How Do You Find Girls to Ride With?

So you want to get started riding, but you’re getting a little tired of just riding with your mom and dad? It’s time to branch out and find some girls to ride with… But how? The challenge is real, but there are a few ways you can speed up the search for a new biking BFF.

Bike Parks

Places like Joyride150 and Ray’s Indoor MTB Park are awesome: they’re huge indoor parks for BMX (but you can also ride a mountain bike in them!). They often have some programming if you want to learn to ride, but even just heading to the park and playing around on bikes will almost always mean running into another girl your age to hang out with.

(PS: read this article about getting comfortable at the bike park before you go!)

Local Cycling Youth Teams

There are lots more youth development teams these days—if you can’t find one in your area, ask at a local bike shop, since often shop owners will know about even the smallest local teams. (And don’t worry: most teams don’t expect you to be super serious about riding, so even if you’re totally new to the sport, you’ll be welcome!)

NICA

The US-based National Interscholastic Cycling Association just launched their GRiT (Girls Riding Together) initiative, and are actively looking to get #MoreGirlsOnBikes. NICA is for high schoolers, and 23 states now have chapters. You can check out their website to see if there’s a group near you, or to find information on starting one! (Check out their website here.)

Fast & Female

This Canadian-based organization designed to get more girls into sport—including mountain biking!—is growing every year with tons of girls getting involved. They host a bunch of free events, and it’s a great way to find other like-minded girls. (Check out their website here.)

Local Cycling Clubs

Even if the clubs are generally full of adults, you can check with them to see if there are any younger members (or kids of members!) who ride. It might not mean riding as official team or club members, but there are usually a few other girls who are into cycling that you can find!

Scout Instagram

Check out popular ride locations in your area on Instagram and see if any girls are posting pictures from rides. It’s a long-shot, but you never know!

Local Races

You might not want to race your bike (or at least, not yet), but going to local races is a great way to meet other young riders in your area. Again, if you can’t find any races looking online, check at your local bike shop to find out what’s happening in and around your town.

Hang with the Boys

OK, last but not least, if there aren’t any girls in your area riding yet, you can still make cycling friends. There are tons of boys riding as well, and most of them are welcoming to girls who want to shred. So don’t be intimidated if you’re the only girl on the team!

Take Advice from other Shred Girls

Our real life Shred Girls have all found friends through cycling, and here, we rounded up their best tips and tricks!