SAN ANTONIO — Veronica Salas can often be found on her purple fixie bike cruising the streets of San Antonio. Even though she looks like she’s ready to conquer the Tour de France, she remembers her early days of being the only woman on the road.

“So those things kind of steered me from getting out on my bike and saying, ‘Hey, let’s ride,’ because I was nervous still,” Salas said. 

Now, with eight years of experience under her belt, she’s able to offer a helping hand to inexperienced cyclists through her woman-only Wednesday bike rides. 

“We are actually going out this way and cut through those little gates out there, taking a left out this way towards La Gloria,” Salas shouted to her fellow cyclists. 

National data shows that men are 17.4% more likely than women to commute on a bicycle and Salas says it’s that intimidation factor that plays a role in that. 

“When you are a beginner your turns are not as a good, you feel a little scared to stop, traffic seems scary,” Salas said. 

So Salas teaches these cyclists skills that will keep them safe on the road. 

“I do believe this is a way to get women out to ride. I’ve seen the changes. I’ve seen people let their guard down and say, ‘You know what? I’m going to go to this ride and I’m going to open up,’” Salas said. 

Libby Day is Salas’ right-hand woman and she’s only been going at it for about a year. 

“I definitely started out with really no knowledge of what I was supposed to be doing to keep myself safe on the bike and to actually enjoy riding,” Day said. 

Days says having the knowledge to change her tire and fix her chain is pretty invaluable. When the group arrived at Woodlawn Lake Park, Salas had them do a couple of laps around the park. 

“And the difference is head wind is coming at you, tail wind is wind that you feel is pushing you,” Salas explained. 

Salas says these rides are more than just a hobby and it’s more than just getting some exercise — it’s therapy. 

“It feels like flying, it feels very free, I love it, I enjoy it,” Salas said. “And I just get lost in it and just let the air hit me.”