Left to right: Colleen Halverson, Joann Johnson, Deena Bentley, Ellie Von Michaelis,
Pam Corrigan, Linda Eglin, Julia Boyd, Loretta Harris
Wanda Ross
Several Cyclemasters do outside rides every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. These tend to be long, fast rides with experienced bicyclists, mostly men. With a desire to get more women riding outside SaddleBrooke, Julia Boyd created a Divas group of women to bicycle outside. It has already become a huge success, with 50 members and SaddleBrooke Cyclemasters Divas jerseys.
The Divas group offers rides on Wednesday mornings to explore various areas of Oro Valley, Marana, and Tucson. These rides, open to Cyclemasters women, are led by Julia Boyd and Laurie Loose. The rides usually are for 25 to 30 miles but are sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. The chosen bicycle routes are created by John Boyd and test ridden by John, Julia, and Laurie.
All rides are announced well in advance with details, and riders indicate if they will attend. Both manual analog and e-bikes are welcome. Usually, 10 to 15 ladies participate in these rides. Each ride has a leader and a sweep and multiple hydration breaks. Before each ride, the ride leader discusses the upcoming route and provides safety tips. Julia stated, “These are fun, social rides that allow us to explore the community outside of SaddleBrooke. I look forward to this ride each week, not only for the riding but also to see my friends.” In addition to exploring new areas, the ladies do make friends.
Special event rides also have been planned, including bicycling on the Saguaro National Park loop and Divas and Dudes Ride where the ladies invite Cyclemasters men to participate in a Divas ride.