Black Girl Magic Educational Services, a local non-profit organization that provides opportunities for Black girls by empowering them to let their natural gifts shine, will be joining Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison as they host the first annual South Side Slow Roll bike ride through South Madison.
The Slow Roll, which is on Saturday, Aug. 5, is for community members who have never participated in a group ride before. The ride begins at 3 pm at the Free Bikes 4 Kidz office at 354 Coyier Lane and ends at The Village on South Park St. 
Rosa Thompson, founder and executive director of Black Girl Magic Educational Services (BGMES), talked with Madison365 about what she’s looking forward to for this event and why it’s important to get the Black Girl Magic community in Madison on bike paths.
“It’s especially great for people in our programming who may not be avid bikers or may not use the bike paths as much as other people in the city,” Thompson said. “It’s a great way to get on some bikes and get outside with people that you know. There’s the end goal, which is the event at the UW-Madison Partnership building, where they have a celebration at the end.”
The South Side Slow Roll bike ride will be 3 miles through bike trails and neighborhoods on Madison’s South Side. Thompson expressed excitement about reducing barriers to biking in the community in an event hosted by Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison, a local organization that has given away over 9,800 bikes to new bike owners who may have never had the opportunity to experience the joys of owning their own bikes.
“Our families are super excited about getting bikes because they’re like, ‘We’ve been wanting to go biking with our family, but we don’t have bikes, and we’re not able to buy them’,” she said. “Now, whole families are getting bikes so that they can continue biking. It’s really nice to see they’re already thinking about how they want to incorporate biking into their fitness goals.”
Black Girl Magic programming is targeted at youth participants, but Thompson is excited about this event, which is for the girls and their families. Thompson says she will be there with her family enjoying the ride, as well.
“We’re bringing everybody and so I’m just excited to be out and see what a slow roll actually is like because I’ve seen videos and it looks really cool,” she said. “It’s low-stress, and it’s not a long bike ride. I love that the word ‘slow’ is incorporated and it’s not a mountain bike trail. We can have fun and be outside.”
After the ride, there will be an after-party celebration, from 4-7 p.m. at The Village on the Park, 2300 South Park Street, with food, airbrush painting and tables hosted by the DNR, Van Holden Pickles and Fire Light Group. All registered riders will receive a free food voucher from one of the four food carts.
BGM is excited to be a part of Free Bikes 4 Kidz’s event that helps Black and brown families and community members get on the bike paths throughout Madison.
“Having these bikes will be helpful to getting all of our family more active,” Thompson said. “We’re just excited for this opportunity just to be out in the community and support Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison.
“I love their mission and what they do. We’re also excited to be recipients of some of the bikes and to be able to partner and get our Black Girl Magic community out on the bike paths.”
Registration for the South Side Slow Roll is available until the day of the event.
