The Magic City Cycle Chix, which started in January, has more than 450 members.

By Mandy Shunnarah

“You ride like a girl!”

For members of one Birmingham cycling group, that’s considered a compliment.

The Magic City Cycle Chix, or MC3, is a women’s-only biking group with members from all walks of life.

They ride together, laugh together and learn together. Founder Kim Cross, right, had been mountain biking for 10 years before she went on her first women’s-only ride. After seeing how empowering and fun it was, she was inspired to start the group to encourage more women to join the biking community.

Cross has participated in mountain bike, cyclo-cross, triathlon and adventure races, but the encouragement she she says gained from the women’s-only rides motivated her: “I discovered that as much as I love racing, I find deeper gratification in teaching other women the sport that has brought me so much joy.”

The group, which started in January, has more than 450 members. Cross jokes that the group is “non-denominational” about riders and their bikes. “We support anyone who wears a skirt and loves bikes of any kind.”

Group rides involve various skill levels, with some especially for beginners who want to learn. All that’s needed is a bike, a helmet and a willingness to try something new.

Magic City Cycle Chix also serves as a community and support group that breaks down inhibitions to empower women. “I have felt so much vicarious pleasure watching my mother take up mountain biking at age 70. She loves it,” Cross said. “She tells me, ‘It’s like a whole new world has opened up!’

“I think our sweet spot is encouraging newbies or women who are on the fence about riding, who think, ‘Gosh, I’d like to do that, but I’m not sure if I can.’ We love to show those women that they are capable of more than they ever imagined.”

Also:

• Magic City Cycle Chix website | Facebook | Twitter @RideMC3
• Features in the Birmingham News | Birmingham Magazine | B-Metro

Video: Bikes see an upswing in Birmingham.

• More Mandy Shunnarah at Confessions of the Diarist

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