The Rebirth of Women's Night (Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective)

"I'm from New Jersey. I'm tough. I work in construction and I'm an engineer. I'm used to playing with the boys," said Deb Henry, a political activist, bicycle enthusiast, transportation engineer and the brains behind the recently reinstated Women's Night at the Salt Lake City Bike Collective. Deb said, "The first few times I went to the Collective it felt unfriendly and intimidating. I figured if I was turned off to the Collective back in 2010, I couldn't even imagine what other people thought. I didn't want that lack of a mediator to keep someone from falling in love with the Collective, getting involved, or being empowered through learning new things. Most of all, I didn't want people to not be riding a bike at all because of the bottleneck of the first impression walking through the door. I wanted to facilitate introducing the Collective to more people."

Thanks to Deb and Jonathan Morrison (the Executive Director of the SLC Bicycle Collective), the second edition of Women's Night has been having terrific turnouts, even surprising the skeptics. "I was told that Women's Night would be hard to get off the ground, but I reached out to various groups of friends, spread the word on Facebook via SaltCycle's group page, invited people individually that had mentioned they wanted to ride bikes more, and the response has been wonderful."

Deb Henry, fixing up a winter ride.

You see, Women's Night at the SLC Bicycle Collective used to exist, starting back in 2008 and fading out some time in 2010. For various reasons, like low attendance and perhaps a greater sense of intimidation, the event fizzled out and it was unknown if we'd ever see Women's Night again. So during Deb Henry's first meeting after joining the SLC Bicycle Collective's Board of Directors in September of 2010, she decided she was going to rekindle Women's Night, whatever that took.

But why Women's Night?

As Deb puts it, "I don't necessarily think that a Women's Night is necessary, nor is it the only way that someone who identifies as female can participate at the Collective. If I thought that having a Clown Night or Zombie Night would get more people to the Collective, I'd be willing to try that, too. I'm interested in getting more people on bikes, period. I'm also interested in getting a bigger diversity of genders, races, and all demographics mingling at the Collective."
The problem is that overzealous bike nerds (see any Heart of Darkness Alley Cat for details) tend to be a little intimidating for someone who doesn't yet know how to fix a flat. And though the Collective is often more approachable than bike shops can be, the unusual do-it-yourself feel can also be terrifying. And let's face it, nobody really enjoys learning how to do new things when they have to ask a lot of seemingly stupid questions along the way, too. I'm not sure why we humans have a hard time asking for help, but pride seems to manifests itself often in the bicycle world. The SLC Bicycle Collective is trying to mitigate that very issue; there's no such thing as a stupid question. Deb Henry points out the positive feedback loop that often exists for beginning cyclists. "There were people building bikes from scratch at the Collective and I didn't even know the basics. I was worried about going too far on my bicycle because I was worried something might go wrong. Less confidence about my skills meant that I didn't spend as much time on my bicycle as I wanted to."

I myself still find myself reading about bike mechanic stuff on sheldonbrown.com instead of simply asking one of my many bike savvy friends for help. There's something in me, and probably in many of the independent lady types who want to ride bikes, that has a hard time admitting that I don't know how to do something yet. This isn't something only we women experience, of course. Pride certainly isn't gendered. But having a Women's Night at the Collective provides a setting for women to teach and build confidence in each other without feeling stupid for not knowing what down tube shifters are. The real goal is that after a little bit of confidence is instilled, and maybe after a few open-to-all Park Tools classes are attended, those attending Women's Night will pay it forward by passing their knowledge and confidence on to the next unenlightened rider down the road. 

Jace, the Women's Night "backup coach".
Always a friendly face.

What to expect >> So what should a lady (or anyone identifying as one) expect when they roll into the Collective for Women's Night? First, you'd probably see Jace, the regular night shop manager. Jace is one of the nicest faces on a bike you'll ever meet in Salt Lake City, so to have him as a "backup coach" for mechanics at Women's Night gives the evenings a really good tone. Next you'll see ladies working together on a bike, teaching each other what they know - a gal working on her own bike (maybe asking a question here and there), some ladies just watching, maybe preparing themselves to work on a bike next week, and some women eager to pull a bike down from the racks to learn as they go. You can bring your own bike to work on, or you can work on and learn from the many bikes waiting to be fixed up at the Collective.

How you can contribute >> As time goes on and more female mechanics become regulars at Women's Night, hopefully the whole night will be run by women (Not that we don't love you, Jace). There's also talk of themed Women's Night where something specific is taught to the whole group. Women's Night is new and flexible, so now is your chance to get in there and tell them what you want to see!

Don't be afraid of anything you don't know. Women's Night is a place where stupid questions don't exist. The group-mindedness at Women's Night is definitely something to experience, and is something the bike community needs more of. Women can show up to any open shop night, but they might find that Women's Night provides quite the community of cyclists and otherwise interesting ladies. As Deb said, "There are so many cool people in this town that I've just never crossed paths with before. The Collective is a great crossroads for new friends."

When to attend >> Come by this week! Women's Night at the Collective takes place on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month from 5:30 to 9pm. Stop by to work on your bike, learn a new skill, or just to hang out and make new friends. See you there!

Although Women's Night is for all who identify as female, males might show up
to act as bystanders and cheerleaders for their female partners. Here, Annettte and Mark.

Syhalla, a regular at Women's Night and a great bike mechanic. 

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