Why choose between cats and dogs? The women of Team Laser Cats are happy to announce the addition of a familiar pup’s face on their kits — Bicycle Therapy’s shop dog, Diego.

In keeping with Team Laser Cats‘s mission to introduce more women to riding and racing, Bicycle Therapy will be helping the team expand the reach of the Rocky Souperprestige (Rocky CX) community cyclocross bike program. Rocky CX, founded by TLC’s Sophia Lee, provided an opportunity for many Philadelphia women to try cyclocross racing for the first time.

But cyclocross is just one cycling discipline, and with the support of Bicycle Therapy, Team Laser Cats is excited to expand the Rocky project with a fleet of six bicycles: Rocky CX, Rocky Mountain, and of course, Rocky Road. These demo bikes will be under the care and custody of Bicycle Therapy and will be available for free use by women attending any TLC group ride or event. And by referral of the team, women are welcome to take them out for a weekend race, too.

The team will be selecting bicycles with an aim of creating a demo fleet built with smaller riders in mind. As engineer and cycling industry expert Anna Schwinn recently wrote in Bicycle Times, the average woman in the United States is 5’4” — and the Laser Cats know how important it is to have a bicycle that fits.

“We may be tall enough to walk into a shop and be able to demo a bike that’s typically in stock,” Laser Cats’s taller riders said, “But that’s just not the case for many women in our community. We’re excited to see women in Philadelphia riding these bikes on rides and in races.” The bicycles will sport Diego and Laser Cat branding, and the women of TLC encourage all area cyclists to extend a warm welcome to new members of the cycling scene when they spot the bikes at rides and races.

Bicycle Therapy has been a generous supporter of Team Laser Cats, from donating a bike for the fall raffle at the #NOSCRUBS alleycat race to assembling a fully stocked ride leader toolkit for the team’s monthly rides.

Shop owner Lee Rogers is excited about the Laser Cats considering Bicycle Therapy a homebase. “What a truly wonderful group of women doing amazing things for the women’s cycling community,” Rogers said. “We’re looking forward to being a part of something special.” Once the fleet is up and running, a reservation form will be available on teamlasercats.com.

You can follow the team on Instagram and Facebook @teamlasercats.