Claire Pomykala
Inspiring and educating cyclists of all ability levels to explore their neighborhood and the rest of the world by bike.
Bio
I am a 24 year old bicycle commuter and bicycle tourist who began cycling as a means of affordable transportation during my college years, starting in 2018. When COVID-19 came and shut down the world, I was no longer able to row (my collegiate sport) or go to the gym, so I turned to cycling as a means of staying fit. Quickly, cycling became greater than just a sport. I spent all my free time cycling around Atlanta while the streets were empty. I would bike to parks, to Stone Mountain, with new bike friends around the Atlanta area. I pushed my limits, began to memorize every road and bike path in the city- my mental map was unparalleled to my other friends. I was dragged to the campus bike co-op and quickly found myself a community of like-minded people. I learned how to work on bikes, then eventually completed two bikepacking trips with friends. This led me to embark on my first solo tour, biking from Atlanta, GA- the city where I graduated from college in 2021- back home to Baltimore, MD. I then flew myself to Europe and spent 4.5 months touring across 10 countries in the fall/winter months. I came home, started working as a community manager for a tech startup, and continued relying on my bike as a means of transportation in Baltimore in efforts to promote the car-free lifestyle. Since then, I biked across the USA in the summer of 2023 and across New Zealand and part of Australia at the turn of the year. Living By Bike’s core mission is this: to promote and spread the joy of cycling as a means of transportation equality, mindful and eco-conscious living, personal freedom, and outdoor exploration in anyone’s local area or across the world. I pride myself on fostering a community that welcomes cyclists of all kinds and skill levels. I share my successes and my failures. I promote diversity within the cycling world by sharing information about cyclists of color, bike scholarship opportunities to minorities, fat cyclists, queer cyclists, disability within biking and more. I have found cycling to be such a welcoming and kind community for myself, despite some its stereotypes regarding typical “bro-culture”. Biking has become my home, my safety net, my people and my family. I want anyone who views my profile to feel the same for themselves in the world of cycling.
