In third season, Inspire Cycling hopes to empower more women to join the sport

Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in the 2024 Cycling Guide.

Roaring Fork Valley-based Inspire Cycling has a simple mission: to provide women who like to cycle with the camaraderie but without the pressure to push beyond their limits to fit in.

The women’s cycling nonprofit was started in 2022 by Vega Brhely to give women in the valley a space to cycle in a low-stakes group setting. Brhely is a professional bike fitter, and would often hear complaints from her female clients that there was a lack of community for cycling with women in the area.

“They felt intimidated … and said they had nobody to ride with,” she said. “I kept getting more and more of these clients saying the same thing and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh I need to connect all these women and make a safe space for any skill level to meet up and make a more social community centered around bikes.'”

Inspire Cycling was created with the number one rule being “no slow-shaming,” Brhely said. The group puts together a ride calendar every year where women of all ages can sign up and join for a bike ride at their own pace.

In its first season in 2022, about 80 members joined for almost 50 guided rides throughout the summer. Last year, Inspire Cycling ended the season with over 100 members, and it’s hoping for even more this season.

Brhely was the only bike guide in the beginning, but going into the 2024 season, there will be five guides who will each lead one ride per month. The season runs from May to October.

“Each of us leads one ride a month, and we all do the same ride every month and the same time so that it’s kind of like a dependable friend,” she said.

All of the guides are volunteers. Most of the rides are on roads, but Brhely is working to recruit two other women to lead mountain bike rides to give the members even more options to explore cycling in the valley.

Women of all ages have taken part in Inspire Cycling’s community. The youngest member is 20 years old, and the group changed its age requirements from 21 years or older to allow her to join when she was 18 years old. The oldest member is 73.

Inspire Cycling kicks off each season with a flagship “ice cream social ride.”

“We’ve had people show up on mountain bikes, we’ve had people show up on e-bikes, we’ve had people show up with their cruisers, and it’s this age range that’s just incredible,” Brhely said. “When I lead those rides, I’m at the beginning so I can just hear all this chattering behind me, it’s like people getting to know each other and connecting. It’s pretty cool.”

Registration for the 2024 Inspire Cycling season opened on Friday, March 8, on International Women’s Day. There is a $25 registration fee, which goes toward insurance for riders, operational costs such as League of American Bicyclists memberships, and other costs included in hiring professional coaches for clinics.

Those who are interested in registering are encouraged to join Inspire Cycling’s website, where calendars and other updates will be posted throughout the season.

“There are so many people in this valley that I think sometimes get overlooked because they’re not hard-charging, uber-athletes that are former Olympians that live in the valley,” Brhely said. “They’re just as important and just as valuable to the cycling community, and whether you’re racing or doing multiple-day backpacking trips, or just riding your single-speed bike on the bike path, I think there’s value to every single participant and I think it’s important to acknowledge that.”