ChiWhoBike #48

Published July 1, 2024
A man stands looking proud with his bike in front of a mural reading Mayor Taylor. The man is wearing red bike shoes with Chicago flag socks, biking gloves, and a cap, and has black biking shorts and a custom jersey, and has dark skin and a medium length peppered black and white beard. His bike is a black Eurobike with hydraulic brakes, three spoke black and white wheels, and red and black drop handlebars.

My deceased wife got me back into cycling in 2014. She found an article about Chicago Slow Roll and they were pulling out of 124th Street, so I started with them and it has snowballed. I went from Slow Roll to Major Taylor Cycling Club. From there I went to We Keep You Rolling, which is out of Golden Gate, and I’m one of the board members. So all told, right now it’s been about 10 years of group riding that I’ve been doing. And I use my bike for everything. My car has been parked for 10 years in my garage. Depending on what the weather is, it won’t be this bike, it’d be a big bike, but that’s what I do. I ride everywhere I go.

When biking you have to be very attentive. First of all, you have to figure, I weigh 180 pounds, my bike is about 20 pounds. Average car there is 5,000 pounds. So who’s gonna win that battle if you get into an accident? So I don’t wear headphones, I don’t have any music because I’ve got to be able to hear everything on the street. I have to look around, have to be aware of where I’m at. So it gets a little intimidating, but the more you do it, the better that you get.

Last thing I can say is get out and do it. You’re going to have fun, the weather is nice, you’ve got a beautiful trail here. The Major Taylor Trail is like my little cycling highway, and it runs from 134th all the way to 81st. So any little side street I want, I can just come off the trail, and now I’m on the street with it. But I love to see people up and down this trail. You get out, it’s nothing, you don’t have to ride long distances, you don’t have to ride 18 miles an hour like I sometimes do. Sometimes you just stop and smell the roses, just to be out, get a little exercise. I had my doctor tell me if it wasn’t for cycling, I probably wouldn’t be here because of the COPD, high blood pressure, type two diabetic, high cholesterol. I’ve got a lot of health problems. You wouldn’t seriously see this, but it’s helped me. It’s lowered my numbers and, like I say, cycling is saving me. That’s my personal story about it.

A closer shot of the same man looking up and to the right, showing his custom jersey with the Chicago flag and several photos of him on it, with the name Mr Bobbo B emblazoned on it.
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