Dozens Come Out for First “Women Bike Imperial Beach”

The coalition wants people to leave their car at home and get outside for some exercise

Approximately 100 people came out for the first annual “Women Bike Imperial Beach” hosted by The San Diego County Bike Coalition.

“We’re just trying to get people – women – outside. It’s women-focused, but not exclusive,” Skii Fleeton, new membership and marketing coordinator with the coalition, told NBC 7. “We’ve got a dad here with his daughter. We’ve got cousins, husbands, brothers, boyfriends; I’m sure we’ve got everybody here. We do have men riding.”

Fleeton said they planned the ride to show that people can bike from the South Bay to San Diego. “This is the way to get into San Diego from the South Bay,” she explained. “Not many people know it’s there.”

Participants chose between two rides: a 15-mile road ride and a mountain bike ride from IB to Otay Valley Regional Park. “It’s not super hilly. It’s not difficult at all. It’s just a really fun ride,” Fleeton said her son enjoyed the mountain bike ride so much he was cheering the whole time. She said her ride to work is 19 miles that includes the “most fun” mountain biking.

Proceeds from the event benefits the Bike Coalition. They do advocacy, infrastructure and education.

“We are all trying to connect communities and neighborhoods together with trails and with bike infrastructure,” she said. “The coalition works everything on the road, and the mountain bike association works everything on the trail. If we can connect the two, we can get people anywhere they want to go within San Diego.”

She explained they want people to leave their car at home, get outside, get some exercise and have some fun.

“We want people to enjoy where they are. We want people to enjoy their day and say ‘hey, that was really fun. Let’s do it again,’ and get more people outside because we do live in San Diego.”

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