Following up on Giving Tuesday, we're publishing a second impact story and inviting you to support our ongoing work.
Bikemore had the pleasure of speaking to Taylor Graham, an administrator of Baltimore Bike Party, a mass-ride that happens the last Friday of every month at St. Mary’s Park. His approach to riding around Baltimore is more on one’s mindset than sense of fear.
“Don’t be afraid, but be aware.”
While talking with Graham, one can feel the amount of empathy he exudes for others, especially for folks who aren’t as experienced or adept in riding.
“Apply the same strategies or philosophies or tactics of just being in an urban environment for cycling. Be aware of the time of day. Be aware of the cars. Just having a sense of awareness eliminates a lot of the fear…You don’t even have to start in the city. We have the BWI trail, the Baltimore-Annapolis trail. We have NCR.”
Graham is a Baltimore native and listening to him speak taught us how perspective truly does influence one’s approach to their home. Graham found a sense of community within cycling, and it only grew by his inclusion with Bike Party.
“I can only give my experience for Bike Party since it started before me. To my knowledge, it started as a deviation from an event called ‘Critical Mass’ as a form of protest to vehicles. They just built the community around it, and [Bike Party] caught around like wildfire organically…It’s just been something that’s been going strong. Last Friday of every month.”
Our conversation moved to the topic of kids and how one may normalize children on bikes in the city. For some of us, children at Bike Party, with the presence of a guardian, is something that brings an equal amount of joy to the kids and the peers amongst them.
“As a Baltimore native, I probably look at things differently than the average person…If I had a younger family member, and if they have the confidence, I would definitely coach them to ride defensively and not concede to vehicles. [I] don’t want to let their ego put [them] in a dangerous place.”
The answer came as a surprise, yet Graham’s perspective is what truly defines how one approaches the world. Some may say fear is the mind killer (Frank Herbert’s Dune), and Graham’s own mind seems to be a bulwark beyond definition. One may envy how he perceives the city, its beauty, its flaws, though one may argue we should be inspired by Graham’s definitive logic towards Baltimore.
“You can put it on the record: Bike Party is the most unifying event in the city…You see people from all walks of life. You see the wheelie guys, you see the hipsters, you see the professionals. You see everyone from any pocket of Baltimore coming around for one unifying event which is cycling.
I love [Bike Party] for the communities who get to see these people coming through South Baltimore, deep in East Baltimore, North Baltimore, these communities who don’t get these things. Just seeing the excitement of people there is a gratifying feeling.”
Graham’s love for Baltimore and cycling align with Bikemore’s own mission tenfold. We advocate for safer streets, the normalization of bikes, and a greater presence of community for all folks to feel more comfortable and connected in Baltimore.
Safety doesn’t and should not just end with a mass group ride, though it will always be a step in the right direction.