Unbound Gravel Is Reserving 65 Free Start Spots for Major Taylor Association Riders
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Unbound Gravel announced on Friday, December 18 that the event will be offering free registration for 65 members of the Kansas City chapter of the Major Taylor Association in 2021 and 2022.
The goal of this two-year initiative is to help increase diversity on one of the most sought-after start lines in American gravel racing. The 65 spots will be available across all four distances (25-mile, 50-mile, 100-mile and 200-mile).
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The Major Taylor Association, which is named for the first Black pro cyclist, works to support and connect marginalized riders, and it has chapters across 27 states. For Unbound, partnering with the local chapter of the Major Taylor Association closest to Emporia made sense.
“This community is already established—we just want to be an added resource for them and a stepping stone to help them grow,” Michelle Duffy, marketing director for Lifetime off-road events, told Bicycling. “What we can do as an event organization is offer access to those start lines and let people know they belong there.”
Among the Major Taylor riders that will be racing Unbound in 2021 is Denesha Snell, Public Relations Director for the Kansas City Major Taylor Association.
“Unbound gives us a goal,” Snell told Bicycling. “It gives us the opportunity to introduce folks to an event on a larger scale and train for something that continues to help us build community.”
With these spots as their incentive, the Major Taylor Association will be recruiting riders, leading training rides, and teaching riders what they need to know about bike maintenance, nutrition, and safety. Members of the Major Taylor Association of Kansas City get first dibs on the spots, but any Major Taylor Association members across the country interested in participating should contact the Kansas City chapter about registration.
This approach to increasing diversity, which has been taken by a few other events across the nation, including SBT GRVL, is generous—but still leaves most of the work to be done by less-funded, grassroots organizations.
According to Snell, what the Black community needs more than anything is education and exposure to the sport. “Not that this event doesn’t [offer] that,” she said. “But exposure doesn’t mean just handing them a bike.” Or, for that matter, a start spot. “It means also saying ‘Let me teach you what I know.’”
Snell suggests this could look like clinics and youth programs that teach kids how to ride and race, and build their knowledge and character as athletes, and even showing them that cycling is a viable sport that could earn them a college scholarship, like football and basketball.
This partnership between Unbound Gravel and the Major Taylor Association is an awesome initiative, but there is much more to be done when it comes to increasing diversity in cycling. We have to provide more tools and knowledge needed for riders to take the first step, and show them what can be gained when they cross the threshold. We hope this is the first of many more intentional moves by event organizers and large companies to include marginalized communities in our sport.
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