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‘You vote with your bike’
Fancy Women Bike ride urges cyclists to lobby candidates for improved safety
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/08/16/you-vote-with-your...
PATTY Wiens got dressed up in her sparkly, hot pink cowboy boots to pedal and talk politics with more than 100 other people on Sunday.
The founder of Winnipeg’s Fancy Women Bike Ride called on attendees of the 2026 event to ask candidates in the upcoming civic election — a half-dozen of whom were in attendance — about their active transportation platforms.
“We’re here today, in an election year, to remind you that you vote with your bike,” Wiens told a crowd of nearly 120 cyclists gathered on the legislature grounds for the group ride.
“When (city council) candidates come to your door and ask what’s important to you, you’re going to say, ‘I want to ride my bike safely in the city. What are you going to do about it?’” Daughters, mothers and grandmothers erupted into cheers as Wiens, the city’s inaugural bike mayor, spoke about the critical role bicycles have played in women’s suffrage and liberation movements across the world.
The Fancy Women Bike Ride, a now-international movement that has led to parades taking place in more than 250 different cities in 30 countries, was born in 2013 in Turkey. It was held to encourage women to be more visible in public spaces and celebrate the freedom their bikes have given them.
Inspired by the message, Wiens invited other active cyclists to wear their favourite formal attire and join her for a local iteration in 2023. It’s since become an annual tradition.
Participants decorated their bikes with flowers and donned summer dresses, as well as tutus and fascinators made out of their helmets in celebration of the third local event.
(Last year’s ride was cancelled due to thunderstorms and wildfire smoke.)
Ballads by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and other female popstars blasted from a boombox throughout the roughly 90-minute ride throughout West Broadway, Wolseley and River Heights.
The Taylor Swift-filled playlist — interrupted on occasion by a chorus of women and girls shouting “pothole” to warn others about the craters along their route — was a hit for 11-year-old cyclist Sophie Campbell.
Lynn Campbell said it’s powerful for her daughters, including Sophie and Lucy, 8, to witness other women get together to exercise and socialize in their hometown.
“We bike as soon as the snow and ice is gone until it comes back,” the mother of two said.
Campbell didn’t spend a penny on gas in May or June because of the solid active transportation network in their neighbourhood.
The Oct. 28 election has her thinking about “the absolute fortune” that taxpayers spend on patching potholes every year, she said.
The City of Winnipeg is estimated to spend $157 million on local and regional street repairs this year.
While noting bike lanes and other protective infrastructure may be costly upfront, Campbell said they encourage healthy habits and reduce weight and related wear-and-tear on roads that contribute to potholes.
There are no women currently vying for Mayor Scott Gillingham’s seat, but there are 16 female candidates running for Winnipeg City Council.
Wiens, co-host off the Ballot Babes podcast, gave a callout on Sunday to all of the registrants who attended the Fancy Women Bike Ride.
Steps from the Famous Five Monument, which depicts Nellie McClung and other prominent suffragists located on the west lawn of 450 Broadway, Wiens spoke about how transformative bikes have been for women throughout history.
“The suffragettes got around on bikes because they didn’t have to ask their husbands to get the horses ready,” she said, calling these tools “the first vehicle that women could independently operate.”
She noted bikes sparked outrage across society — “because, you know, the patriarchy” — as well as a new fashion trend because women started wearing bloomers instead of heavy skirts in order to pedal.
Sarah Gravelle-MacKenzie, 71, said she’s spent a lot of time biking in retirement because of the “freedom” it provides her and how it makes her feel “like a kid again.”
The senior cyclist founded Cycling with Sarah, the first senior women’s cycling club in Manitoba that began about three years ago. There are now 70 women aged 55 and older who regularly participate in group rides and fundraising initiatives under her banner.
The women rely on volunteers to lead, trail and keep an eye out for traffic on their routes, especially if there’s a gap in bike lanes.
“Safe and connected cities and promoting different modes of active transportation, be it cycling, walking, busing — these are all important things for a healthy city,” said Sara MacArthur, a city planner who is mounting a campaign for River Heights-Fort Garry.
The aspiring city councillor said improving “connectivity” in Winnipeg’s active transportation network is a key part of her platform.
Orvie Dingwall, a candidate who is running to represent residents of North Kildonan, showed up to the event in a pink fringe shirt with matching earrings.
“I’m a fancy lady who loves to bike so it’s great to be here with my people,” the university librarian said during a mid-ride interview.
Dingwall and her two teenagers often rely on modes of active transportation, as well as Winnipeg Transit, to get around.
Her commute to work by bus nearly doubled — from 40 minutes to 75 minutes — when routes underwent an overhaul last summer. If she is elected in the fall she said she will advocate for more frequent buses and protecting city parks.
Women were eligible to vote in civic elections in Manitoba as early as 1887, but they could not hold office until 1916.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.camailto:maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca