Angela Ford

African-American, Asian-American, and Latina cyclists weigh in.

This morning’s dismal weather didn’t seem to dampen people’s spirits at the annual Bike to Work Rally, the traditional kickoff for Chicago's Bike Week.  The highlight of the event was a rain-soaked live rendition of youth education center Blackstone Bicycle Works’ awesome new Rhymefest-produced safety video “Stay in Your Lane,” featuring kids holding up colorful cardboard cutouts of bike wheels and cycles. Check out a video of the performance here, shot by the Active Transportation Alliance's Melody Geraci.

In the wake of a Tribune report on disproportionate bike ticketing in African-American communities, two local cycling advocates say they're determined to hold the police department accountable for ending its unfair enforcement practices.

“I thought to myself, what if we could get 500 bicycles on the streets of Bronzeville?” said community activist Angela Ford, discussing the eureka moment that led her to organize this Saturday’s bike giveaway at Wendell Phillips High. “That would help instantly create a culture of cycling.”

“I became one with the biking culture,” said Angela Ford, discussing her personal cycling renaissance during the keynote speech at Women on Wheels, a conference hosted last Saturday in Pilsen by the group Women Bike Chicago. “This is what I’m gonna live,” she decided eight years ago.