Black Girls Do Bike began with one woman’s vision, and this year’s keynote was the first to sign on.

Bike Pittsburgh’s annual Women & Biking Forum aims to empower women through bicycling, and this year’s keynote speaker perfectly exemplifies this mission. Victoria Robinson has grown the first chapter of Black Girls Do Bike, located in Central Florida, from three women to a community of over 200 women.

Black Girls Do Bike was founded by Monica Garrison in 2013 when she wanted to create a safe comfortable space online where women, and especially women of color, could discuss or discover their passion for cycling. Victoria Robinson–an 1,100 mile bike ride away–was seeking to do the same thing when she found Monica and BGDB online.

“Black Girls Do Bike extended my life! Monica’s vision of desiring to see more women on bikes, minority women on bikes, helped me recover from heart failure.”

About three years ago when Victoria wanted to begin cycling with other people, she found that most cycling organizations were geared towards men and was unable to identify a group that was willing to incorporate beginner cyclists. This inspired her to start her own cycling group, and with the discovery of the Black Girls Do Bike concept and branding, she ran with it. “Monica is such an inspiration to me.”

Victoria and her BGDB chapter became an inspiration to not just women of color, but also children of color as they showed representation of black women on bikes. We hope Victoria will be a great inspiration to you, too. Join BikePGH and 100 other women on Saturday April 1st for a transformational day, opening with keynote speaker and BGDB “Shero” Victoria Robinson. Victoria’s message to all women, especially women of color, is to ride one or many miles, but keep moving.

Join BikePGH and women from throughout the region at the 4th Annual Women & Biking Forum presented by Dollar Bank!

Whether you are interested in learning the basics of bike mechanics and methods to access athletic bike events, talking about biking with friends or coworkers, getting around town comfortably and confidently, or becoming a stronger advocate for safe cycling, there will be a workshop for you! Check out our workshop listing for full details.