The St. Augustine’s University Cycling Team is on a mission to change the perception of cycling as a predominantly white sport. As the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to establish a formal cycling team, the “Falcons” are forging new ground in athletics. “I see my role as a trailblazer,” says Lavar Stubbs, an SAU cyclist originally from the Bahamas. “This team plays a strong role in the racial justice movement.” Episode #2 of the Chasing History series “The Road Rarely Taken” highlights SAU following in the tire tracks of the first, and most recent, Black cyclists to win world cycling championships—Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor (1899) and Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails (1985), respectively. Since Vails, no other Black cyclist has come close to replicating elite-level success. Currently, there is not a single African American rider in any of the seven U.S. Continental teams and none on any ProTeam, WorldTeam or Women's WorldTeam. “As a Black athlete, as a kid, you’re thinking: I want to play basketball. I want to play football. Or track,’” says Landon Bishop, an SAU cycling team member. “You didn’t hear a lot of people say: I want to do cycling. Until we had those pioneers start something.” How professional cycling becomes the road not taken for Black athletes is a complicated issue—after all, all kids start out riding bikes. “Cycling has always been a rite of passage for young people,” says Umar Muhammad, a professor at SAU and cycling team leader. “When you get your bike, it’s your first sense of freedom.” “Black kids, white kids, all kids grew up riding bikes,” continues Mark Janas, SAU faculty member and cycling team leader. “For some reason, the separation seems to happen somewhere around early adulthood where lots of white riders continue to ride bikes, where not as many African Americans [do].” They might see themselves as chasing history, but Vails has one last word of advice for them: “The kids at St. Augustine’s, when I see them riding, it brings such a smile to my face,” Vails says. “I would tell them what I was told: ‘Always keep it fun.’” This series chronicles the SAU Cycling Team's first year as a team—check out “Chasing History: Episode 1”: https://youtu.be/LnZFg6O-dxM #ChasingHistory​ #HBCU​ #MyCanyon​ Follow SAU Cycling: https://www.instagram.com/saucycling/​

The cycling world needs another Major Taylor moment. Taylor’s singular accomplishment—becoming the first African American to win a world championship in cycling—took place at the turn of the 19th century. Truth be told, the sport hasn’t diversified its ranks much since the early 1900s. Most years, we’re lucky to see one cyclist of color at the Tour de France. Domestic professional cycling and the WorldTour? Pretty white there too. But there’s a ripple of change happening. Riders of color like UCI Continental team L39ION of Los Angeles athlete Justin Williams and French former professional road racer Kévin Reza have been more than vocal about the sport’s diversity problem. Then there’s this team you’ve been hearing about all year. The first official collegiate cycling team to come out of an HBCU (a historically Black college or university). Based out of the business school at St. Augustine’s University, a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina, the team of 12 student athletes had virtually no experience with competitive cycling (except for sophomore Ashley Weekes, who’s competed in triathlons). What the Falcons lacked in experience they made up in bravado, a contagious sense of optimism and the feeling that they were pioneers on a mission. Freedom riders of a different sort. Ground breakers who are helping to literally change the face of cycling—from a blindingly white sport to one that’s at least somewhat more representative of America’s cultural stew. These fearless Falcons have made quite the statement already, garnering widespread media attention and sponsorships to boot (including from Canyon, who supplied them with pro-level bikes and other equipment). “We recognized early on that what we were doing went beyond SAU,” said Dr. Mark Janas, a professor in SAU’s School of Business and the team’s head coach. “As the first HBCU with a cycling program out there, we recognized that we had a responsibility to help more schools start programs who in turn could inspire more young riders in their communities.” That’s already happening. Dr. Yan Searcy, the dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Cal State University at Northridge, said learning about the SAU team inspired him to contact USA Cycling to start a similar squad at CSUN. “We’re trying to increase our population of Black students here,” Searcy said. “I thought maybe we can use cycling as a way to increase representation. There’s so much potential, and to use the St Augustine’s team as a model is ideal for us.” To mix racing metaphors, you might say what the SAU team is doing is drafting history—riding a tailwind created by the likes of Major Taylor, Jackie Robinson and Wilma Rudolph, the Black sprinter who became the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals in track and field. “What’s happening with St. Augustine is important because somebody has to take that first step and show other people that it’s possible,” said Peter Flax, the former editor of Bicycling Magazine. “Sports history is full of examples of people who kicked that door down, for women, for Black people. In every case, you need those pioneers to show people that that particular activity is open to inclusion. For the student riders themselves, the experience hasn’t always been comfortable or easy. But they understand their roles and their contribution in the evolution of cycling. “Being here, surrounded by a culture and race that’s not my own, I feel out of place,” said Josué Ortiz-Florez, one of the SAU cyclists. “But I’ve felt accepted and supported in a way that I haven’t felt in any other sports that I’ve played… I do feel like bikes can change the world. Especially if the right people invest in the sport. If it becomes more diverse, I feel like it can change the world.” This series chronicles the SAU Cycling Team's first year as a team—check out “Chasing History” series: Episode 1: https://youtu.be/LnZFg6O-dxM Episode 2: https://youtu.be/m-zbOD7pEWE Episode 3: https://youtu.be/uPkw82dZpYQ Episode 4: https://youtu.be/_gNyMV1mTnE #ChasingHistory​ #HBCU​ #MyCanyon​ Follow SAU Cycling: https://www.instagram.com/saucycling/​ Website: https://www.canyon.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canyon/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canyon Twitter: https://twitter.com/canyon_bikes