Once upon a time, in the beautiful land of Roses, several ladies from the Zoobomb and Portland bike communities were looking to ride tall bikes with other ladies. “What ever shall we do?” thought Daisy, as she was sewing the final touches on a duvet. “Surely there are other fine crafty ladies whom desire more than feisty late night escapades.” To the north and south, other ladies were thinking and dreaming as well. “Some day I would like to take to the streets, in a sea of tall bikes, commanded by strong willed outspoken ladies! Alas, it is but a dream fueled by these books I read,” sighed Aphasia softly to her dog as they headed to the park. “All dressed up and nowhere to go,” mumbled Alaudidae as she tripped over Star Wars books and 20-sided dice. “It would be fun to have a ladies freak bike ride right about now.” “Sweet! So many ladies clothes - who can I share these with?” exclaimed Laineth as she dove into a free box pile and loaded up the baskets on her tall bike. “I’ve been wanting to build a tall bike for the last year, and I’m tired of waiting. It’d be nice to work in an environment that wasn’t so intimidating or condescending,” contemplated Chuckletushette while skating to the bar. “Between work and school, I need something fancy, empowering, and of course bike related to keep me busy,” stated Maedae as she peddled across town running errands. “It would be awfully fun to get dressed up and have a ladies ride.” “Bikes, bikes, bikes, I love bikes,” sang Spiff as she headed off to school. “All this knowledge on bike maintenance and repair, if only I could share it with other women so they would no longer rely on a knight in shinning armor.” thought Valencia from her home in the far north. So Daisy started asking around. Through the great and mighty interwebs, bench talks at Monday funday, and word of mouth between friends, the first Irondelles meeting occurred on a porch in early May, 2009. And of course, a tall bike ride followed. Many others would come to meetings, build bikes, help plan events, host meetings, and share skills and words of wisdom in the year to follow. The end. |