free bike rides

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, competitive cycling group, the Black Girl Joy Bike Ride is not for you.

On Sunday morning, August 11, members of the Black Girl Joy Bike Ride rolled at a leisurely pace through Fairmount Park for their twice-monthly meeting. The group of black women meet for stress-free rides where they crank up music from speakers, chat and network, and of course, get some exercise.

“It’s so much joy. I’m so happy that I can create a welcoming space for women. They’re doing something good for themselves there. But we’re also doing something that is an act of caring for the community. You never have to do anything alone,” said Iresha Picot, founder of Black Girl Joy Bike Ride and mental health professional.

The group typically follows one of two loop routes on either side of the park – from Parkside Avenue through the Belmont Plateau or along the Boxers’ Trail. Picot posts the location and time of each ride in advance on her Instagram page @ireshadahoodtherapist. Each ride lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, including a water break, and proceeds at a leisurely pace. Some riders have their own bikes, but many use Indego passes that Picot provides. She said she wants to keep the barriers to entry as low as possible.

“It’s free,” she said. “All you have to do is show up and bring something of your own.”

Reducing barriers to cycling

Picot grew up in rural southern Virginia, where her older sisters taught her to ride a bike as a little girl. Everyone rode around on bikes. But after she moved to Philadelphia nearly two decades ago for graduate school at Temple University, Picot rode her bike less often. At first she commuted on SEPTA, then her bike was stolen. A few years later, she got a car.

She started cycling again at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic because it gave her a reason to get out of the house and meet people from her West Philly community again.

“It felt so free. … It was just a great feeling to do something that gave me a lot of joy,” she said of her return to the bike after such a long time.

When Picot began asking her friends to accompany her on rides, she noticed a pattern.

“Many of my friends who are black women either didn’t know how to ride a bike … or they found it a barrier to owning a bike or even using an Indego pass,” she said.

Some of their friends never had the opportunity to learn to ride a bike when they were growing up, or were worried about their safety in traffic on Philadelphia streets. Others thought bikes were too expensive, or they were afraid of being left behind for going too slowly when they were ready to bike in a group.

In 2023, Picot decided to start a group so other women could think about cycling the way she did. Picot received a grant from Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to fund Indego passes, and the Better Bike Share Partnership donated helmets.

An act of self-care

Nia Pettis of West Philly found the group through one of Picot’s Instagram posts. She said she likes that they keep shorter distances and a slower pace than the average cycling group. Because it’s free to join, it’s easier to join and she’s become one of the group’s regular riders.

Pettis said building a community with other black women through the group has been “really encouraging and inspiring,” and she’s even joined a book club hosted by one of the other cyclists. What she likes most about the group is the support they get from other people as they ride by.

“A lot of people sit outside on their porches and cheer us on too. And I think that’s great. It’s just fun. And it encourages other people when they see us on the bikes. They say, ‘I’m going to do my workout now,'” she said.

For Shauna Johnson of Southwest Philly, participating in the Black Girl Joy Bike Ride is an act of self-care. She said black women in their 40s like her tend not to prioritize themselves as much as they should.

“It’s just a great experience. I’m so grateful to be part of something so positive.”

“I run a small day care business and sometimes I don’t have time for myself, so it’s great to have that one day where I meet the ladies and go for a ride,” she said. “Just being with the ladies is a good way to take care of yourself and connect with different people.”

Through this networking, Johnson met someone who was able to help her with some calls to help her with issues with registration at her daycare. Johnson usually stays at the back of the group and helps less confident riders keep going.

“It’s just a great experience. I’m so grateful to be part of something so positive,” she said.

Picot wants to grow the Black Girl Joy Bike Ride. She said her goal is to find more funding so the regular female cyclists can get their own bikes so they can train on their own and join other cycling groups. She doesn’t plan to change the substance of the group; she said she just wants women to continue to feel “empowered” on bikes.

“They constantly tell me they are grateful that this space was created,” Picot said.

“Last time, a new person came in and she messaged me and said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt more welcome in a room.’ That was really great.”