Simply existing

I have learned that simply existing in public space as a woman on a bike is the greatest act of bike advocacy and demonstration of bodily autonomy I can do, during this National Bike Month and always. No public comment, survey or committee at city hall (and I’ve done them all) comes close to the impact I make by just being, by owning my space, by blatantly forcing the world to come face to face with my 61-year-old female personhood. You won’t find me at group rides. I don’t even teach bike classes in person anymore. I simply ride my bike, each and every day, increasingly quietly. And yet not.