Bike Touring As A Black Man - My Experience

Wow Dwayne, sorry you have to be on your guard in your home Country but there's a lot of Political angst right now across the USA and you guys have had to endure over 200 years of History that still lingers today. I'm a white Australian male and have worked with and still have Black American friends over here down under and have always found them the be super friendly. One is from Oklahoma and the other is from Chicago. Why not save up some pennies and come down under for a bicycle tour, sure the car drivers are shit like in the US but you'll get on with Aussies, we're pretty much laid back. Going from East to west or visa versa is about the same distance as the USA and we don't have the altitude to contend with as most of Australia is relatively flat compared to the USA. We do have the Aboriginal People who are black but they are somewhat like the American Indians in their relationship with the Country. Most Australians respond to a friendly face, irrespective of colour, there will be some kind of racism anywhere in the world you'll go. I've always wanted to bike tour over in Japan.

Courageous. I've traveled all over our country as a white guy in a car and felt the danger. I got caught stealth camping in my car in Florida on the way to The Keys. The cop just chewed me out for trespassing and escorted me back to the highway. The worst I could expect was a ticket or a night in the klink. I can't imagine how traveling would be as a man of color.
Major respect & well wishes Dwayne.

Trump voters aren't racist. If you're afraid of violence then, statistically speaking, avoid other black people. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Most of the problems are in your head, go outside and enjoy the world black, biracial, red yellow no matter what you look like the world is yours be a good human being this is all you have to be.

Thanks for sharing! I am riding the Great Allegheny Passage trail this Labor Day weekend solo. I imagine that it will be much more "comfortable" than what you've experience, but I still/always worry about what happens if things don't go well for me.

Appreciate this video. Congrats on the journey, through fear and bliss. Great story to hear, especially with all the stuff that is going on right now.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Living in Germany I am not at all familiar with the intricacies of the US and found your reflections immensly interesting. Ill definately stick around : D

Thanks for sharing your experience as a Black man biking 4,000 miles across the USA. As an avid solo bike tourer, (Alaska, West Coast, etc) I have not had to deal with the horrors of racism touring (white privilege) but definitely have had a few run-ins with narrow minded people. Fortunately most individuals when they saw me riding solo on a bike would stop and offer assistance unsolicited my me. The goodness of most people comes out when they see a cyclist. I recommend highly riding a week on the Natchez Trace Trail which is a federal parkway (restrictive of commercial traffic) taking one 445 miles on pristine rolling hills of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. It changed my perceptions of the South quite a bit. The advice you alluded to about having an American flag waving blew my mind.

I'm a white cyclist in my 70's who expatriated to Mexico with my wife 25 years ago, as much out of shame THEN for the USA's bigotry as for any other reason. My admiration for your courage and sensibilities in today's social and political climate is truly great, indeed. Please keep this contact, and if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, you have a resource here for a place to hang your helmet. Stay strong and stay safe.

I have driven all over the country in the past few decades and there were definitely some states I did not stop for gas. You have huge balls of brass to bike across the country by yourself as a minority. I always wanted to do it but this is the sole reason that would prevent me from doing so. My hats off to you sir.

This is one of my chief concerns about bikepacking. Glad im not the only one 😅

WOW !!!!

This is such an important video !!!


I'm so glad you addressed this issue

I'm really speechless..

THANK YOU !!!!

Subscribed!

"Person of color" is the dumbest euphemism the cult of identity ever manufactured. Try being human before trying so hard be an activist for imaginary identities. 'The Human Genome Project' remember that? Read it. You can skip to page 28, last 2 paragraphs of the conclusion. If you knew what that said, you'd know how silly you sound pretending to be anything other than Human.

Great topic thank you for posting! A lot of adventurers have general concerns about safety but not through the lens of being a POC. I do a lot of biking and definitely have my antennae up in certain neighborhoods knowing that a escalation could happen at any point for no reason.

Thank you for making this video and covering this topic. Though I have only done a bike event with a group from Phoenix to Tucson here in Arizona, I have wondered how it would be to travel long distance across the country and yes the concerns while being black. I prefer to not ride alone. But so much to unpack here but again thank you 😊

What can I as an older white male do to help remove the tension non-white riders feel?

Man I follow you hall the time I wanted to hear something like this from a black man I l love bicycle touring for more than ten years l also have a surly LHT I'm 62 know my dream was to cycle across Canada last year didn't finish family problems Vancouver to Edmonton I'm so glad to hear you story at first I thought I was the only black person who love bicycle touring I will definitely get your book I live in Toronto Canada I'm from Panama but I'm not giving up next year will try again see all your videos on you too congratulations bro

It's great to see more people on bikes who DON'T look like me. Thanks for sharing your story, man.

I am not a black man, so I can't honestly say that I can speak truefully on this subject.

However.. IMHO I think you are making too much of this.
You seem to really be repeating that you are a black man that experienced this bicycle tour.

It sounds cliché but I truly don't see people according to their skin color.
I make my assessment based on a person's character or lack thereof.

I also personally think that a lot of so-called minority people dwell on their ethnicity more than they really should.

Treat people with respect, politeness and honesty.
Regardless of what skin color you/or they are. These things will take you a long way.
Be discerning but just treat others with the same respect that you desire.
The color of a man's skin doesn't even need to come up.

I did two cycle tours on my recumbent trike.
People were nice, and for the very few who weren't.

Smile and thank them and ride away.

If you are in a situation where you feel uneasy.
Hopefully you are amoung other people who you can mingle with while assessing your options; but that's anybody in certain situations.

I was torn to even write this comment, but, here it goes.

First, you should do it again. Yep, do it again in the post Trump America and then come back and discuss the difference.

I know, easy for me to say 😂.

Second, while my heart says "Of course it went fine, people are overwhelmingly good", I'm also not black and don't have that experience. So I'm happy to hear your trip was a positive one and it sounds like an awesome adventure.

Sometimes when we leave our comfort zone, we find out the real bad guys are the ones on TV trying to tell you the sky is falling, when in reality they are just creating chaos so they can "save you" from it.

Keep pedaling 🤙

really liked the video man

I can care less about color of a persons skin, what’s important is how a person perceives them selves “””to be””” “to me”! bottom line. “We are all human”. If there’s a connection to be friends then will be friends, and if not that’s ok too “life moves on”.

Credit to you for continuing on your journey and not letting the b*stards win. Of course, not a defeat to choose certain routes over others. Some roads are riskier, not just based on the amount of traffic

being brown and being a female has never even come to my mind when considering cross-country cycling.. wow

glad you didn't let the potential of problems due to your skin color stop you !

Awesome stuff man. As a Mtber, it’s refreshing to see people who don’t just look like me enjoying the sport.

My deepest respect to you sir. I did a very similar route in the other direction in 1982. But with a few huge differences…. I went with two friends and we were all white. A few fools threw things at us as they passed, but other than that people were wonderful to us. I’m so glad you experienced some kindness as well. Please keep being true to yourself and stay safe out there.

The hate and racism exposed by the new political climate was enough for me to sell my business and my home in Northern California and move to Bucerias Nayarit Mexico. It's been an amazing experience these past five years and I don't regret it at all. I love Mexico and the Mexican people so much. I started riding a couple of years ago and bought a new gravel bike earlier this year and it's been a game changer.

thank you for this

Dwayne, thank you for your cycling activist efforts!

Bike Touring as a woman...the bigotry in this activity from the opposite gender toward women who enjoy cycling, do their own bike repairs, and have a vast knowledge of cycling due to personal zeal.
You may be interested in 'Bike Packing' (this is BDR bike touring on more of a Mountain Bike frame set up).
In all honesty there are quite a few LIFE lessons to learn from Bike Touring/Bike Packing.
And most of all don't forget about Christ; include him on your bike tours.

Cool video. Eloquently expressed important insights.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. How unfortunate though that you’d have to think about being killed not because of an accident but instead because of your beautiful God-given humanity. But it’s understandable even the way the world is setup. Admire your courage and yes there are nice people everywhere! Pointing that out definitely balances out your trepidation. Glad I found your channel. By the way, was there an altercation with the policeman? Another thing: does the name Major Taylor ring a bell? If not, check him out!

Hello Dwayne,

I've wanted to bike across the U.S. for some time. Just started mapping out my route and in the back of my mind the thought of being a black woman cycling solo has in the past, caused me to question just how safe it would be. I'm going to do it anyway and thank you for sharing some of your experiences.

Thank you for bringing up this topic.

I'm a white German woman and do solo bike tours sometime through multiple different countries in Europe. Some people have asked me if I'm not scared to do this. But so far I've always felt save and only positive interactions with other peoples. And that is my answer to those questions.

I never considered that bike touring could be an issue for people just because of who they are in another developed country like the US. That was probably quite dumb on my side. So thank you for opening my eyes.

I also travel by bicycle with panniers and it broke my heart to realize that being black could affect travelling at all. Come to Spain and travel safe and happy.

Come again to Spain and we will travel together.

White guy here, boomer generation. This is an eye opener for me. Thanks for sharing.

I’m a cyclist and live in SW Missouri. I’m sorry you felt uncomfortable in my home State. I’m glad you persevered.

Thank you for raising this subject!

White boomer, female here. This summer, we were driving through our very white Alaskan town, and my local white boomer partner made an impatient comment about the way a black male tourist was waiting longer than the average person to make sure I stopped before he crossed a busy road. I pointed out that it’s because black men aren’t used to being treated with courtesy. My partner’s impatience turned to empathy and probably a little bit of embarrassment for being an old white guy.

On the plus side, the looks we get from others may not always be from as negative of reactions as we suspect. Last year I was on an overnight bike trip near my hometown in the Midwest. I had slapped together the jankiest of gear to make the journey. Tired and overheated on the return leg, I looked up and saw resting at a corner of the path, looking directly at me, a gorgeous black man in a flattering bicycle outfit. I’m sure I had a look of horror on my face as two thoughts quickly went through my exhausted brain. The first was that this guy was way too young for me to be gawking at. The second was that I really looked like a dork. ❤

If you ever get to bike tour in UK and need a place to stay, you would be welcome.

Just got your book. I'm European and you've raised issues I've not had to think of (never been to USA either)

Have you cycled the Camino

Cool. What kind of bike did you road? How long did it take you?

Hey, Mexican-American here. Kudos and thank you for making this video. I think it takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there like this and frankly say exactly what I have been thinking about for a long time. I am grateful for you and this video.❤

I'm pretty sure if a black man rode a bicycle through Rural Wiltshire he would get killed

Basically, your paranoia about bicycling while black was proven to be just that- paranoia.

I would not know if I would volunteer to ride in the South of the US.

Bigotry sucks.

I hate that when we travel we need to think “am I going to be safe from racism here?”

And it is all over. In Italy coming from Austria not ten miles into the country some other cyclist upon meeting me says “first time I see a negro on a bike.” But it didn’t sound nice.

Second Italian trip, some kids kick their soccer ball out the fence at school. I pass it back to them and AFTER I fever the ball back they start making monkey sounds (the school had a fence and it didn’t seem like they were going to be able to retrieve it until after school). Italian mountains and bike trails are very nice nevertheless…

The next 4 yrs it will get worse