Cycling culture on Instagram is real. There are thousands of cyclists to follow from the pros to the everyday local hero sharing their adventures, work, and goals. I put together a small list of some of yours and my favorite accounts of American specific cycling accounts of women doing rad things in sports, community, and business. I chose to specify American accounts because we have so many diversities, interests, and lifestyles captured in cycling that don’t often get recognized.
Each of these accounts represent women in America who are doing significant things in cycling to open the doors for the future of women in cycling. From bunnyhopping the patriarchy, advocating for representation in sport, shredding in the mud, building cycling clubs, following and capturing the lives of the pro’s, cooking for optimal performance, cycling children to school and winning stages, here are the women that are showing up and bringing representation to cycling.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWdioKWFdpv/
If you follow pro cycling, you would recognize the iconic images of pro’s in pain and surreal scenic views of cyclists amongst sunflowers in TDF. Ashley Gruber captures those beautiful landscapes and scenes of the pro races. A true talent behind the lens where imagery tells the story. Coupled with her husbands talents, Jared Gruber, their love for the sport seeps out of every pixel. When not chasing down the pros, she is out cycling in her own backyard or places she’s captured while shooting the tour. What I enjoy of her feed is that while she acknowledges that she is an amateur cyclist in these iconic places, that we all love cycling for the same feeling of happiness on a bike.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn7ZBrNh2D1/
Molly Hurford is the author of four books on cycling, and a writer for Bicycling Magazine as well as many other fitness and outdoor publications. She’s the co-host of The Consummate Athlete Podcast, creator of TheOutdoorEdit.com, and a lover of all things bike-related. She also coaches endurance athletes and spends her time traveling the world to find the best places to ride, race, and explore. Recently she’s released Shred Girls, a series and site to educate and encourage girls who want to have fun on their bike. I’ve gotten to know Molly’s work over the years and admire her hustle to do it all while opening doors to girls who want to race or shred.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtrLXMtFgW-/
Ayesha has the goal of becoming the first African-American female pro road cyclist, ever. She works hard towards this goal and is extremely passionate about creating representation in cycling that will encourage and inspire other African-American women and youth to follow their dreams. Ayesha is also the creator of A Quick Brown Fox and hosts a biweekly podcast Quick Brown Foxes. Currently she is leading “Doing Better Together” community virtual training ride on Zwift in preparation of the 2019 cycling season. Her feed captures the passion that drives her work and the community she nurtures to achieve their goals in their community and life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrgHML1BIun/
Sammi Runnels is the probably the most colorful Instagrammer I’ve come across but that doesn’t emphasize over her fixed gear crits and pro cyclocross races. Sammi brings the audience to the races and her rides at home in Texas and around the world. She’s very open about her academic and cycling life, showing that you can crush your school goals, maintain relationships, and still smash it at UCI Cyclocross World Cup races. For those of us who have been following Sammi, we all know that she has been working hard over the years to make it to the pros and couldn’t be more excited to follow her journey to the top.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bru10LwHRKm/
Lori Nedescu is a sports dietitian, writer, pro cyclist, elite marathoner, founder of women’s elite cycling team Femme Equipe, and shares with us her amazing pictures of healthy, portable recipes and her racing adventures traveling and living out of a retrofitted van. As a current professional road cyclist and previous elite runner, Lori educates and showcases to her audience how food can enhance or diminish your health and performance gains. Creator of Hungry For Results (previously Cadence Kitchen), Lori published her own cookbook, 30 Day Whole Food Cookbook + Mealplan, sharing with us the importance of balancing a quality whole food based diet with science-backed performance nutrition. Her feed is colorful, empowering, and full of great nutritional information to live a balanced and wholesome athletic life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkCYw1QnnjW/
I am big fan of the pros and can list the handfuls of those I admire but decided to only share one. Coryn Rivera is a young accomplished Asian American pro cyclist. In her 16 years of competitive cycling, Coryn has mastered different cycling disciplines from road, track, cyclocross, and mtb. She’s accomplished 12 US National Titles from the start of her career to now in her professional category. Her proudest accomplishment is winning the 2018 US Pro Road Race National Championships in Knoxville, TN. California born and bred, it’s great to see young women achieve such great things in pro cycling while managing school, a relationship, and family while aiming to reach the top. Coryn’s feed exemplifies the type of support and encouragement women in pro cycling need from their community and it’s very much celebrated in her photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Boj2eAyBegj/
Molly Sugar is currently combining her love for cycling and design at Ride with GPS in Portland, Oregon. In her free time she is organizing and creating Friends on Bikes, a cycling group that aims to promote more diversity in cycling for women of color, trans and gender non-conforming people of color. She is also the co-founder of WTF Bikexplorers, a summit and ride series supporting, celebrating, and connecting women, trans, femme and non-binary cyclists who use their bicycles to explore. Her feed is full of adventures, friends, and inspiration to get you stoked about bikepacking.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtokKYNABWZ/
Author, advocate, and urban-cycler extraordinaire Madi Carlson provides accessible and appealing guidance, giving even the most hesitant bicyclist all the tools she needs to join the cycling community with their family. Writer of Urban Cycling: How to Get to Work, Save Money, and Use Your Bike for City Living, Madi Carlson is an accomplished advocate and writer in the Seattle bike community promoting bicycling as a means for moving towards sustainable lifestyles and communities. By creating a space for families who cycle in cities, her Instagram showcases that the family and sustainable lifestyle on a bike is achievable, whatever the infrastructure and weather.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnb03pnhL04/
WTF Bikexplorers is a community for Women/Trans/Femme/NB cyclists who use their bicycles to explore. Blending in community, awareness, and advocacy, WTF Explorers promotes education, and working with ambassadors and industries to better bridge representation in the bikepacking/exploring community. Founded by Molly Sugar, Jocelyn Gaudi Quarrel, and Mary Rose Lytlel, they show their raw activism in their feed with stories and community building efforts to educate and provide new opportunities for this very underrepresented community.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo7Rr1KAFs-/
Blackgirlsdobike interests is in growing and supporting a community of women of color who share a passion for cycling. They look to share positive images of ladies with their bikes that affirm the truth that black girls do indeed bike! They encourage bike advocacy, education, volunteerism and safety in communities as well as support, advise, organize rides, and skill education. Founded by Monica Garrison who was looking for a space in cycling to connect with, the community has grown and their feed is all about showcasing how women of color are representing themselves in cycling by rad things they do in their community.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXcLG8B9Rh/
Encourageher Cycling is on a mission is to promote women’s cycling in Southern California through inclusiveness and encouragement. Founded by Monica De Leon and Margaret Sandoval, they began organizing rides with other women to share the same love of cycling, food and a good time! No QOMs, no fees, no A, B group, no drop (for reals) and no pressure, just a ride to encourage, empower, educate. Supported by Skratch Labs, Machines For Freedom, and Specialized Costa Mesa, they work with the local community to educate and promote cycling. Their feed is incredibly encouraging to see women of all backgrounds and levels cycling for enjoyment together.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrlogclFZE8/
Bike Shop Girl as a website and online community focused on empowering women and families in cycling. Helping fill a void for a much-needed voice educating and advocating for women and novice cyclists in the industry. In 2018, Arleigh started the very popular bike industry podcast – Shift Up. Through many interviews and hours talking with some of the brightest minds, she heard deeply a calling to provide a “third place” of an inclusive family-focused city bike shop to remove barriers to get more people on bikes. After months of research, she decided it was time to take action and create the bike shop she always wanted for her community. Her feed creates that third place for inclusive family focused cycling and celebrates children and families on two wheels.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtmZpr2g8LB/
And finally the genius of satire and boss babe of all #bikebabes, Gravel Tryhard. Instagram is full of unrealistic images of models cladly dressed and awkwardly posing with bikes. While the majority of women in cycling don’t take these models images seriously, they have the most likes (mostly men) and brands working with them to sell their products. While I strongly believe that Instagram can also be a space for desperate likes and sales, I think these images do more harm than good. And while trolls may think it’s anti feminist of us to point these women’s choices to pose and dress so, I strongly believe that there is nothing more antifeminist that accessorizing the female body to sell products and gain likes. The cycling community has taken down brands before because of this, remember Assos? It’s about time the community talks about it and why not use humor to get the conversation going.
Any more awesome accounts to follow that should get a shout out? Share with us your favorite women in cycling Instagram accounts in comments below!
Image: Encourageher Cycling