At the corner of Jennings Road and Harvard Avenue in Cleveland, workers are laying concrete for a trail that will eventually connect the Towpath Trail 鈥� which stretches into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park 鈥� to existing paths leading all the way downtown 鈥� and throughout Greater Cleveland.
A map of the Cuyahoga Greenways Plan from the shows existing and future multi-use trails. [Cuyahoga County Planning Commission]
The in-progress plan is known as the Cuyahoga Greenways 鈥� over 800 miles of connected trails that will be especially useful to cyclists. County Executive Armond Budish recently highlighted the Greenways as part of his .
鈥淲e can and should be a trailblazer in tackling climate change,鈥� said Budish at the in April. 鈥淏y filling in gaps in the existing array of paths and trails throughout the county, the Greenway should encourage more healthier lifestyles, boost property values, improve storm water capture, and reduce carbon emissions.鈥�
Jacob VanSickle of agrees: 鈥淧romoting biking and walking as alternative transportation is certainly about the environment, it's about equity in our communities and it's about having fun,鈥� he said.
Jacob VanSickle of stands in front of an in-progess bike trail in the flats. [Mary Fecteau/ideastream]
We met VanSickle at another under-construction trail in the flats. He鈥檚 been peddling the idea of a bike-friendly community since 2012.
鈥淭he work that we do around advocating for connected infrastructure that will get people where they need to go on a bike safely is important. But the other key piece of that is education,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, educating people that don't necessarily look like me how to bike safely so that we can have a great inclusive movement of people biking around Cleveland.鈥�
But part of building that 鈥渋nclusive movement鈥� 鈥� and getting riders on all these new trails 鈥� also involves changing the idea of what a cyclist looks like.
鈥淚 always thought a biker had to be like Lance Armstrong, a skinny guy that can, you know, ride in tandem with everything. That's what I saw on TV. I always saw that type of person.鈥� said Lindsey Komora.
Lindsey Komora is a member of Black Girls Do Bike, Cleveland. [Stephanie Jarvis/ideastream]
Komora is, physically, Lance Armstrong鈥檚 opposite. She鈥檚 not white, she鈥檚 not male, and she鈥檚 a self-described 鈥渢hicker woman.鈥�
鈥淲e defy the stereotype because even though we don't look like a stereotypical biker we can perform just as well,鈥� said Komora, who鈥檚 been riding with an organization called Black Girls Do Bike for a couple of years. began in Pittsburgh in 2015 and now has over 80 chapters nationwide.
鈥淏lack Girls Do Bike is a great community of women that just like to do the same thing,鈥� said Komora. 鈥淲e all like to ride on two wheels.鈥�
鈥淚 ride with various groups here in the Greater Cleveland area, and I would find me being the only woman of color on the bike ride,鈥� said Deltrece Daniels, the 鈥渟hero,鈥� or head of the Akron chapter of Black Girls Do Bike. 鈥淚f you don't see people that look like you, you wonder if you actually fit in.鈥�
Deltrece Daniels, the "shero," or head, of the Akron chapter of Black Girls Do Bike. [Mary Fecteau/ideastream]
Daniels draws strength from the women of Black Girls Do Bike because they鈥檙e also a ready-made support system.
鈥淲e depend on each other,鈥� said Diana Hildebrand, the shero of Black Girls Do Bike, Cleveland. 鈥淟ike, I鈥檒l get a text message, 鈥楬ey Diana, we鈥檙e out riding, I'll call you if I have a flat!鈥� There's always that sense of security. You鈥檙e always going to have somebody who's going to take care of you.鈥�
Diana Hildebrand, who goes by DevahD, says it鈥檚 also about trying to be a visible part of a community that they鈥檝e often felt shut out of.
Diana Hildebrand, who goes by DevahD, runs the Cleveland chapter of Black Girls Do Bike. [Stephanie Jarvis/ideastream]
鈥淚 talk to a lot of women of color that feel like they're not visible in the community and that we have no voice,鈥� said Hildebrand. 鈥淭he cycling community is predominantly Caucasian men. The ultimate goal of Black Girls Do Bike is to actually change the culture of cycling.鈥�
And members of Black Girls Do Bike were out in full force at a special Juneteenth edition of , a large, recurring group bike ride. But Hildebrand was also there as a volunteer on the Squad, the team in charge of safety.
The ride also attracted a mix of ages, races, and genders from throughout the city 鈥� all departing from Shaker Square and making stops at African American cultural landmarks in the Buckeye Shaker neighborhood.
Slow Roll riders ready themselves to depart from Shaker Square for the Juneteenth ride. [Mary Fecteau/ideastream]
At one point, the ride got tense when some of the younger, African American riders in the group started popping wheelies 鈥� which Squad members considered a safety concern for the group.
鈥淚t was comments of 鈥楥an you not wheelie?鈥� 鈥楥an you put the wheel down? We're looking for the safety of all the other people.鈥� And then somebody got called a jerk,鈥� said Donald Black. Black is a Shaker Heights artist that frequently rides with kids in his neighborhood. He says the tricks they do are inspired by the dirt bike riders they see on the street.
Organizers of Slow Roll had asked Black to come on the ride and discuss a mural he created at the Harvey Rice branch of the Cleveland Public Library, the last stop on the Juneteenth ride.
Black called out the organizers when he spoke to the group at the mural: 鈥淭he goal is not for us not to come. The goal is for us to be able to ride. We鈥檙e gonna find our own space,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o we might need y鈥檃ll to be patient, but the reality is you're not gonna bully us, you're not gonna pick on us, you鈥檙e not gonna disrespect these kids.鈥�
Hildebrand was torn. 鈥淚 am a part of Slow Roll, plus, you know, I'm an African-American woman,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to keep everybody safe, but then at the same time, I understand where he's coming from, because if we鈥檙e really trying to bridge the gap between all cyclists within the community we're going to have to be understanding of the different types of cyclists that is going to be coming around us.鈥�
That night, after the ride, Black explained to Hildebrand that he felt the other riders were more likely to feel threatened by him, as an African American man. 鈥淢y face is different than your face,鈥� Black told her. 鈥淭he alarm, the triggered alert, is a little different.鈥�
Shaker Heights artist Donald Black speaks to Diana Hildebrand after the Juneteenth Slow Roll ride. [Mary Fecteau/ideastream]
That really stuck with Hildebrand. 鈥淚 kept thinking about this on my way home. My face is more familiar and I don't feel a lot of people don't feel like they have to put their guard up when I'm around,鈥� she said.
Hildebrand said she鈥檚 committed to bridging the gap between the cycling worlds: the 鈥渦rban cyclists,鈥� who are less familiar with bike laws, and the 鈥渆lite cyclists,鈥� whose staunch commitment to safety seems unwelcoming.
鈥淚'm trying to bridge the gap to bring the elite cyclists with us, and say, 鈥楬ey, we don't always have to follow this rule, we can bend it a little bit and we can make it a little bit more flexible,鈥欌�� said Hildebrand.
鈥淚 really truly believe that the cycling community and the cycling culture can change and will change.鈥�