JOY RIDE T
Kirsten Berggren (left) and Julia Roquette (right) at Ride On
ell us a bit about Ride On and your association with the organisation?
Kirsten Berggren and Julia Roquette are both volunteers at Ride On, the cycling charity based on the Quay. Here they help run friendly and inclusive workshops where wom+n can learn bike mechanics. We caught up with Julia (also an astrophysicist at The University of Exeter) to find out more… 34 I EXETER LIVING I www.mediaclash.co.uk
Ride On is a charity that has the goal of helping people to cycle. This is achieved by offering refurbished bikes at affordable prices and various bike-related activities, from taught workshops to social rides. I am a mechanic volunteer at the workshop, where I spend my Saturdays helping their lovely staff refurbish bikes. I am also a co-founder of the wom+n’s workshop, which happens every Tuesday evening.
How did the workshops come about?
They grew from conversations between a few of Ride On’s female volunteers and the charity’s staff. We discussed Ride On’s potential to reduce the gender gap that permeates the bike community in general, and the idea of a female-led workshop grew from there. From my side, I come from an academic background in Physics. As I’ve gotten used to navigating myself in cis-male dominated environments, it was easier to integrate myself in a bike-mechanics workshop. But I noticed that I was often the only
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