The Women’s Resource Center partnered with North Central Cyclery, 534 E. Lincoln Highway, Thursday to put on Bike-aholics, a biking workshop specifically for women riders.

The idea for the workshop came from Emily Anderson, junior special education major. Anderson then contacted NIU’s Women’s Resource Center, which took it upon itself to coordinate and promote the event.

“I wanted to have a maintenance-learning night for girls,” Anderson said. “The sport of biking in general tends to be male-dominant, so I wanted to have a girls’ night.”

Anderson expressed that biking is a sport that is beneficial to women.

“It’s something fun and healthy,” Anderson said. “It gives girls the opportunity to do things outdoors and to go more places.”

North Central Cyclery holds workshops like this three to four times a year, said store manager Tobie Depauw.

“The Women’s Resource Center contacted us, and this is the kind of thing we do often,” Depauw said. “We really like inviting people in to see what we do.”

Depauw said one of his goals for the night was to get women more comfortable with maintaining their bikes. Depauw recommended checking tire pressure on a regular basis.

Properly inflated tires means that they are less likely to pop.

“A clean bike is a happy bike,” Depauw said. “Make sure the bike chain and break cables are clean.”

Anderson felt that the event was a success.

“I think the night went very well,” Anderson said. “I heard a lot of good questions and a lot of good answers.”

One workshop attendee, Carrie Thompson, graduate assistant for the Women’s Resource Center and second-year law student, said the night was very beneficial to her.

“I looked at my bike and everything looked different to me,” said Thompson. “All the different components of it make more sense.”

Thompson said that she was guilty of not taking the best care of her bike. The workshop helped her learn the proper way to care for it.

Anderson was grateful that she had the opportunity to see this event happen.

“I appreciate North Central Cyclery reaching out into the college community and Women’s Resource Center for getting the word out,” Anderson said.

Anderson hopes to organize more biking events in the future.

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