Molly Sugar: Cycling, Creating Space, and an Inclusive Outdoors

The Trail Ahead

Molly Sugar is a designer, writer, and cyclist based in Portland, Oregon. She’s the founder of Friends on Bikes and the co-founder of Radical Adventure Riders, both of which are organizations that work toward gender inclusivity and racial equity in cycling communities. In today’s episode, Molly joins us to talk about how she discovered her passion for gravel riding. She also talks about the process of co-founding Radical Adventure Rider.
We get into a conversation about the meaning that “radical” and “adventure” holds for many individuals in the cycling and outdoor community, and how the pandemic shifted the adventure aspect of Radical Adventure Rider. Molly also shares the importance of improving and increasing access to routes and paths, as she has experience in creating several bikepacking routes in the Pacific North West.
Molly shares her wisdom on gender-inclusivity in biking communities, especially when it comes to the use and choice of our language. She also shares her experience as an Asian individual and how safety is subjective for individuals on the road. This brings the conversation to the important topic of racial equity in outdoor spaces, particularly in the cycling community. Finally, Molly shares how she creates digital and print toolkits at the intersection of advocacy and cycling as a designer, and how she sheds light on these topics as a writer as well.