Manhattan-born Sophie Ming loves biking. She prefers riding her bike to taking the subways or buses, if she can help it; for her, it is a passion.
“From a mental and emotional standpoint, I just feel so free on a bike,” she said. “It just makes me happy.”
The 23-year-old Ming founded Black Girls Who Bike this year to share her love of biking and meet others with similar interests. Black Girls Who Bike (BGWB) is a social club focused on exactly what it is named for — Black girls, femmes, and nonbinary folks meeting up around the city to ride bikes together. “It’s just so much fun to be with people and meet people who, like you, want to ride,” said Ming.
While Ming previously had experience with programming for social justice and art exhibits, BGWB is the first time she has done an event so heavily based in activity and wellness.
Tanisha Brown, 50 (left), and Kyra Clemons, 35 (right), came from Brooklyn to attend meetup. Brown and Clemons are both avid bike riders (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Char King, 24 (left), heard about meetup online and shared with friend Milan Joseph, 24 (right) (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Koozy Debose, 28, with pup Spidey, 3 months; and Lori Ann Scott, 26. “I love seeing Black women riding bikes,” Douyon said (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Black Girls Who Bike organizer Sophie Ming prepares to lead bicycling group. Ming started BGWB to connect with other Black girls, femmes, and nonbinary people who enjoy biking (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Black Girls Who Bike organizer Sophie Ming and Black Girl Fight Club founder Gabrielle Narcisse prepare to lead bicycling group (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Attendees prepare for Oct. 27 meetup, which featured full loop around Central Park (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) 
Black Girls Who Bike participants begin bike route (Photo credit: Jiana Smith) Credit: (Photo credit: Jiana Smith)
“It’s still like mobilizing and organizing, but there are more factors that make it a little bit more niche and difficult,” Ming said.
Those factors not only include physical rigors and safety aspects related to biking, but also ensuring the meetups remain a safe space for those involved.
In addition to the demographic niche being more practical since she organizes these meetups herself, Ming said that BGWB was particularly important because she had not noticed many safe spaces for Black women and femmes in other physical activity-related social clubs. While meeting people online and convening for activities has become more normalized, Ming said safety is still important, especially for marginalized people.
“There’s just a safety in this space — a safety that you don’t even need to say is there but can be felt through the space, where it’s like, ‘Okay, this is my community and these are people who look like me and are like me in these various aspects.’”
Ming said the community aspect is important because as human beings and social creatures, everyone needs a community they can feel safe in. “We cannot create significant social change without the help of other people, without community,” she said.
BGWB recently held its second and final ride of this year on October 27. Attendees met at Doris C. Freedman Plaza to mingle and ride a complete loop around Central Park together. Riders closed the day with a post-ride meal at 7th Avenue Burger’s Upper West Side location.
The event, which was co-hosted by local organization Black Girl Fight Club, featured far more attendees than the first meetup at Prospect Park in March.
Ming said that as more people join, she is becoming more attuned to how to streamline certain aspects of the event and make it more enjoyable.
“Everyone was so happy and kept telling me how much they loved it, so it was a success in my book,” she said.
Char King, 24, who heard about the October event via social media, said she came to support the group. “I like any type of Black woman-led event, to be honest,” King said. “And I love getting active, so that’s even better.”
Kyra Clemons, a 35-year-old avid bike rider from Brooklyn, was also excited to be in a space with other Black women. “Just sitting here, we’ve been noticing folks reaction to seeing the amount of Black women with bikes taking up space in Central Park,” Clemons said. “I’m just in awe and basking in it, because you just don’t get that often.”
Ming said her hope for BGWB is for it to remain a safe space and to influence more people to start biking. “I just really wanted to meet other people who love [biking] as much as I do,” she said. “Through starting Black Girls Who Bike, I definitely have done that.”