Cynthia started her bike life as a self-taught mechanic in Fargo/Moorhead, and then spent her career as an educator getting people on bikes all over Minnesota. Her cycling adventures include a solo long- distance ride, leading bike tours, bikepacking in Europe, and commuting to work. Today, she teaches clients of Center for Victims of Torture to ride and care for their bikes.

Marques started working at Express Bike Shop in 2015 as an apprentice through Right Track, a youth professional organization. Now, he works as a shop mechanic and supervises current youth apprentices. The recipient of the first Philando Castile Memorial Scholarship, Marques studies engineering at St. Paul College and envisions himself opening his own bike shop.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Steve got involved with the co-op movement in Minneapolis. In 1974, he and five others started The Freewheel Bike Co-Op. Today, he is the founder and chairman of Quality Bicycle Products, the largest distributor of bicycle parts and accessories in the world.

Megan is a thirteen-year-old mountain bike
racer. She rides with Little Bellas and the ISD
196 Mountain Bike Adventure Club and Race
Team. A multi-sport enthusiast, Megan also
plays softball and basketball. She hopes to
make it to the varsity level on her mountain
bike team and continue racing in college.
Her goal is to continue to mentor girls in
the Little Bellas program by becoming
a mentor.

President of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club
 of Minnesota, Louis has been cycling for over
fifty years. He worked for nineteen years in
the district office of Congressman Martin
 Olav Sabo on transportation initiatives and
 he has organized several bike tours in support
of the United Negro College Fund. In the fall
 of 1999, he helped create the Minnesota
 chapter of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club,
 a nationwide cycling group dedicated to
creating community for Black cyclists.

Erik works as a frame builder 
creating unique, custom bikes
 out of his shop, Peacock 
Groove. His goal is to evoke 
emotion and connection 
through his creative work.
 Peacock Groove has received
nationwide attention for their handmade bikes including the Purple Reign, 
a bike honoring Prince that is now on display at the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture.


Salma is a student-athlete at the University
 of St. Thomas. She races mountain bikes
through the National Interscholastic Cycling
Association. As one of the only Muslim
 women racers in the league, Salma says 
racing with her team helped her gain
confidence and meet friends.

Cali is a founder and solo-owner of Cherry
 Cycles, the first woman-owned bicycle shop
in Minneapolis. She focuses on providing 
bicycling comfort, safety, and reliability 
especially for people of color, femmes,
transgender people, women and all who
appreciate thorough and attentive service.
With over a decade of experience in the
cycling industry, Cali offers quality repairs
at a variety of price points, bicycle fitting
services, and community education classes.

Sveta is an avid cyclist,
 endurance racer, and
community organizer. She 
immigrated from Belarus,
 where she worked to make the
 city of Minsk more accessible 
to bikes. Sveta has excelled in
many challenging races such as Arrowhead 135, Almanzo 100, and the Day
 Across Minnesota. She is the mother of two girls and is currently training to become a firefighter.

Elena is a worker/owner of
The Hub Bike Co-Op where
she works as a service manager 
and teaches community bike 
mechanic classes. She has 
gained a unique perspective
on the world of cycling in
Minneapolis through her involvement with several shops, race teams, and the bike messenger community.


Eric is the Owner, CEO and
 Chief Mechanic of Park Tool
 Company, the world’s largest
 maker of bicycle tools and
repair equipment. He started 
his life in the bike business as 
a mechanic and has been at
 the Park Tool helm since 1998 and at the company since 1983. Since birth,
 bicycles have been a major part of Eric’s life as his father was a Schwinn 
retailer and co-founder of Park Tool. Eric would love to see more kids on
 bikes and hopes more kids learn how to fix their bikes.