Friday Profile: Carolyn Leadley (2/3/12)

Welcome to the first of hopefully many profiles on the Hub’s website to highlight a different side of the “cyclist” identity that both stretches and questions what that identity means. As this first profile shows, there are those of us that think Detroit has a unique cycling culture that clashes with mainstream images. So let’s explore exactly what that means and shape our world ourselves. If you would like to participate, send me an email (jason [at] thehubofdetroit [dot] org)

Today’s profile is of Carolyn Leadley. Full disclosure, she is a friend of mine (I had the privilege of babysitting her son Finn) and partner of Jack VanDyke who works here at the shop. She is a Detroiter, mama, environmentalist, farmer and feminist. Do these identities fit with or clash with a cyclist identity? Well, I’ll get out of the way and let Carolyn speak for herself. As this project continues I will be publishing folk’s answers and stories in their own words.

1) Do you consider yourself a “cyclist”? Why or why not? Is bike riding part of your identity?

Yes, i do now. I didn’t used to because I felt that you had to know everything about bikes and be into talking bike part talk etc. to be a “cyclist”. But basically as I became more of a cyclist (and got rid of my car) I began to identify with that label and kinda make it my own. I certainly don’t identify with the spandex high-end cyclists or the sexy hipster cyclists, but more the trailer hauling, cycling as a practical lifestyle cyclist, like you see in Detroit all the time.

2) What other identities are important to you? How do these identities fit in with or clash with being a “cyclist”?

I’m a farmer and though that doesn’t usually go with being a cyclist, it works well for us.

I’m an environmentalist and that is an easy fit for this low-emissions form of transportation.

I’m a feminist and as Susan B. Anthony said, “Nothing has done more for the emancipation of women, then the bicycle”

I’m a mama, and that is one of the main reasons now that I’m a lifestyle cyclist. I want my son to be brought up interacting with his world and the people in it, not shuttled around in a isolating box.

I’m a Detroiter, and Detroit is a great cycling town, though you wouldn’t think so.

3) How did you get into cycling in the first place? (your first bike, motivation to ride as an adult, whatever…)

I really started riding a lot when I moved to Detroit 5 years ago. I had a car but I never used it before I moved to the city. I really didn’t want to drive my car everywhere but the city was so spread out and not very walkable. So I got a bike from Back Alley Bikes and started riding every day and loved it! It was so freeing to get around by my own power and not have to pay for gas. Plus I met other folks that were into bikes and enjoyed riding bikes together.

4) Were there barriers preventing your from getting into bicycling due to race, gender, geography or other cultural/societal stresses/factors?

I was definitely intimidated at first because I’m a woman. I didn’t really see a lot of examples of women who were really into bikes and I felt embarrassed that I didn’t know everything about bikes (and that people would assume I didn’t know because I’m a woman). But I’m a pretty bull-headed type person, I was just more determined to learn about bikes so that I wouldn’t fit into people’s stereotypes.

As a mama (and when I was pregnant) I definitely felt like folks didn’t think I should be on a bike. Occasionally I would get some guy telling me that I shouldn’t be riding pregnant and that it wasn’t good for me (and I was always surprised that a man, who has no idea what it is like to BE pregnant, would know what was best for me!). Now that I have a young child we sometimes get folks that question us riding him around. Though there are also a lot of people who are surprised and excited about it.

5) What is your relationship with your bike(s) currently? (commuting, mountain riding, racing…),

I love my bikes. I have a “mama” bike which is my main hauling/commuting bike. It usually is pulling a trailer of some kind (either with a baby or farm produce). That bike is very special to me because it used to be my brother’s bike and he passed away 9 years ago. I also have a fixed gear which I don’t get to ride often but on those few occasions when I’m not moving babies or produce, I love going fast on that bike (my wonderful partner Jack built me that bike)

6) Do you consider the “cyclist” identity to be an elite club or an accepting group with room for many folks?

I feel like the label “cyclist” is being reclaimed by folks that don’t fit the mold. I think the classic group of folks termed cyclist as an elite club usually because it requires a LOT of money to have all the fancy equipment for racing or the fancy hipster fixed gear. I feel like we don’t have that dynamic so much in Detroit. I see all kinds of people on bikes here and the bicycle “community” is very welcoming (though I do feel there is a cultural barrier to woman, I almost never see non-white woman on bikes here, but I’m always really excited when i do).

7) What is a change you seek in the cycling community to make it more accessible to a diverse crowd of people?

I’d like to see more women (especially woman of color) year-round cyclist. I’d like to see a LOT more families that use cycling as their main mode of transportation. I often feel like Jack, Finn and I are the only family in Detroit that get around by bike which is kinda cool, but I’d rather have other parents to share info with and build up that support. There needs to be so much more education for car drivers to make our roads safer for cyclist so folks aren’t so scared and stick to the sidewalks.

8) Do you think the Detroit cycling community is more or less diverse than the wider cycling image in America?

I think the cycling community in Detroit is much more diverse then the image in mainstream culture.

9) Add any other info on this subject that you wanna get out:

I love bikes! Thanks Jason!