Friends With Bikes (FWB Oakland)
No-drop social ride for women, trans, and non-binary cyclists in Oakland — a chatty 5-10 mph pace covering 1-7 miles from Lake Merritt BART, twice a month.
The vibe
Slow rolls, safer spaces
Friends With Bikes has been running since 2006, making it one of the longer-standing women, trans, and non-binary cycling groups in the Bay Area. The format stays consistent: meet at Lake Merritt BART twice a month, roll out at a genuinely social 5-10 mph pace, and cover anywhere from 1 to 7 miles around Oakland and the East Bay.
This isn’t a training ride — it’s built for conversation, and the slow pace means you can actually talk to the person next to you instead of shouting over wind noise. All skill levels are welcome, and the group occasionally opens up all-gender rides throughout the year.
FWB also throws Alleycute, an annual alleycat-style race that raises money for local organizations — a faster, higher-stakes counterpart to the group’s usual low-key Wednesday rolls.