Mineola Bicycle Holds Second Annual Women’s Bike Ride

If you were driving around Mineola on Sunday there is a good chance you may have been held by 50-plus women cyclists as Mineola Bicycle held its Second Annual Women’s Bike Ride.

While most cycling events have some parameters dictating who can ride, the bike ride is open to women of all levels of ability and varying degrees of cycling experience. Whether they were athletes, young or old, had a road bike or a mountain bike women came out to cycle on village streets.

“We always saw it [club rides] monopolized by men,” Mineola Bicycle manager Barry Dworkin said. “We do have some women in the club but it’s definitely outnumbered by men. So we wanted to organize a ride dedicated to women, exclusive for women, where they could be any type of cyclist, where it could be avid to novice, they could be any type of bike from road bike to cruiser. It’s really just to say something to the community – look we’re women, we’re on our bikes, we’re in a large group and we aren’t going to be outdone by the men.”

The event hoped to generate interest in cycling in some of the people in attendance. JoAnn Lettini, who normally rides with the club and helps lead several of their weekly rides, helped organize the event and was integral in formulating the original plan. She repeated the role for Sunday’s ride when she lead the group through the course that she also helped plan out.

“I thought the ride went fantastic,” she said, hoping that the ride would continue for many years. “They all really did awesome. It is a fantastic sport. You make the sport your own.”

For Lettini cycling brings “a sense of freedom. You get out there you’re on the open road,” she said. “It’s something you can do it yourself or you can do it with others. I call it my natural tranquilizer.”

She encourages anyone interested to contect Mineola Bicycle or the club if they are interested in pursuing cycling.

The social aspect of the sport is a large reason why Mineola Bicycle held the women’s ride for a second year; to give female cyclists from the village and surrounding areas an opportunity to be together while doing something healthy.

“You are intermingling with people with the same interests,” Lettini said. “If you have a problem in an area, maybe climbing hills, you are not the only one. When you are in with a group a lot of people are in the same boat as you are and you are not feeling so discourage in any area. The cycling community is a nice community everybody helps one another. It’s an activity you enjoy and you don’t even realize you’re exercising.”

Lettini had set one of her own challenges last year – to cycle 300 days out of the year, ending up with 4,830 miles on her odometer. A typical ride can last anywhere from 30 to 50 miles.

Last year the club gained some members from the ride. These members made it their goal to be able to ride on a regular club ride, a goal they also met.

Dan Aviles is a founder of the Mineola Bicycle Racing Team and Club, starting the group because there weren’t any teams racing aggressively in the area. The club began with five people and now is up to 25 on the team, with 250 total members. He emphasizes the health aspect but admits it was an unforeseen consequence. “People were coming in and losing weight,” he said.

Lenniti wants to hold a family ride next as cycling was always a part of her own family and she would like to bring that element to an organized club ride. The annual bicycle safety day is also planned for May 10 to promote bike safety across all levels of cyclists.

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