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Pedal Love, Social Media & Storytelling Meetup | Invitation


Pedal Love, Social Media & Storytelling

#LeVeloVictoria #Biketoria #PedalLove
Dec. 19 Meetup:
Join us for a morning meet up hosted by women to share bike stories and explore ideas for growing bicycling in Victoria and beyond. Bikes or experience with bikes not required.

RSVP required. Space is limited. http://bit.ly/velo-love

Join us for a casual gathering to meet individuals who are interested in biking, whether it’s purely for social reasons, transportation, sport and competition, shopping, health, and everything in between. Chat about the joys of riding a bike and bring your concerns, too. This is an opportunity to discuss hot topics, get ideas for bringing more biking to your neighborhood, and celebrate women who bike.

Two hosts, Maria Sipin (A Healthy Design @ahealthydesign ) from Los Angeles California, and Susan Stokhof (Le Vélo Victoria), will be facilitating discussions and activities at Le Vélo HeadQuarters (HQ), 455 Sitkum Road. Be ready to form social circles, snap photos, and tell or write a brief bike story. We may get a little chatty and crafty.

Hosts:

Maria Sipin is a health care professional, bike safety instructor, storyteller, and dedicated volunteer to making biking, walking, and public transit use better in her hometown of Los Angeles, California. She currently serves as a board member for Multicultural Communities for Mobility in Los Angeles. More about Maria below!

Maria Sipin from @ahealthydesign

Susan Stokhof is the owner and founder of Le Vélo Victoria (  @LeVelo_Victoria), an on-line boutique specializing in stylish bicycle accessories. Susan also provides a vital voice in the push to normalize cycling in Victoria. From regular features on her blog about the citizen cycling movement to sponsoring events that bring guest speakers to the island to inspire and inform. More about Susan below.

Susan Stokhof Founder and owner of Le Velo Victoira

Maria’s bike journey began with Women on Bikes California and the Pedal Love (@PedalLove) initiative to elevate women’s leadership and storytelling. Through Women on Bikes California, she became a certified bicycle safety instructor in 2012 by the League of American Bicyclists and has been teaching children and adults.
Maria Sipin logos
Since then, she became an active participant in bicycle advocacy thanks to social media and being drawn to open streets events and welcoming bike rides that gave her the confidence to ride for transportation. Riding a bike was a way for her to explore her city, cut travel costs and reduce her car dependence. Although Maria believes bike safety classes and regular group rides are game changers for many, building better infrastructure and creating a safe environment is needed to make everyday biking a reality. Neighbours, government leaders, businesses and friends may not see the benefits for creating bike-friendly places, so this is where storytelling comes in. Maria uses social media as a platform for elevating the stories of diverse communities who need better sidewalks and streets and bringing forward social justice issues. This means including experiences for people of color, people living in low-income areas, and those who move about Los Angeles without a car. Maria encourages others to document their experiences and to use storytelling and social media as tools for engaging people to bring about changes in their community, one tweet, photo, and status update at a time.

 

 Logo Le Vélo Victoria

Susan Stokhof is the owner and founder of Le Velo Victoria. An on-line boutique specializing in stylish bicycle accessories.

Having spent 6 years without a car, Susan quickly recognized the challenges women face when using a bicycle as a form of transportation. In addition to an online boutique and traveling pop-up, Susan provides a vital voice in the push to normalize cycling in Victoria. From regular features on her blog about the citizen cycling movement (with a particular focus on women who cycle for transport), to sponsoring events that bring guest speakers to the island to inspire and inform.

Most importantly, Susan’s website presents powerful, rarely seen images of bicycle normalcy, in a region where sport and recreation still reign supreme.

“We’re attempting to promote a lifestyle we want to see. The more people buy into the idea that cycling is a normal activity that millions partake in every single day, the more likely we are to build better cycling infrastructure. I believe we need to be the change we want to see”. With this in mind, Susan started Le Vélo Victoria where they provide elegant solutions for everyday cycling challenges.

Share the love #LeVeloVictoria #Biketoria #PedalLove

We hope you will join us! Please RSVP as space at our HeadQuarters is limited.

 Pedal Love |A morning meet-up hosted by women to share bike stories and explore ideas for growing bicycling in Victoria and beyond


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