by William Crum
Every Wednesday, about 6:30 p.m., several bike enthusiasts get together for an evening ride.
They meet at the bike shop called Revolve located on Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kan.
Last Wednesday night was a special night mainly because Andres was leading the ride. He came from Mexico six years ago. He formerly lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he was influential regarding getting people there involved in cycling. Many people there used to believe that cycling is just for kids, not as a form of public transportation. A lot of the people there come from small towns.
“What I did is to encourage both young and old people in my hometown to get involved in cycling,” he said. “When I lived as a child there were very few people who were involved in cycling. What I did was simply this, I set up programs within the community that would encourage people to ride their bicycles to work. When I started off there was very few people who did this and when I left my hometown there is now roughly 20,000 people who use their bicycles every day to get to and from work.
“When I came to the United States I got involved with Revolve KC to get the Latinos involved in cycling,” he said. “So far the response has been phenomenal. A lot of people here are really getting involved in cycling as a major form of transportation. I really want to get people involved in cycling, this is something me and my wife Amelia are really involved in. We look forward to these rides every Wednesday especially here in Kansas City, Kan. My wife is from here originally and she knows the best routes to take.”
For more information on bicycle rides, go to the website www.revolvekc.org.