CLOSED SHOP

In this extract from his new book Black Champions in Cycling. Desire Discrimination Determination, British academic and bike racer Dr Marlon Moncrieffe draws on his own experiences and those of black professional riders to paint a picture of the barriers black people face at all levels of our sport

- Dr Marlon  Moncrieffe

At my first 10-mile time trial I had entered a strange subculture with much to observe, not least the idiosyncratic appearances of cyclists fixed to a particular era, dress codes, pre- and post-race rituals, and behaviors. After the race, whilst he was in the middle of changing out of his kit, the cyclist who shouted at me [on the course] came over and carried on. “This is not a park ride you know. You were sitting on your bike looking around at the hills and everything.” “Was I?” I thought.

I looked at him. I politely pretended to listen to what he was saying as he went on. I carried on dismantling my bike as he continued. He eventually walked off back to his car to finish changing out of his racing kit. I grew up on a predominantly white council estate in South-West London. I had lived long enough amongst white people to detect those who felt uncomfortable with the black presence.

Maurice Burton had the same sixth sense in his early experiences of riding with his first club.

“I became a member of the VCL (Velo Club de Londres). Well, I guess there are a lot of people of color in the VCL now. But at the time that I went in there, it was only me. I used to ride with some of those guys, and some were OK. I remember going out riding with a few of them one day, and I rode behind them for like 60 miles, and they never spoke to me. I think it may have been because of the colour of my skin. I just rode with them, and that was it.”

Maurice’s reflections chime with [US champion] Rahsaan Bahati’s more direct response concerning his experience of anti-blackness on some of his first club rides.