It’s 10 p.m. Friday and you are driving
your car west on the 198 Scajaquada Expressway. You glance to your right
towards Delaware Park and you suddenly notice a cluster of fluorescent glow
lights floating in unison in the dark. These lights are not moving by
themselves, though, and are attached to the cyclists participating in one of
the many annual slow rolls.
“I’ve been out riding around all night,
we were out riding around last night until about midnight, it was our annual
glow ride,” said Jon Clauss, a salesman at Ricks Cycle, a local bike shop in
Allentown, the day after a recent Friday night ride.
Clauss, a middle-aged man with a lean build, (rode
while) draped with plastic glow rings intertwined in his shoestrings and a
rainbow glowing wrist band. They take place the second Friday of every month.
“Last night was Friday night bike party
ride,” said Clauss smiling. “It was glow night. Everyone’s bike was lit up and there
were well over 100 people out there.”
The glow ride is one of the many slow
rolls that have been taking place every week in Buffalo. Such rolls started in
Detroit and have branched out globally to other communities.
They have become so popular, though, that
GObike Buffalo, a non-profit biking organization, has joined in and supported
the biking events.
“They’re
such a huge thing and great for the biking community that we decided to support
their events. They’re not a GObike event but we list their annual rides on our
website and many of our members go out and support them,” said Gobikes
community outreach coordinator, Thea Hassan.
The
slow rolls take place every Monday, meeting up at various venues or public
locations. The meetings spots are chosen by various people who attend the
weekly events, communicate through Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.
Various locations
Here
is a list of some of the various locations that were chosen over the past few
months.
- Sept. 7: HandleBar (149 Swan St.)
- Sept. 14: Hydraulic Hearth (716 Swan St.)
- Sept. 28 43 North (640 Ellicott St.)
- Oct. 5: Delaware Park Marcy Casho (199 Lincoln Parkway.)
- Oct. 12: Big Ditch Brewing (55 E. Huron St.)
- Oct. 19: Buffalo Irish Center (245 Abbott Rd.)
- Oct. 26: Flying Bison Brewing (840 Seneca St.)
The different locations chosen, which
are scattered around numerous areas in the inner city, is a big part of what
make the slow rolls unique. More specifically, they bring together a large
amount of people from different areas in Buffalo, and concentrate them in one
area of the city. This is important because Buffalo, a relatively small city,
is not that close-knit and, at times may seem segregated.
The
decentralization
Since
the 1950s, urban sprawl also has pushed much of the region’s population into
the suburbs.
The
slow rolls, however, have brought many of the people who were raised on the
East, or West sides of Buffalo back to their old stomping grounds.
“A
lot of the people that are now coming on these rides are coming in from the
suburbs,” said Nate Hill, a member of Gobike Buffalo, “but they’re experiencing
parts of the city that they’re parents, or maybe grandparents, once lived.”
Hill
talked about some of the feedback he has received from some of the
participants.
“From
word of mouth, I’ve heard people say, ‘Hey, I used to live in this area on the
East Side!’ and now they live way out in Lancaster.’ ”
Another fascinating aspect of these
slow rolls is the different demographics it has attracted. These slow rolls are
not just limited to the younger people but have also been supported by middle
age people and older. Not only are they participating in the bike rides, the
excitement and fun they derive from the rides resemble that of the young.
“I’m
starting to see a lot of mature people coming into the shops and buying
bicycles. I mean, we’re all kids deep inside,” Clauss said. “It’s trying to get
them on a bicycle, and getting them outside on the bike rides.”
These
slow rolls are effective at bringing different kinds of people together because
of the universality of riding a bike. Who doesn’t know how to ride one, or
rather, who doesn’t remember how to? More importantly, who doesn’t remember the
joyful and liberating feeling accompanies it? This youthful feeling, however,
is still achievable and has touched many of the people who partake on these
annual slow rolls.
Clauss
echoed these sentiments.
“Bicycles
touch everybody, from a 3-year-old on up to an 83-year-old, you hold on to your
youth by continuing to ride it, or you give back to your youth by getting back
on it. I always like to see them when they come back from the bike rides, the
expressions on their face, the bright smiles and excitement.”
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