April James, Stephen Gammon, and Steve Johnson have a big task at hand.
Along with raising a collective minimum of $4,500, on Saturday August 3, 2024, they are part of a group riding in the 50-mile Pelotonia bike ride that runs through the suburbs of Columbus, including Granville.
While many will ride in this weekend-long event, 11,214 people participated in 2023 and raised over $25 million for cancer research, James, Gammon, and Johnson were a part of a special subset of those riders.
They are going to ride with Wheels of Color, a Columbus-based cycling group started by Steve Johnson, 55, in August of 2022. The group is designed for every type of rider. With ages ranging from 13 to over 80 and a diverse racial makeup, everyone is welcome at Wheels of Color.
When he started riding in 2015, Johnson noticed the cycling groups all catered to what he calls the “A and B” riders — the fast people. He wanted to create a group in which everyone, no matter your speed, experience, or fitness level could show up and ride with other people, without the fear of getting left behind.
“You come out, we got you,” Johnson said. “We are going to tailor this relaxed ride to whatever you can do.”
So on their weekly Monday night bike rides of roughly 65 people, four different groups leave from their meeting spot at Three Creeks Metro Park in Groveport. During the summer, there is the “A” group, which will do a 38-mile road ride. There is also a road group that rides a little slower, going 25 miles. Finally, there are two trail rides offered. One is 20 miles long, and the other is the “relaxed ride.”
Johnson leads the relaxed ride, and the speed is always set by the person who needs the most help, and they are never, ever left behind.
Karen Karey, 56, has been biking with Wheels of Color since its start. She also rides with Black Girls do Bike. Along with the Monday rides, she and roughly 25 other bikers meet on Thursdays in the back parking lot of the Michaels Craft Store at Easton for what they call Thursday Ride Therapy.
On a recent Thursday, Karey rode the “relaxed” trail ride with Johnson. After a couple of weeks on vacation, Karey knew that her biking stamina wasn’t where it used to be. But she wasn’t worried.
“No matter how I show up, I know I’m not going to get left. Before we even leave, I already know I am going to be okay,” Karey said.
And she was.
The other ride that left from the parking lot was a 25-mile road ride to the Hoover Reservoir. Many of the cyclists on that ride were also training for the August 3 and 4 Pelotonia weekend ride.
Pelotonia is a non-profit organization based in Columbus that hosts a bike ride to raise funds for research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. The members of Wheels of Color have signed up for the 50-mile bike ride, in which each rider has to pledge to raise $1,500 for cancer-fighting research.
In their years riding for Pelotonia, the Wheels of Color group has raised a total of roughly $80,600. Already this year, Johnson has raised $2,100.
“Cancer has affected everybody. That is one thing that doesn’t discriminate, race, creed or color. Everybody knows someone that has cancer,” said Johnson.
And so, 30 members of Wheels of Color are riding to raise money for cancer research. They are living up to their group motto, “reaching people one pedal at a time.”
Another exciting part of their participation in Pelotonia is the diversity they bring to the sport.
According to USA Cycling, 86% of its members are white, which is disproportionate to the racial demographic of the U.S. Just this year, Biniam Girmay was the first Black African to win a stage of the Tour de France, a race that has been happening since 1903, 121 years ago.
“You really don’t see that many Black people riding bicycles. We are a mixed club, we have probably every race out here. You come out on a Monday night, even occupations are covered from A-Z in the club. We have a zookeeper and we have accountants,” Johnson said.
Along with race and occupation, Wheels of Color riders range in age from 13-year-old kids to the 80-year-old riders that they call “beasts.”
And they all get on their bikes and ride together.
Stephen Gammon, 56, of Columbus, has been riding with Wheels of Color since its start, and he has seen the unifying power of the bikes firsthand.
“What I love about [biking] is you meet all kinds of different people that are in different stages of life. Cycling is one of the things that you can do in a group that you don’t have to fit into a certain category,” Gammon said.
Bikers show up for the Thursday rides on bikes ranging from $10,000 state-of-the-art bikes to second-hand bikes originally purchased at Walmart.
“You gotta have a bike, and you gotta have a helmet. If you have those two things, we will find a ride for you,” Gammon said.
And it has proved to be true. No matter the bike you are riding, the brand of your helmet, or the shoes on your feet, you can find a place at Wheels of Color.
So much so that it’s commonplace to see different team jerseys at a Wheels of Color ride. Because it is a group formed to bring people together, no matter what they are wearing.
“I don’t care if you come out and ride with us, or someone else. I just want you to ride your bike with somebody,” Johnson said.
Anyone looking for someone to ride with, someone to talk with, or someone to make a connection with will find that in the parking lot behind Micheals Craft Store or at the Three Creeks Metro Park in Groveport.
No matter what is going on in life, who is winning the Tour de France, whether your biking jersey is yellow, polka dot, green, white, or looks more like an old t-shirt, Wheels of Color is a group that welcomes everyone.
Sarah Sollinger writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.