Thanks to those who attended the KC Women’s Bike Summit

Thank you to all the women that came to the KC Women’s Bike Summit and made this event a huge success.

We are humbled and honored that over 150 women (and a few men) filled the seats and halls of the Kauffman Foundation. More than half of the you biked to the conference, and we had a great group of kids (future advocates) participate in the activities.

We learned so much from you – we listened intentionally, because we are trying to solve a problem and can’t do it without your input.

We asked you the barriers to biking in KC and the top two responses were:

1. A lack of confidence and

2. The lack of a network.

We hope that you gained both at the Summit.

We gave you a charge to help us find our unified voice, make a pledge to help get more women (and girls) on bikes, and meet at least three new people.

Some of the great responses to what our unified voices should say were so spectacular we wanted to share them with you!

Cyclists are people, too.
It’s ok to go slow.
Enjoy the journey.
Bike your own way, it is ok!
All bicycling is valid. We are all one.

We also listened to some wonderful biking stories. We had many to pick from but here are a few of our favorites.

I lost my husband and my car at the same time. I don’t miss either of them!
I’ve been hit by a car, but I have overcome worse. I still ride and I am proud to do so.
Biking has been getting me back in shape after cancer.

On a century ride, I used a ham sandwich as a seat cushion. (We would like to hear the rest of this story)
Bicycling is cheaper than therapy and healthier than vodka!

We love that you joined us at this inaugural event, and we want to continue the conversation with you and help build our bike network and Womens Bike KC initiative. Stay tuned for continued efforts as part of BikeWalkKC’s Women Bike KC initiative. Please consider becoming a member and joining BikeWalkKC.

Photos from the event will also be posted soon. In the coming months, we’ll be compiling more resources together to make it easier and even more fun to be a cyclist in KC. If you have comments, suggestions or ideas about what we can do to make a safe space for women cyclists, please email info@bikewalkkc.org. For info on becoming a BikeWalkKC member visit our website.

Thanks to our sponsors as well for making this event happen, including USBank, Velo +, Kansas City City Manager’s Office, Paceline Products, Port Authority, Road Holland, Spin! Pizza, Road Groups, KC MultiSport, Shipley Communications, and Vitality Chiropractic.

Many thanks for your support of BikeWalkKC and our Women’s Bike KC Initiative, only together we can work towards making KC a healthier, more active community.

–The BikeWalkKC Family