Three years ago, Devin Cowens, 35, had an idea for an Atlanta-based gear library where cyclists borrow bikepacking equipment and return it when finished. The library would remove barriers for femme, trans, women, and nonbinary riders, to an activity that has a high cost of entry. Last month, after tons of work and help from others, the idea became a reality. Cowens’ advice for others interested in starting a gear library for their community?
“You have to have a really solid team that you work well with,” Cowens told Bicycling.
So she rallied leadership team members Sarah Cruz, 38, and Hannah Griggs, 32. Cowens, Cruz, and Griggs focused their energy on their individual strengths in order to make the library come together. Cowens has experience as a community organizer and event planner and is an advocate for BIPOC folks in cycling. Cruz is a librarian and long-time bicycle commuter. And Griggs is a writer and educator with lots of outdoors experience. Over the last few years, they each applied their past experiences to the gear library whenever they had free time.
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“Devin’s role is of course having the whole idea, but also being able to source gear and form relationships and partnerships,” Cruz said. “My role was describing, organizing, and bringing together the system for checking the gear in and out.” Griggs created the content and outreach, putting things together for social media and getting the word out. “We really do need all three of us,” Cruz said. The three eventually gained a crucial and growing number of volunteers and contributors.
“I think one of the driving forces that makes us tick is that we have very clear goals in mind,” Griggs said. “We’re absolutely dedicated to reducing barriers to access in cycling and bikepacking. That’s what keeps us going.”
They committed to an environment free of heterosexual cisgender men, which was born out of many negative experiences that femme, trans, women, and nonbinary people have had in bike shops and cycling communities.
“Having a physical space that is truly welcoming is really key,” Cowens said. “People take a risk going into a space when they don’t know who is going to be there, and so ensuring that there aren’t going to be any cis-men was important. Several of us are comfortable in those spaces [with cis-men], but we can’t guarantee that everyone is.”
The gear library has gained support and exposure through the Atlanta chapter of Radical Adventure Riders (RAR), a movement towards gender inclusivity and racial equity in cycling and the outdoors. Founded in 2017, RAR provides education, connection, resources, and support to the community and industry. RAR now has 11 chapters across the country, working to create hyper-local networks and programs to support femme, trans, women, and nonbinary cyclists. Cowens, Cruz, and Griggs are all members of RAR Atlanta, and see the gear library as an extension of exactly what RAR is working to accomplish.
Since its launch in March, Cowens, Cruz, and Griggs have received feedback that indicates folks are using the gear library to connect the dots to things they’ve wanted to do, but couldn’t quite do on their own.
“People come in and look at everything we have at the library, and start putting bags on their bike, and it starts clicking,” Griggs said. “They’re like, ‘Oh I see the method here.’ And that empowers and enables them to think about how they can do it themselves.”
Cowens, Cruz, and Griggs have planned a variety of beginner bikepacking trips for folks in the Atlanta area, which eliminate another barrier—where to go.
“Now it’s like, the pieces are there,” Cowens said. “The time, the planning, all of those logistics pieces that you have to think about… we do that for people, and then they come and can play and are like, ‘Okay, great. I can do this.’”
The initial trip sparks interest. Riders then take over their own planning and either borrow gear from the library again or purchase their own once they’ve had a good experience. They get to see what different sized bags feel like on their bike, or what a certain tent is like before they buy. Cowens hopes that the library can continue to grow in that way, so that there are all kinds of bags and tents that people can try before making a big investment.
“Packing for any kind of camping or backpacking is such a process of learning,” Griggs said. “And so the whole point of being able to borrow from the gear library, and then go on beginner bikepacking trips, is to work out the kinks in your own system of how you like to do it.”
Cowens, Cruz, and Griggs aim to have 15 sets of everything by this summer, including bikes. They hope that if someone comes in without any gear at all, the library can set them up with at least a bike, bags, a tent, a sleeping pad, and sleeping bag. They also made a wish list of items for those looking to support them, and encourage people to reach out with questions.
The team wants the gear library to be a community that continues to grow and evolve. In addition to their focus on people who don’t have experience bikepacking or biking in general, they want to be a resource for seasoned riders who want to camp with others, with the intention to help femme, trans, women, and nonbinary cyclists feel safe and empowered in their adventures.
Griggs said that being clear about those goals has helped build the community: “When people come to the space, they’re delighted and surprised. They’re like, this is for all of us.”
