Biking in the Burbs Offers Connection

May 25, 2026
• Two wheels and a group of friends can take some Needhamites far.

As a kid, Beth Tuck rode her bike around the neighborhood. As a city dweller, she began biking again for exercise and a means of transportation. Now, as a Needhamite going on 10 years, Tuck has found a community of suburbanites who similarly embrace two-wheeled transport.

Needham Bike Moms, the group she co-formed, organizes regular rides around town for six to 10-mile stretches. Many are casual riders, and they embrace “a no-one-gets-left-behind mentality,” Tuck said.

Whether a lifelong rider or someone who hasn’t ridden in a decade, Tuck said there’s a place for everyone. Since starting the group nearly four years ago, Tuck said she’s discovered it’s much more than cycling.

“It makes me smile,” Tuck said of the group. “That’s so cheesy, but it just makes me so happy to see other like-minded moms, individuals from our town, just getting together to exercise, to socialize, to learn new things, different cultures, different backgrounds, professions, interests.”

This season’s first ride kicked off April 28, and since then, they’ve hosted a bike party for all bikers, not just women, earlier this month.

Some of their more popular rides have attracted close to two dozen riders. As the group pedals past the Town Common and through neighborhoods, they’ll sometimes get curious stares, biker Marcy Leiman said.

“They’re like, ‘What the heck is happening? Why are there so many people on bikes, and why are they all women?’ But I think we’re gaining momentum. People are starting to learn more about us,” she said. The group appeared in the Fourth of July parade last year.

Leiman caught the biking bug a few years ago, after a charity ride for Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Before joining Needham Bike Moms, Leiman viewed biking as “a singular exercise,” but one she now finds is much more fun with a group. As her kids have gotten older — and scheduling family bike rides has grown more challenging — she found a biking group appealing.

Down quiet side streets, the bikers travel side by side, chatting about the personal and professional. During the colder months, when only the brave bikers venture out, others have planned other social outings, including a mahjong night and walks around town.

Jen Leonard-Schaffstein bikes both to socialize and explore different parts of Needham. She led a couple rides with Needham Bike Moms last year along neighborhood roads, joined by a group of about a dozen.

With her kids now in high school and college, Leonard-Schaffstein said the group brings together a mix of moms joined by a shared hobby. She said she finds the group is “a nice way to meet different people.”

“Early on, when your kids are little, you meet people through your kids. You meet them at school, and you make friends with your kids’ friends. And that’s great, but this is a nice way to meet people because you have a common interest in biking,” Leonard-Schaffstein said. “You get to know people, and where they’re from and different things that they do. The people are moms, but I wouldn’t say it’s a mom focus.”

Starting at the Town Common, the group either heads toward Needham Heights and down Greendale Avenue past St. Sebastian’s School, or they bike on Great Plain Avenue through the neighborhoods toward Olin College. They often meet weekday nights, with the occasional weekend morning ride.

They’ve dealt with their fair share of inclement weather — bikers have been caught in a torrential downpour — but “it makes us bond even more,” Leiman said. Needham is also “fairly flat,” which makes it relatively easy to bike, Leonard-Schaffstein said.

The requirements to join are low: you’ll need a bike and a helmet.

“It’s funny, some people will show up and there are things that are clicking [on their bike], or they’re like, ‘I’m riding my son’s bike because mine’s not ready,’” Tuck said. “If you have access to a bike and a helmet, just come on out. Super low bar.”

As a former bike commuter and current bike enthusiast, Tuck said she sees the benefits in taking two wheels instead of four.

“In this world that we live in, just being healthy, being active, I think is super important,” she said. “I think alternate ways of transportation, especially just around town, is super important to promote.”

They next meet Tuesday, May 26 at 6:45 p.m. on the Town Common.