I‘ve always loved the idea of cycling to work – from my part of town this would take me spinning down Marion Avenue and along Park Avenue West – but I’m scared of riding in traffic.
So I jumped at the chance to join the Slow Roll, the new community evening bike ride that gets you out on the streets in a group. I figured there’s safety in numbers and I wouldn’t feel so threatened by the passing cars.
You may remember I rode the bike trail last year on a rented bike and made some rash promises about becoming a regular cyclist. Well, that never happened and I found myself in a rush on the day of the Slow Roll trying to rent another bike.
Such a rush that I cut my hand stashing the bike in the back of my car, possibly a bad omen.
I arrived at the downtown meeting point opposite the Carrousel just in time to be greeted by Josh Werner, one of the organizers.
“You’re brave!” he laughed, noticing that I was the only one in shorts on an admittedly chilly night.
Richland Moves Chairman Nelson Shogren explained a few rules of the road and then we were off, to the accompaniment of Superstition by Stevie Wonder playing from someone’s … what? I don’t know what to call these things anymore. Sound stick? Sound ball? Some sort of portable device that plays music.
After a block or two I got a little boost, after it became apparent I wasn’t about to immediately humiliate myself by cycling directly into the back of a parked car or swerving into oncoming traffic.
We rode along 3rd Street past the library, and at the intersection with Sycamore Street we encountered our first hill. There was no rush so we took it slow. Some folks got off to push.
We’d been promised plenty of stops – no-one gets left behind – and we waited at the top of the hill for everyone to catch up.
“You can’t escape the hills in Mansfield,” Josh said. “Unavoidable in this town.”
“Hey Steve, did you remember how to work the gears?” Nelson joked.
“Yep!” I said, lying through my teeth. In fact, not only did I not recall how to change gears, I was unsure on whether to change them up or down when going up a hill.
So for the duration of the ride I decided to stick with third gear, which seemed like an uncontroversial, middleish sort of gear.
We crossed over Park Avenue West, then rode on Glenwood through the boulevards before hitting the park system: South Park, Middle Park and North Lake Park.
Along the way someone in front would occasionally shout of perils ahead.
“Glass!” “Potholes!”
“We should be the city’s first responders on potholes,” said Josh.
We finished up riding along 6th Street before a final push up the hill on Walnut took us back to the Carrousel.
Our ride had taken us about an hour. There were no casualties, and by the smiles on everyone’s faces I judged it a success.
Later, I met with Josh for a quick drink at Martini’s and asked him how he thought it had gone.
“Good!” he said. “How many do you think turned up? I counted 17.”
I told him that was a bigger turnout than I’d expected, especially for the first time out with the temperature still on the low side. And the route, side streets for the most part, seemed to work really well.
“Well, we want people to feel comfortable,” said Josh. “At this point I feel comfortable riding on Park Avenue West, but I know that many people don’t.”
I told him I was a still uneasy about it myself. And the thought of Lexington Avenue is even worse.
After all, a city council person here, who I won’t name, has stated publicly that when he sees a cyclist on the road he wants to run them over. I assume there was a certain amount of levity behind that statement, but still …
“Yeah, I get it,” said Josh, “and I wasn’t comfortable riding on the bigger streets myself until Bike to Work week, about a year ago. I was on the trails and the back roads before.
“I didn’t want to ride Park Avenue West, but since I was involved with Richland Moves I felt I had to do it. Then once I got out there I thought, hey, this isn’t so bad – I can do this. Although it is hard if you’re wearing a suit.”
Have you always been a been a cyclist?
“No, not at all, in fact I didn’t really bike much as a kid. (As an adult) living in Cincinnati I noticed it was something that seemed to be increasing, but I still didn’t cycle myself. Then when I moved to Mansfield I thought this is something we could expand on here, too.”
Josh was soon a regular on the bike trails, and has also taken part in long-distance “invitational” bike rides around Richland County.
“I’m working my way up on the distance,” he told me, explaining that even the shorter rides are about 35 miles in length. “The ‘John Holmes’ is the big one,” he added, “and I’m not quite ready for that yet. Some of these go up to a hundred miles.”
But street riding is a different thing altogether, I suggested.
“Right, out on the streets you have a different perspective,” said Josh. “And you see so much more than you do from a car. It gives you time to look around.”
I told Josh I was impressed that the group took efforts not to annoy motorists or cause an obstruction.
“Yeah, we try to be cognizant of other road users,” he said. “Actually we get a lot of recognition, friendly honking, you know. Which I think is good.”
Are you sure it’s friendly honking?
“Yes!” Josh said. “It’s quick toots, that’s friendly. When people are mad it’s a long blast.”
So do you see the size of the Slow Roll growing?
“I do, yes,” he told me. “Especially as the weather improves.
“Ideally, we’ll be getting the routes published beforehand. At the moment we’re downtown, but it would be nice to bike in different areas.
“And we’re looking for feedback on the time,” he said, explaining that they want to hear if the current start time of 7:30 p.m. works best or could be tweaked.
“It’s getting lighter now, but (in the darker months) night-time rides can be part of the appeal. In the larger cities they deck out their bikes in lights and that’s part of the fun.
“Later on, we’re planning on having themed rides, like a patriotic theme for July 4. And crazy socks.”
I’ll need further convincing to see the appeal of crazy sock night, but never mind that – regardless of the theme the Slow Roll is a lot of fun.
Give it a try. You’ll find yourself instantly part of a friendly, relaxed group. And you can take it easy all the way. There are some experienced cyclists in this group but they’re not at all pushy or aggressive.
“What we’re trying to do is promote a biking community, a biking culture,” said Josh. “We want to make cycling accessible to everyone. And we want to get people out to do stuff.”
If you want to join the Slow Roll the next one is planned for Monday May 22 at 7:30 p.m. Meet by the bike racks opposite the Carrousel.
Check out https://www.facebook.com/slowrollmansfield for details.
