The newest president of Bike Baton Rouge is… A WOMAN!!!

Do you know Baton Rouge has roughly 4,000 nonprofit organizations? Of those organizations, only a small fraction are founded or led by a female. I’m super excited that Bike Baton Rouge is now one of the few with the appointment of Lynley Farris. 

I first met her on, of course, a bike ride (see picture below). She came to one of our Sunday brunch rides and I instantly fell in love with her. How could you not! She’s cool. She’s smart. She’s a goofball just like the rest of us. In short, she’s a badass and she loves bikes! 

“Biking has been a huge part of my life,” Farris said. “Being on a bike seat, you can see and experience things just a bit differently, and I’m really into that.” 

Lynley is the first female president in the 17-year history of the organization, which was founded by Mark Martin. Bike Baton Rouge is a 17-year-old organization founded by the illustrious Mark Martin. Operating first under the name B.R.A.S.S. (Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets) the group of rag-tag bicyclists were and still are focused on creating a city that is as safe for bicyclists and pedestrians as it is for drivers.

A week ago, I pitched an idea to Bike Baton Rouge on a project I’ve wanted to do since my days as a board member. If all goes well, you could be seeing a lot more group rides available in the city. Stay tuned for more developments in next week’s edition of this newsletter. 

And let me mention Mark Martin one more time! This Sunday he’s leading a group ride on Halloween Day, Sunday, October 31. The ride will start at the Capitol Park Museum, 660 N. 4th Street, at 9:30 a.m. From there, Mark will take the group to the historic cemeteries and give you some context for understanding more about the people who are buried there and why there are such big differences between those cemeteries. 

We will NOT meet for yoga or brunch this Sunday for that reason. 

However, save the date for the following Sunday, November 7. We will be back at Leola’s for brunch at noon. Then, after, we’ll ride to the Old State Capitol for a private tour from our favorite regular riders, David and June! 

The first time we went on the Old State Capitol tour, we were BLOWN AWAY! So many people complained about not being able to go that we decided to do it again. So don’t miss out this time. IT’S FREE!!!!!!!!!!! Not brunch, you have to pay for that. But the tour, that’s FREE. 

Also FREE is my final Green Book Bike Tour. That’s happening the day before on Saturday, November 6. An LSU student is actually going to come out and do a story for her journalism class. How fun! 

Thank you to everyone for coming out to our Halloween Bike Ride on Monday! It was a real monster mash of a good time! 

Who won the costume contest? Well, it’s a tie, actually. Denise and Judy went above and beyond. 

They’ll get a prize at our next ride, which will be Monday, November 1. That night we’re going to be checking out a brand new business in the neighborhood, so bring some money with you!

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YEAH BIKE!