BREAKING THE CYCLE

Over the years that I’ve been running, one thing I’ve noticed is how much the cycling community ties into the running community while also working to change the narrative in the black and brown communities. Black people can bike and have fun while doing so. Most of all, we can congregate as a group and bike together which in turn can show our community that this is indeed a way to stay fit and stay healthy.  This month, we’re going to switch it up as we’ve decided to spotlight more of the cycling community with the hopes that we also give the diverse cycling groups the attention they deserve, to show the diverse fitness community that there is indeed another avenue to fitness in our communities. Break the Cycle, a Miami based bike crew, is building the community by hosting weekly rides each week.

MSM: Welcome to Mid Strike. We’ve decided to take a different approach this month spotlighting our diverse bike family. For our readers give us an intro into some of the founders of Break the Cycle.

BTC: Break The Cycle was founded by a group of friends… Me (Maurice Hanks), Val Pierre, and Luciano (aka Luci) St. Germain. We were already riding bikes, but pretty early on in the pandemic, we decided to invite friends to join us as a way to get folks out of the house and active during a time when everyone felt stuck. That was in April of 2020, and we’ve been riding ever since. From then to now, Val still plays a big part in every ride and Luci sits on the board for our nonprofit.

MSM: I find that cyclists usually have a background in running or use biking to stay fit and/or vice versa. Give us some insight into your fitness background and where it stems from? Were you always into biking or was it something that you progressed through your fitness journey?

BTC: I started cycling somewhere around 8 or 9 years ago, but wasn’t as consistent or serious about it until we started BTC. I’ve found it to be a great way to stay fit both mentally and physically and feel great about the fact that we’ve been able to introduce it to so many people.

MSM: I’ve always wanted to pick up a bike and I did  but there were a few things I struggled with besides not understanding the differences in the types of bikes, but we’ll get to that. The other struggle was simply the solo rides followed by not seeing other cyclists that looked like me riding in neighborhoods that I was used to. Early on, did you ever find yourself feeling the same, where you found it difficult to find other bikers that look like you/us?