In celebration of Pride Month, we spoke with Kris Hunt, founder of Pride Rides VT, to learn about their programming and how the larger mountain bike community can be allies, this month and all year long.
Kris started Pride Rides in 2018, first as informal group rides in his area for the LGBTQ+ community and grew it to an organization with nonprofit status with year-round programming and events. Pride Rides now includes more than just mountain biking, they also have programs around gravel biking, bikepacking, bike maintenance and mechanics courses, skills clinics, and more. They are a 100% volunteer run organization.
They host monthly beginner friendly group rides year-round, changing bikes with the seasons. They have a fleet of mountain bikes and fat bikes for people to borrow if they don’t have a bike for the ride. Their goal is to reduce barriers and increase access to mountain biking.
Here at Bike Borderlands, we are committed to cultivating a welcoming and diverse mountain bike community. Kris shared with us, “Partnerships are important to find creative ways to get people on bikes and out on the trails. There is not one right answer. Ask questions: where is the barrier? And where can we leverage the partnerships that we have to help people get past those barriers?”
It is important for us to monitor the discourse in our spaces. When organizations like us and our partners post or host Pride related content or events and get hateful comments or overhear negative discourse on the trails, Kris says, “There is a responsibility for organizations to moderate that and when people say things be able to come back and answer or respond to or delete depending on the content taking the load off of the person or group being targeted.”
“Pride Rides has a lot of allies from local bike shops, local bike clubs, and VMBA. There is a lot of good support from the mountain biking community. Most of us as queer riders don’t feel like we have to hide that aspect of ourselves.” Kris added, however, that he has concerns about negative rhetoric at a national level, in particular with regards to participation in athletics. Kris shared that through both education and active listening, individuals can help develop a deeper understanding of the experience of the LGBTQ+ community and act as supportive allies.
You can support Pride Rides by donating to their organization, hosting a group ride at your local trail network, or attending one of their events. Sign up for their newsletter and follow them on Instagram and Facebook for the most up to date info on their events and programming.
