interview_mdcc2k7

Cycling in the Mid-West:
Metro Detroit Cycling Club, Detroit Michigan
Interview with MDCC Brian Cox

THE MDCC Crew,from left: Larry Carter, Ventura Ingram, Mark Swint, Brian Cox and Dave Davis roll the Motor City. (video)

Crankin' Time Cycling caught up with Brian Cox and his cycling
club Metro Detroit Cycling Club in Detroit, Michigan.

CTC: Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you decide to
seriously start cycling?
MDCC: Personally, I’m from Pontiac, Michigan. I spent my college
years on baseball scholarship at the University of South Carolina,
where I received my Bachelors in Accounting. I’ve been a licensed
Stockbroker since 1988. My cycling hobby didn’t start out on purpose..
In 2003, my doctor told me I had high blood pressure and in a very
serious tone he said “With medication you can still lead a normal life”.
Now this guy had been my doctor since birth. I had never seen him
that serious. He had me scared, so I took it seriously.

That was the beginning of my cycling obsession.

CTC: What would you say Metro Detroit Cycling Club is best
known for in your cycling community?
MDCC: Colorful rides... and even more colorful written ride reports.
There is no ride like an MDCC ride! Our rides resemble a
“Kings of Comedy” show. The jokes will be flying.
Don’t be "thin skinned"… or your feelings will be hurt. But it’s all done in a friendly spirit. When you ride with us for the first time, you may start out a stranger, but somewhere along the route, you will become a friend. Many of the group rides that are done around here are almost like fast funeral processions.. Not ours. Our rides are “live”.

CTC: What was the motivation that led you to start cycling or join a cycling club?
MDCC: I wear suits everyday. My waist kept expanding
and the new suits I had to buy to accommodate the expansion
was putting me in the poorhouse. A secondary reason was to
reduce my blood pressure. Initially I joined a large club in the
area because they had scheduled group rides of varying
intensity almost everyday. I found it easier to ride with a
group because it forced me to schedule my riding time.
During that season, a rider approached me and suggested we
start our own club. He was a personal trainer and would add
that component to the club to make it an all-year fitness group.
I told a couple other Brothers about the idea and the five (5)
of us christened the Metro Detroit Cycling Club.

Those five, Dave Davis, Larry Carter, Mark Swint,
Daryl Heard, and myself, began the club with the goal of
promoting the benefits of cycling to the African-American
community.

CTC: What cycling goals are you most proud of? What would you like to achieve or accomplish next?
MDCC: I’m most proud of the progress of the Metro Detroit Cycling Club. Our membership has grown four-fold since inception and we are progressing well on our mission to promote cycling in the urban community. I am also proud of the way we have conducted ourselves throughout the cycling community. We pride ourselves on presenting a first class image to the entire community.
For example, on our first charity ride, we mobilized 85% of our club and won the trophy for the highest participation percentage of any organization.

CTC: What was your longest ride in one day? What was your shortest ride?
MDCC: My longest ride has been 85 miles… and I was tricked into going that far. Other members routinely do their 100 mile rides. I’m not a big “gotta do a Century” guy. It gets cold here in Michigan, so in the winter, we keep the rides short. We have a standard 26 mile route with enough “Michigan Hills” to keep us warm for about an hour and a half. That’s about as short of a ride we do.

CTC: What cycling event left the biggest impact on you as a person?
MDCC: The thing that has impressed me most about cycling is not necessarily an event. I can honestly say that I have never met an unpleasant person on a bike. We talk about it all the time, everyone we’ve met through cycling have been good people. And I also must thank my club members for being good people too. (And I’m not just saying that because I owe some of them money.)

CTC: Would you recommend anyone taking on cycling as form of recreation?
MDCC: Cycling is an excellent and fun sport for everyone. Many of the people you tell you ride a bike don’t understand the great times that can be had on the bike. Never mind the health benefits, it’s just fun.

CTC: Was there anything funny that happened on any of your rides?
MDCC: Man, something funny happens on every ride. Here’s one. On Saturday morning, we do a leisurely ride in the city. This is one of the methods we use to promote cycling in the inner city. The goal of this ride is to mimic a parade… let’s go slow and get seen. Well, on this morning, some aggressive dogs decided to join the paceline. Riding with us was a young lady who had never gone more than 18 mph on the flats before. Well, all that changed when she heard someone yell “dogs” and she heard the scraping of claws on the pavement to her left! She went from the back of the pack, to the front and didn’t stop until her speed approached 25 mph! We all had a good time with that one. I’ve got one more on a personal note. I was doing a fast local training ride called “The DropFest”.
Normally, I’m dangling off the back of the main pack. On this particular Tuesday, I’m riding above my pay grade and am in fourth position out of the 100+ riders in the group. I should have known that something bad was going to happen. Out of nowhere, a police car is speeding up from the back of the group on the left and slams on its brakes in front of us, blocking the pack and demands that we stop. The officer gets out and threatens to write each of us a ticket for exceeding the speed limit and riding more than two (2) abreast.
Well being right up front and being the only Black guy in the group, one of the guys behind me taps me on the shoulder and says “Is this what it’s like to be “Driving while Black”? Is that why he stopped us? That was too funny.

CTC: Was there anything that scared you on any ride?
MDCC: One of our members, our Vice-President in fact, was involved in a crash on a recovery ride and was knocked unconscious and had to be taken away by ambulance. That was scary. After the ride, we went to the hospital and he was ok.

CTC: What would say are your favorite club rides and your favorite organized rides?
MDCC: My personal favorite ride is the one described above called “The DropFest”. The route includes the hardest terrain that our area has to offer and the ride includes announced attacks, furiously rotating pacelines, crashes, and even police chases. My first time doing the ride, I got dropped in the parking lot! But I kept coming back each week and now with regularity, I’m able to hang on for the entire 44 miles.

MDCC in front of historic Hitsville USA, home of the Motown Sound! A Salute to the Funk Brothers! for putting in all that hard work.