Latina bicyclists answer "Bicycles are for men" culture with their own "Luna Ride"
Latina bicyclists answer macho bike culture with their own chain gang
In many Latino families, women are considered fragile. That doesn't apply to the members of the Ovarian Psyco Cycles Brigade.
By Denise Florez
September 22, 2013, 5:53 p.m.
Growing up, Evelyn Martinez's mother didn't want her to ride a bike.
"She thinks it's not safe for women to be riding late at night, and cars are dangerous too," Martinez said.
Moreover, her mother told her: "Bicycles are for men."
But after a chance meeting last year, Martinez joined an all-female, predominantly Latino cycling group that is both an answer and a challenge to the aggressive male biking culture. Like men's bike crews, it defies L.A.'s monolithic car culture with an in-your-face ethic, reflected in its name: the Ovarian Psyco Cycles Brigade.
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As they passed Cesar Chavez Avenue, a few obscenities rang out from passing motorists. The Brigade didn't hesitate to respond.
Passers-by occasionally encourage them, including older Latinas who say they never had a chance to ride a bike, Martinez said.
"Older women come up to me and tell me 'Mija que bueno! Es muy bien ejercicio!' (That's so good my daughter! It's really good exercise)," Martinez said.
Aguirre, 23, is a single mother who started biking two years ago with the group; now it's her main mode of transportation. She even tows her 5-year-old daughter to day care in a trailer.
Martinez, meanwhile, has lost more than 50 pounds over dozens of rides in her year with the Psycos.
"I wanted to be able to show other women on bikes that your weight, age or size doesn't matter," said the 21-year-old. Now her mother wants to learn to ride too.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-psyco-riders-20130923,0,1719866.story
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